A Comparative Demonstration And Analysis Of File Sharing Applications On Android Mobile Devices

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 156 – No 12, December 2016
52
A Comparative Demonstration and Analysis of File
Sharing Applications on Android Mobile Devices
Anas Irfan
Department of Computer
Science Engineering & Technology
Jamia Hamdard
New Delhi
Aqeel Khalique
Department of Computer
Science Engineering & Technology
Jamia Hamdard
New Delhi
ABSTRACT
Recently, Smartphone users have frequent need for share files
and data such as (applications, audio, video, images even
contacts) with other Smartphone users having same type of
compatible device on the go, there are various free and paid
file sharing applications available in the market for this very
purpose, these file sharing applications mainly use WLAN
(Wi-Fi Hotspot) for sharing files by creating an Ad-hoc
wireless network and share files with other users within their
vicinity.
In this paper, comparative study and analysis of file sharing
applications has been performed and presented. These file
sharing applications enable the users for faster sharing rate
among them through WLAN. They provide ease of access
among multiple compatible devices. Several tests have been
conducted including transferring several types of files and
results have been gathered and these results are used in the
analysis. A comparative analysis has also been done and the
challenges or issues that are present in the concerned file
sharing applications have been mentioned.
The work primarily focuses on the commonly used file
sharing applications in Smartphone’s worldwide namely
SHAREit, Xender and Zapya.
General Terms
File Sharing, WLAN File Transfer.
Keywords
Mobile File Sharing Applications, File Sharing, Android File
Sharing Applications, SHAREit, Zapya, Xender
1. INTRODUCTION
File sharing is transferring or sharing the digital data such as
image, audio, video, document etc. stored on an electronic
device (mobile, laptop etc.) with similar compatible electronic
devices. Nowadays, file sharing is mostly done through
wireless medium. Earlier, sharing of files or data between
different electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptop, etc
were done using traditional modes based on IR (Infrared
Waves) or Bluetooth, but file sharing using IR and Bluetooth
connectivity were time consuming because of their slow data
transfer rate. As technology advancement took place users
need these things like sharing files to be less time consuming
with faster data transfer rate, the faster data transfer rate have
been achieved through the use of wireless medium using
WLAN.
In recent days, numerous applications were introduced in
digital market which can transfer file among different mobile
devices over WLAN. These applications are available as
proprietary and open source for further advancement. Using
these applications, one can share digital file with an
interactive ease of access. These applications create a personal
network among the communicating devices over Wi-Fi
channel; however, the communicating parties must have same
file sharing application and must be present within the
operating range of Wi-Fi i.e. 25-30 m.
According to statistical data, there are around 2.16 Billion
active Smartphone (devices or) users in the world in 2016[1]
and there are around 700Million of the total 2.16Billion
Smartphone users worldwide, who use SHAREit for sharing
files[2]
which is about 32.41% of the total Smartphone users
worldwide, and around 450Million of the total 2.16Billion
Smartphone users, who use Zapya for sharing files[3]
which is
about 20.83% of the total Smartphone users worldwide, and
around 330Million of the total 2.16Billion Smartphone users,
who use Xender for sharing files[4]
which is about 15.28% of
the total Smartphone users worldwide.
So, the total of 68.52% out of total 2.16 Billion Smartphone
users worldwide use one of the three applications namely
SHAREit, Zapya and Xender for sharing files, and there are
remaining 31.48% out of total 2.16 Billion Smartphone users
who use other mode for sharing files as shown in Figure1.
Fig 1: File Sharing User Base Worldwide
In this paper, a comparative study and analysis of three
commonly used file sharing mobile applications namely
SHAREit, Zapya and Xender has been done that run over
Android platform and most commonly used by smart phone
users. Current study has been restricted to these three mobile
applications because of obvious limitations.
The further sections of the paper are categorized as follows: in
Section 2 a background study of these applications has been
done. In section 3, a comparative analysis based on the
research findings has been presented. In section 4, the results
and analysis based on the research and findings has been

