KDE Connect improvements

GSOC, KDE

After the feedback we have received (you guys are awesome), we have made some improvements and fixes to KDEConnect. The most notable are:

  • Support for Android 2.3!
  • More reliable connection backend, using broadcast messages instead of Avahi
  • Improved MPRIS controls including volume control
  • Removed annoying connection notifications :P

We have received lots of great ideas to implement too, and that’s why we are working on a plugin system to make it really easy for any developer to implement  his/her ideas.

You can download the latest “stable” APK from the same URL as before:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8820360/apks/KdeConnect.apk

If you prefer to download the latest development APK, use this URL instead:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4fmgnssgiu9oatz/-tcd-oDD1p
Please note that if you already have the previous APK installed, you will need to manually uninstall it before being able to install this one.

And as always you can download the KDED and Android app source code from git:

git clone git://anongit.kde.org/scratch/albertvaka/kdeconnect-kded
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/scratch/albertvaka/kdeconnect-android

Have fun!

46 thoughts on “KDE Connect improvements”

  1. Maybe out of scope for this SOC but PulseAudio volume control (not only MPRIS) would be nice as well.

    Reply

    1. I would like to have a look into that (because I personally use Spotify and it does not support changing the volume through MPRIS) but there is not enough time for it during the GSOC, so it will have to wait some weeks.

      Reply
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  3. I really love your idea!
    Everything works but vlc! Should I do something to make it work?
    I would also like to suggest you to implement the navigation in the directory so that we can easily choose the video file to play, and it would also be nice to have the function to shut the system with this app!
    I look forward for your next release ;)

    Reply

    1. Update: I’ve done with vlc I just had to enable the dbus control interface in vlc (Tools > Preferences, select “All” under “Show settings”, then to Interface > Control Interface)
      Sorry for the double post

      Reply

      1. No problem, actually your answer can help other people with the same problem ;) Àlex Fiestas said he will ask the VLC developers to enable that option by default (not only for our project: KMix, Ubuntu Unity and many other projects are using it too) so I hope this extra step will not be needed in the near future.

        Reply

  4. Any plans of eventually posting the apk to the Googe Play store (or even one of the third party Android app stores)?

    I understand it is probably way too early to do this yet given the early stage of development, but it would be great if we could grab it (and get updates!) via the app store channel …

    Loving what this is becoming. Everyone in the house here, most of whom are not techies, were wowed by it :)

    Reply

  5. very cool indeed.
    already time to think about firefox os support! :P
    50€ smartphones are about to be on sale in EU.

    Reply

  6. Great work. Trying to test it, I found two problems:

    1. I got it to work (paired device), but after reinstalling the apk package back and forth (I tried to that to test whether sync clipboard could get activated in any of the versions, stable or dev), the device appears now as disconnected. Is there an easy way to reset this?

    2. I also tried to compile the apk myself, but I’m naive to this, so I didn’t suceed. Could you please add a small guide to it (such a README file or alike)?

    Thanks!

    Reply
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  8. Para conectar, tengo que deshabilitar el cortafuegos en opensuse, busco el puerto tcp con netstat -tup, pero cada vez que reinicio el puerto cambia, podría fijarse de alguna forma.

    To connect, I have to disable the firewall on opensuse, I look for tcp port with netstat-tup, but every time I restart the port changes, could be fixed somehow.

    Reply

      1. Hi, regarding your comment about the port range I wanted to comment that opened in the openSUSE firewall but still create the connection, just connect if the firewall is disabled. Would need a little help to make it work. A greeting and thank you for creating this fantastic utility. Jesus.

        Reply

  9. So I did, I added the port range in both protocols but as I do not see the equipment. Instead, nothing but turn off the firewall are no problems for a while … Sorry for my English, I use google translator because I have no command of the English language, I’m Spanish. Greetings Jesus.

    Reply

  10. How about being able to rename a device? My phone is detected as “htc_europe HTC One X”, but I’d like to name it “HTC One X”. Original label looks quite ugly in notifications.

    Reply

    1. You will be able to rename devices through the system settings module, but currently you have to do it manually editing the kdeconnectrc config file.

      Btw, we will try to get better default names so they don’t look that ugly :)

      Reply

      1. Thanks! But I think such names should be defined on the phone side, not in KDE. Because the name is specific to a phone, not computer.

        Reply

        2. I mean I’d like to be able to rename phone via KDE_connect’s Android application. Having good default name is cool, but some users may want to name phone like “Old phone”, “Work”, etc.

