Getting data from your computer to your phone or tablet can seem like harder work than it ought to be. Forget emailing files or text from your PC so you can access it on your Android; PushBullet lets you push files from your web browser to your Android device, saving time and effort.
Android App
The app is available free of charge from Google Play and it can be used in a couple of ways – either through a dedicated website, or using a browser extension. In either case, you’ll need to download a copy of the app on your target device before you can get started.
Once installed, fire up PushBullet and sign into the app using your Google account – you’ll have to grant the app permission to access your account.
Website
On the Android side of things, that’s all the configuration that’s needed for the time being, so you can now turn your attention to your desktop web browser. Whichever browser you’re using, pay a visit to the PushBullet website and sign into your account.
When you have granted the service access to your account, you will see a list that currently comprises the devices on which you have already installed PushBullet. You can install the app on more than one device, and anything you associate with the same Google account will be displayed here.
Whenever you want to push a file or other data to your phone or tablet, just click the ‘Push to this device’ button next to the device you’re interested in.
There are then five choices available to you – sharing a note, address, a bulleted list, sending a file (up to 10MB in size) or sharing a link. Just make your selection, fill in the fields or add a file, and then hit Push It.
Items that are pushed appear virtually instantly – except in the case of larger files where there is obviously an upload/download delay.
Chrome Extension
Sharing through the website can be achieved in any web browser, but if you’re a Chrome fan, things are easier. There’s an extension available that can be downloaded from the Chrome Store.
With the add-on installed, sharing anything to you phone or tablet is just a toolbar button click away. The options here are virtually the same as on the website and it works in very much the same way – although address sharing is absent.
Shared Pushing
So far, we have concentrated on sharing information from your browser to your own Android device, but there are countless scenarios in which it would actually be more useful to allow someone else to push data to you.
It is possible to share your phone or tablet so that another PushBullet user can send you files, text and links.
At the PushBullet website, click your email address to the upper right of the page, select Dashboard, and then click the Share button next to the device you would like a friend, colleague or partner to be able to push to.
Simply enter their email address, and if they already have a PushBullet account there is nothing else to do. Otherwise, they will be sent an invite to sign up.
Should you find that you are inundated with unwanted pushes from someone you have linked to, this is easily remedied.
Head to the Manage Shares section of the PushBullet website, and you can stop sharing with a quick click.