PushBullet: send data to your Android device

PushBullet has been around for some time. It is an Android application and web service that you can make use of to send data, files, notes, textual information, to your Android phone from the computer. It is obviously not the only way to do so. There is the option to connect your phone directly to your computer to transfer data, or use a file synchronization service like Dropbox, or email.

What makes PushBullet special is that it is real easy to use, more about that later. First thing that you need to do is install the program on your Android device. It is compatible with all Android versions 2.3 and up. Fire up the application after you have installed it on your device and connect it to your Google account.

Once that is done open the PushBullet website and connect your Google account to it as well. This pairs the device and the computer so that you can push data to the Android device.

Here you can select the push to this device option to open a basic menu that enables you to send notes, an address, lists, files or links to the phone.

The data that you have pushed to the phone arrives in a matter of seconds on it. It is listed directly in the main interface of the app so that you can launch the file or information with one or two taps.

How does this compare to Dropbox and other file synchronization services?

Dropbox: You move the file into the Dropbox folder and need the Dropbox Android application installed. All other information need to be pushed as textual files. The files are not automatically download on the mobile device though, which means that you need to open the Dropbox client on your Android device, select the file you want on your device so that it is downloaded and then opened on it.

PushBullet: You select the file on the PushBullet website. It is uploaded immediately to your Android device where it can be opened directly. Instead of using the website, you can also use the Firefox add-on or Google Chrome extension for the pushing. This is more comfortable as you only have to click on the extension's icon to get started.

So, if you want to quickly send data to your phone or tablet, PushBullet may be the better choice for that, at least where speed and accessibility is concerned.

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Verdict

If you want to quickly send information to your phone and do not worry about the security of the data, then PushBullet is a service that you can use for that purpose. Security here means that it is probably not the wisest choice to use it to transfer important or high security files or information. It is ideal for sending a document, apk file or textual information to your phone though.

It is also an interesting option if you only have web access a the location you are in, for instance if you are on a public computer and need to send a file to your phone or information that you need.

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