Wormhole promises to be a better longer-living Firefox Send alternative
Wormhole is a new file sharing service that promises to be a better longer-living version of Firefox Send, a file sharing service that Mozilla discontinued some time ago. Does Wormhole live up to the promises that it makes? Let's find out.
First, the basics: Wormhole can be used by anyone to send files with a total size of up to 10 Gigabytes. The service uses end-to-end encryption, and that means that the owners of Wormhole as well as the Internet Service Provider or network listeners, don't know the content of the files that are shared using the service.
To use it, visit the Wormhole website and either use drag & drop to add files to the send queue or use the file/folder browser instead. Wormhole works in all modern web browsers.
You get options to copy the link to the cloud copy of the files and a share link right away, even before the actual upload has started; this is one distinguishing factor as most file sharing services display share links and options only after a successful transfer. Wormhole calls this "instant file streaming", and recipients may start downloading files even before the upload completes.
You may copy the link to share it with others, or use the share option to use sharing options provided by the operating system. Recipients may download all files or only select files.
One interesting option that Wormhole supports is the direct sharing via WiFi or Bluetooth; these may offer faster transfer speeds as local networks are utilized when possible.
The encrypted files are stored for 24 hours in the cloud before they are deleted automatically.
The Wormhole security page reveals information about the implemented security techniques. Besides end-to-end encryption, Wormhole promises that it does not display advertisement or will load trackers. The service's key management and other security features are outlined on the page as well.
Firefox Send did support a number of features and options that Wormhole does not support at the time of writing, including password protection of files, download limits, or different storage limits.
Wormhole does not require an account at the time of writing, has a large file size limit, and supports local area network sharing. The features could make it a popular solution for Internet users.
It is unclear how Wormhole is financed. The lack of a commercial option and the guarantee that ads or trackers are not implemented, leaves the question open at the time of writing. I contacted Wormhole but have yet to receive a reply.
It is possible that a paid version is planned for the future, or that the service plans to finance itself through donations.
Update: The developers confirmed in an email that they have plans to introduce paid plans in the future; these will support larger file transfers and customization options.
Now You: do you use file sending services on the Internet?
Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.
When will you put an end to the mess in the comments?
Ghacks comments have been broken for too long. What article did you see this comment on? Reply below. If we get to 20 different articles we should all stop using the site in protest.
I posted this on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/] so please reply if you see it on a different article.
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Article Title: Reddit enforces user activity tracking on site to push advertising revenue
Article URL: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
No surprises here. This is just the beginning really. I cannot see a valid reason as to why anyone would continue to use the platform anymore when there are enough alternatives fill that void.
I’m not sure if there is a point in commenting given that comments seem to appear under random posts now, but I’ll try… this comment is for https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
My temporary “solution”, if you can call it that, is to use a VPN (Mullvad in my case) to sign up for and access Reddit via a European connection. I’m doing that with pretty much everything now, at least until the rest of the world catches up with GDPR. I don’t think GDPR is a magical privacy solution but it’s at least a first step.