We often need to exchange a large amount of data including documents, mp3 files, videos, pictures among Linux and Android devices. Although using wireless technology, you can transfer data between them but transferring via USB cable is a reliable and fast way. For Linux users, we have a tool available known as Android File Transfer that can help us to transfer our data between Android devices and Linux based systems using a USB cable.
Android File Transfer is an MTP client tool that is used to transfer files from android devices to Linux OS and from Linux OS to Android devices. It is similar to Android File Transfer that is available for Mac OS and has a very minimalistic and easy to use interface.
Android file transfer for Linux supports the following features:
- Download/Upload files and directories
- Create new directories
- Supports drag and drop feature
- Delete files from Android device
- A dialog box to view the progress of file transfer
Installing Android file transfer for Linux
Step 1: Connect your Android device with your computer using a USB cable. When prompted on Android device for allowing access to the device data, tap on Allow to allow access.
Step 2: Launch Terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T key shortcut. Then you will need to update our system by adding the PPA to your list of software sources. For this, run the following command in Terminal:
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/samoilov-lex/aftl-stable/ubuntu artful main"
Step 3: Once completed, run the following command in Terminal to update the repository.
Step 4: After your local repository is updated, run the following command in Terminal to install Android file transfer:
$ sudo apt install android-file-transfer
Step 5: Once the installation is completed, you can launch the Android file transfer from the Ubuntu Dash menu. When it will launch, you will see the following interface. You can use it to upload, download and remove files from your Android device.
So, that was we all need for installing Android file transfer for Linux. It was a very quick and straightforward method that you can use to transfer files from your Android to Ubuntu or vice versa.