53
presented, further in Section 5 and 6, the future work and
conclusion has been presented respectively.
2. FILE SHARING APPLICATIONS
In this section, the commonly used applications namely
SHAREit, Zapya and Xender for sharing media files (images,
audio, video and document) through wireless peer-to-peer
connection have been reviewed. All these applications use
WLAN by creating ad-hoc Wi-Fi hotspot for the purpose of
file sharing. In the subsections below, the growth, evolution,
ease of access, features and issues of the mentioned mobile
applications has been discussed.
2.1 Shareit APPLICATION
SHAREit is the world's fastest cross-platform file sharing
android application used to share files through Wi-Fi
compatible devices. It was developed by Lenovo Inc. and was
first launched in China in June 2012. It is open source
application and it allows inter-platform file sharing [2][5]
. It is
compatible on Windows PC, Windows Phone, Android, and
iOS devices to transfer files directly through WLAN (Wi-Fi
Hotspot). SHAREit allows user to share file to connected
single user ranging from 1MB to 10GB.
Figure 2 shows screenshot of SHAREit application running on
Android platform.
a)SHAREit Homepage b)Sending File Mode c)Receive
File Mode
Fig 2: Screenshot of SHAREit
2.1.1 Growth of SHAREit
SHAREit application is launched in 2012 and became popular
file sharing app. It got nearly 150-million users in India in one
year of operation and over 500-million users worldwide. It
works on WLAN (Wi-Fi Hotspot) technology, which does not
rely on a pre-existing infrastructure. SHAREit is completely
free and cost efficient. It allows the users to share files
without Internet connection. It works incredibly fast about
200 times faster than Bluetooth and IR.
2.1.2 Issues in SHAREit
During the analysis phase, the focus was also made on the
issues related to SHAREit. These issues are listed below:
• In the Android version of the SHAREit app, there is no
password needed to join the hotspot leading to security
issues.
• Other vulnerability is that SHAREit, traffic is in original
form no encryption decryption technique is deployed,
which result as these files and data in transit can be
easily intercepted and altered.
• Attacker present within Wi-Fi range to connect into the
LAN and monitor and view the files in transit.
• If a user is in receive mode, then anyone within the range
can share file without any security mechanism (no
confidentiality).
2.2 Zapya Application
Zapya is another famous file sharing application which is
compatible across multiple operating systems (OS) and is
freely available. It is developed by DEWMobiles Inc. for
mobiles, tablets and PC through which one user can transfer
the files such as images, audio, documents, videos,
applications and games. It was initially developed for the
Chinese market but later spread to neighboring countries such
as Myanmar, Pakistan, and India [3]
.
Through this application, files can be shared through WLAN
to multiple users (maximum 4) at a time by creating a group.
File sharing can be performed by creating a group and any
other devices can be connected to this device as long as they
are on the same network. When the devices get connected
users can exchange the messages along with the files and
applications. Zapya is developed as the fastest cross-platform
wireless file sharing. Apart from this, Zapya gives a feature
which allows connected user to access contents and device
camera and device storage remotely.
Figure 3 shows screenshot of Zapya application running on
Android platform. Figure 3(b) shows Zapya Application in
file sending mode where one can select and choose files and
create a group to share file with other users having Zapya. To
receive files, user should scan the code or join the same group
created by the sender. Both sender and receiver should be
connected to the same ad-hoc WLAN network and stay within
its range while sharing files.
a)Zapya Homepage b)File Sending Mode c)File Receiving
Mode
Fig 3: Screenshot of Zapya
2.2.1 Growth of Zapya
According to the experts, less than 40% of Smartphone users
have mobile data plans and less than 30% of the users have
access to internet. Zapya is a file sharing application which is
used to share the files (documents, images, audio, and video)
without internet through WLAN. Users of Zapya are not
limited to the population of rural areas or developing
countries where Wi-Fi is less reliable, but also to the people
residing in developing countries where mobile data is
expensive. Zapya can benefit the users who cannot afford to
share files through internet. Zapya is gaining hundreds of
users every day. It is expected that there would be diverse
range of Zapya users in the years to come [6]
.
2.2.2 Issues in Zapya
During the analysis phase, the focus was also made to the
issues related to Zapya file sharing application. These issues
are listed below:

54
• Data backup feature of Zapya does not work on all
applications.
• Windows support unfortunately translates into
malware and Zapya displays nothing.
• Complicated User Interface (Not User friendly
interface)
2.3 Xender Application
Xender is an open source file sharing application which helps
to connect two or more devices at a time for file sharing. Files
such as images, music files, video files can be shared through
the Xender application. It is originally launched in 2012 and
was called as Flash Transfer. It is available in more than 30
different languages and the name was changed to Xender [4][7]
.
It is user friendly interface and share files of different size and
format between connected devices through WLAN. The
connected devices need to be in WLAN range while sharing
files. Through this application, files can be shared through
WLAN to multiple users (maximum 5) at a time by creating a
group.
Figure 4 shows screenshot of Xender application running on
Android platform. It also has gesture based control for file
sharing, for example - shake to share the selected file with the
connected group.
a)Xender Homepage b)File Sending Mode c)File
Receive Mode
Fig 4: Screenshot of Xender
2.3.1 Growth of Xender
Xender was released in 2012 by the Xender team. In past few
years, there were more than 80 million activated users
globally and is available in more than 30 different languages.
2.3.2 Issues in Xender
During the analysis phase, the focus was also made on the
issues related to the Xender file sharing application. These
issues are listed below:
• Data Transmission Error may occur sometimes.
• Creating a group for file sharing may give rise to
issues.
• Joining pre existing group for sharing data may
have some issues
3. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FILE
SHARING APPLICATIONS
3.1 Comparison based on different features
In this section, the file sharing applications namely SHAREit,
Zapya and Xender has been compared, which are discussed in
earlier section.
Table 1 show the comparison of these file sharing applications
based on different features like Number of active users
worldwide, Devices supported on which these applications
can run, Services these file sharing applications provide.
Table 1. Comparison of SHAREit, Zapya and Xender
Features SHAREit Zapya Xender
No. Of
Users
Over 700
Million.
Over 450
Million.
Over 330
Million.
Device
Supported
Android, IOS,
Mac &
Windows
Android, IOS,
MacOS &
Windows
Android,
Windows,
Mac & IOS
Services
Cross-platform
file sharing
Cross Platform
Data Sharing and
Data Backup
SHAKE
option for data
transfer
CONTROL &
CLONEit Replicate Phone Connect PC
3.2 Comparison based on file sharing time
In this Section, the file sharing applications (SHAREit, Zapya
and Xender) has been compared based on their file sharing
rate for different types of files and of different sizes. The
result is presented in Table 2 & Table 3.
Table 2. Transfer Rate for different types of files and of
different sizes.
File Type SHAREit Zapya Xender
Single
Small File
1 file
(4.2 Mb) in
1sec
1 file
(5.5 Mb) in
1sec
1 file
(5.2 Mb) in
1.12secs
Multiple
Small
Files
21 files
(19.3 Mb) in
19secs
76 files
(15.12 Mb) in
10sec
30 files
(10.4 Mb) in
2.4secs
Single Big
File
1 file
(899Mb) in
3min2secs
(182secs)
1 file
(653Mb) in
2min58secs
(178secs)
1 file
(890Mb) in
3min22secs
(202secs)
Multiple
Big Files
10 files
(591.1 Mb) in
2min12secs
(132secs)
22 files
(980 Mb) in
3mins
(180secs)
20 files
(840 Mb) in
2min38secs
(218secs)

55
Analysis for sharing different files through SHAREit, Zapya
& Xender based on File Sharing transfer rate as shown in
Figure 5 can be given as follows;
For Single Small File - SHAREit, Zapya and Xender are
evenly matched and there is very minute difference while
sharing small files.
For Multiple Small Files – Xender is comparatively better
than Zapya and SHAREit and shares with high speed. Zapya
and SHAREit are comparatively slow while sharing multiple
small files.
For Single Big File – SHAREit is comparatively better than
Zapya and Xender while sharing single big file.
For Multiple Big Files – Zapya is comparatively better than
SHAREit and Xender while sharing multiple big files.
Fig 5: Transfer Rate for different type of files of different
sizes
Table 3. Transfer Rate for same types of files of same size
File Type SHAREit Zapya Xender
Single Small
File
(File Size-
10.2Mb)
In 3secs In 3secs In 3secs
Multiple Small
Files
(File Size-
243Mb)
In 54secs
In
2min16secs
(136secs)
In 50secs
Single Big File
(File Size-
890Mb)
In
2min54secs
(174secs)
In
3min9secs
(189secs)
In
3min53secs
(233secs)
Multiple Big
File
(File Size-
1.51Gb)
In
4min36secs
(276secs)
In
7min11secs
(431secs)
In
6min11secs
(371secs)
Analysis for sharing same files through SHAREit Zapya &
Xender based on file sharing transfer rate as shown in Figure
6 can be made as follows;
For Single Small File - SHAREit, Zapya and Xender are
evenly matched and there is very minute difference while
sharing small files.
For Multiple Small Files – Xender & SHAREit is
comparatively better than Zapya while sharing multiple small
files.
For Single Big File – SHAREit is comparatively better than
Zapya and Xender while sharing single big file.
For Multiple Big Files – SHAREit is comparatively better
than Zapya and Xender while sharing multiple big files.
Fig 6: Transfer Rate for same types of files of same size
Table 4, shows the comparison between these file sharing
applications SHAREit, Zapya & Xender based on several
features and comparison based on the security mechanism
which are essential to ensure the security of the data and files
such as confidentiality, integrity, and the authenticity of data
which are being shared with others through these file sharing
applications, and also to highlight the major security flaws
and security concern which are present in these file sharing
applications.
There is no authentication process for the users which are
using these file sharing applications and sharing data with
other users, no confidentiality is maintained while the sharing
of files which can lead to non repudiation, no integrity checks
like encryption decryption algorithms or hashing algorithms
are used to ensure the integrity of the files while they are in
devices or in transit which can lead to unauthorized access &
modification of data, and monitoring of files in transit.
Table 4. Comparison of SHAREit, Zapya & Xender based
on several parameters
Features SHAREit Zapya Xender
Compatible
Devices
Android   
iOS   
Windows   
Security
Mechanism
Confidentiality   
Authentication   
Integrity   