          Reply

  11. Tocayo, no me funciona en mi defy (android 2.3), sólo me deja la pantalla en negro :\ por cierto, me encanta el trabajazo que está saliendo de aquí, da gusto :) ¿tienes algún otro blog donde cuentes tus experiencias en KDE y lo que has hecho para llegar hasta donde estás? me encantaría trabajar el día de mañana en gnu con linux. ¡Un abrazo!

    Reply

    1. The last update used some features that are 4.0+ only, and we still have to add 2.3 compatibility code for those, so users like you will have to wait to have 2.3 support again. This is my first time working for KDE, I’m participating in a GSOC program but there are lots of other ways to get involved in KDE, drop by the IRC channels or the mailing lists if you are interested!

      Reply

      2. Hi, thank for your work! I installed kdeconnect-git from AUR and then downloaded the apk from the link above. In kde system settings i can see my device and give it trust but i cannot start the app in my phone… it will always show a blank screen after tapping the kdeconnect icon. I’m running cyanogenmod 7.2 (android 2.3.7) on a lg optimus one (p500). I shoud be able to successfully use the app, right? am i missing something? thank you in advance and again, nice work!

        Reply

  12. Hi, I really love your application and I have installed. We have discovered a bug that just because you have it in mind but just in case I communicate. When you pair the kde terminal, do not know why, also leaves the option of matching your own pc in my case ~ linux-xmhi. Well if you match this, something unusual occurs I will explain:
    When you cut or copy a file (does not matter whether a video, photo, etc..) Changes to the clipboard instead of ‘pasting a file “to” paste clipboard content “so that if hit with such name : myphoto.jpg only paste a text with the url example :/ / file / home / user / MyPhoto.jpg.
    Thank you for your attention and best regards.

    Reply

    1. Yup, that’s a bug. However the “loopback” that makes you able to pair with yourself is enabled only for debugging pourposes and should not be there in a stable release, so this bug will not happen. I pushed a change to master with that loopback removed so it doesn’t happen to people using kdeconnect from git like you.

      Reply

  13. This is my steps

    git clone git://anongit.kde.org/kdeconnect-kde
    cd kdeconnect-kded
    cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/kdeconnect-kde ./
    make

    and then i have the error.

    My system is Feodra 19 64bit and i installed the followed package as dependency

    attica-devel automoc fontconfig-devel freetype-devel gl-manpages keyutils-libs-devel krb5-devel libICE-devel libSM-devel libX11-devel libXScrnSaver-devel libXau-devel libXcomposite-devel libXcursor-devel libXdamage-devel libXext-devel libXfixes-devel libXft-devel libXi-devel libXinerama-devel libXpm-devel libXrandr-devel libXrender-devel git786f78fd8 libXt-devel libXtst-devel libXv-devel libXxf86misc-devel libXxf86vm-devel libcom_err-devel libdrm-devel libselinux-devel libsepol-devel libverto-devel libxcb-devel libxkbfile-devel mesa-libGL-devel mesa-libGLU-devel openssl-devel phonon-devel qt-devel qtwebkit-devel shared-desktop-ontologies-devel soprano-devel xorg-x11-proto-devel zlib-devel qjson-devel qca2-devel kdelibs-devel kde-workspace-devel kwin-gles-libs mesa-libGLES

    Reply

  14. Ok, I have done another clone and now it works.

    Now I have another problem.
    I have Cyanogenmod 10.1 installed and my mobile device is a Samsung GT-I9000.
    When i go to ‘Notification Sync’ kdeconnect says me ‘This features is not available in your android version’.
    The paring from mobile device and PC is running for few seconds so i must unparing and paring it again.

    Is it a cyanogenmod problem? Is it supported?

    Regards,
    Stefano

    Reply

  15. I have KDE Connect installed from the Play store and I have compiled the software on my laptop but there is nothing coming up in system settings / devices.
    I need to do something else?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  16. On openSUSE 12.3 firewall works perfect if enable KDE Connect service. Put file named “kde-connect” into /etc/sysconfig/SuSEfirewall2.d/services/

    ## Name: KDE connect
    ## Description: opens ports for KDE Connect in order to allow to connect phone

    TCP=”1714:1764″
    UDP=”1714:1764″
    BROADCAST=”1714:1764″

    Reply

  18. Very good application, Congratulations. No way to change the download folder on the PC?. Now is on the Desktop.

    Muy buena aplicación, Felicidades. Hay forma de cambiar el folder de descarga en la PC, digo ahora lo hace en el desktop.

    Reply

  19. Depois que eu originalmente comentou I parecem ter clicado o – Me avise quando alguém comentar este post – checkbox e agora cada vez que uma recebo quatro com exatamente o mesmo comentário. Existe um método fácil você é capaz de remover me de que serviço? Obrigado !

    Reply

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