By Sylvia Lorico
Link your phone to your computer or tablet with Pushbullet. Available free on iOS and Android, the app allows users to share files between devices. Android users can use the app to receive SMS messages or notifications from their phone on connected devices.*
In order to link notifications and messages, users are required to sign in with a Facebook or Google account and download Pushbullet on the devices they wish to connect. Pushbullet is available online, as a downloadable program and as a Google Chrome extension.
Once the application is downloaded, users can enable syncing between their phone and chosen devices. This allows a computer or tablet to receive text messages or notifications from a phone. Users can also send text messages from connected devices.
There is also a feature on the app called “pushing.” It lets users send links or files directly between connected devices. Users copy or paste links or attach files under the “me” category found on the pushing tab. This will send items directly to their device. They can also “push” links and files to their contacts, which will send items to a contact’s email.
Another feature is remote file transfer. This allows users to access files found in the internal storage of a synced phone, tablet or computer. Users can then send these files directly to another device or across all devices.
Pushbullet secures data with the widely-used HTTPS protocol but also allows users to encrypt data transfers with more secure end-to-end encryption. Pushbullet lets users set a passcode into each device they use it on. It then encrypts their data transfers so that only the passcode can be used to decrypt and read them. Users should create a complex passcode for Pushbullet and only use it for that service.
*CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Pushbullet allows users to send text messages from other devices linked to their phones. This feature is only available to Android users.
Leave a Reply