56
Remote Control of Device   
File Sharing
Modes
Peer-to-Peer   
Group

 
Shake
 

Compression   
Encryption
  
3.3 Findings based on Research & Analysis
of the file sharing applications
Based on the study and transfer test results, the following
analysis has been made;
• While file is been shared among sender and receiver, all
data services like mobile data or Wi-Fi connectivity is
disabled till both sender and receiver are connected to
WLAN network created for file sharing.
• Both devices (Sender & Receiver) should have identical
file sharing application for file sharing.
• Both devices (Sender & Receiver) should have WLAN
(Wi-Fi Hotspot) features enabled device to use these file
sharing applications.
• Both devices (Sender & Receiver) should stay within the
WLAN network’s range created for file sharing. Even if
either one of the two devices moves out from the WLAN
network range, then file sharing will abort and fail.
• If file sharing was interrupted for some reason then in
SHAREit application it will resume file sharing from the
point of interruption earlier.
• In SHAREit, if a device (user) is in receiving mode, then
the (receiving device) Receiver will create an ad-hoc
WLAN (Wi-Fi Hotspot) network and anyone within the
range can send file to that user (receiving device) by
connecting to that same network, as SHAREit does not
use any security mechanism to ensure authenticity and
confidentiality of sender and receiver.
4. FUTURE WORK
As a part of future work, the focus has been made on to the
issues commonly faced in these file sharing applications.
Specifically, as in SHAREit, there is no security mechanism
for authentication and confidentiality of sender and receiver.
This issue can be resolved by employing pass-key or
establishing a secure session key prior to file sharing.
Another issue in the mentioned file sharing applications is that
files are not encrypted prior to sharing and also unencrypted
data is shared with between sending & receiving devices.
Encryption Decryption algorithms and Hashing algorithms
should be implemented with these file sharing may indulge
additional complexity with the process and make it more time
consuming as to encrypt the data prior to transfer and them
decrypt the received data and then match the hash value of the
received data. However, it is not present in these file sharing
applications.
5. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the research has been focused on the file sharing
applications running on Smartphone’s specifically android
mobile devices. File sharing applications use WLAN for
sharing files faster among the connected devices.
Demonstration has been performed by conducting file sharing
on android mobile device using these popular mobile file
sharing applications namely SHAREit, Xender & Zapya. By
transferring of all types of files such as single small file,
single big file, multiple small and big files has been
performed to compare the file transfer rate among these file
sharing applications. Different analysis has been performed
focusing on ease of access and compatibility and the results
obtained were presented.
However, these file sharing applications have issues related to
security aspects such as confidentiality, authentication,
integrity etc.
Being widely used and supported by big corporate giants,
these file sharing applications can be upgraded to provide
additional security mechanisms by providing these security
mechanism with these file sharing applications in the future
and it will make file sharing using WLAN secure and reliable
by ensuring the authenticity of the user which enable only the
legitimate users (device) for sharing files, and by ensuring the
confidentiality of the users (devices) to ensure that only the
authorized user to share data, and by providing the integrity of
the data while they are stored in devices prior to file sharing
or while in transit by enabling Encryption Decryption
algorithm and hashing algorithm to ensure that the files and
data are not tampered and changed and they file received are
same as the file sent.
By enabling these security mechanism file sharing through
WLAN (Wi-Fi Hotspot) will be made more secure and more
reliable in the future.
6. REFERENCES
[1][Online] http://thehub.smsglobal.com/smartphone-
ownership-usage-and-penetration
[2][Online]http://www.uSHAREit.com/?referer=gp&app=shar
eit
[3] [Online] http://www.izapya.com/
[4] [Online] http://www.xender.com/
[5] [Online] http://shareit.lenovo.com/
[6] [Online] https://zapya.org/
[7] [Online] http://xender.en.uptodown.com/android
IJCATM : www.ijcaonline.org

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