Do my files pass through or get saved on any server?

No. Nearsend is strictly a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform. The signaling server is only used to exchange temporary session tokens and WebRTC handshake coordinates. Once connected, your files, text, and clipboard stream directly between your devices via WebRTC DataChannels in 64KB encrypted chunks.

How does the Voice Pairing work securely?

When you generate a voice pairing phrase, the host device creates an ephemeral 3-minute token. When spoken on the guest device, browser speech recognition converts the acoustic phrase into the token. The server validates the match and immediately triggers an explicit confirmation prompt on the host device before any connection is allowed.

Does Nearsend work across different operating systems?

Yes! Nearsend works seamlessly across any modern web browser — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and ChromeOS. No native apps or software installations are required.

Is there a file size limit on Nearsend?

Because transfers stream directly via WebRTC without hitting a central server memory limit, you can send files ranging from kilobytes to multi-gigabyte videos. Nearsend incorporates backpressure flow control to ensure smooth transmission without exhausting device RAM.

Cloud Storage vs Direct Transfer: Where Does Your Data Actually Go

September 27, 2026

"The cloud" gets talked about like some abstract, weightless place. Behind the phrase is a specific, physical answer worth spelling out, especially next to what a direct transfer does instead.

What 'the cloud' really means

Uploading to cloud storage means your file is copied onto a server owned and run by that company, sitting in a real data center in a real physical location, for as long as the service — or you — chooses to keep it there.

Who else touches that copy

Depending on the provider, that stored copy can be scanned for malware or restricted content, indexed to make it searchable, backed up across multiple data centers, and is subject to that company's own data retention and legal access policies. None of that is necessarily sinister — it's just what happens once a copy exists on infrastructure someone else operates.

What direct transfer changes

With a direct, device-to-device transfer, no third copy gets created in the first place. The file exists on the sending device, in transit across an encrypted connection, and on the receiving device — nothing is ever written to a data center to be scanned, indexed, or retained.

This isn't an argument against cloud storage

It's worth being fair here: cloud storage exists because persistence is genuinely useful — you want that photo backed up, that document available from any device, next year. That's a real, different job from "send this one thing to this one person right now," and direct transfer isn't trying to replace it — it's serving the specific case cloud storage handles clumsily, with its upload-then-download detour and account overhead.

A simple filter

If you'll want to find this file again in six months from some other device, cloud storage is the right tool. If you just need it on the other device today, a direct transfer skips the detour entirely.