WebRTC, explained
without the jargon
No acronyms up front. Just what it is, how it gets your file from one screen to another, and what this app actually does with it.
What is WebRTC?
Normally, sending a file online means uploading it to a company's server first, and the other person downloads it from there — like mailing a package through a distribution warehouse before it reaches your friend. WebRTC is a feature built into your browser that skips the warehouse. It lets two browsers open a direct line to each other and pass data straight across it. Your file goes from your device to theirs — nothing sits in the middle.
How a transfer actually happens
Three plain steps, no black box.
1. Say hello
Two browsers can't find each other on their own, so a small signaling server (ours) passes along each side's address — like a mutual friend making an introduction. It never sees your files, only enough to say "you two, talk to each other."
2. Connect directly
Once introduced, your browser and the other browser open a direct line between the two devices. From this point on, our server steps out of the conversation completely.
3. Send it, locked
Every byte moving across that line is scrambled automatically by the browser itself. It's not optional — WebRTC refuses to connect without it. No one in between, including us, can read what's inside.
What FileDrop actually does
No exaggeration here — just what's really built in.
Files never touch a server
Your file goes straight from your device to theirs. We only help the two browsers find each other — the file itself skips us entirely.
Encrypted by default
This isn't a setting you can miss. WebRTC connections are encrypted end-to-end (DTLS) as a baseline requirement of the standard.
No account, just a code
Connect with a 6-character room code or scan a QR code. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to remember.
Drag, drop, done
Drop your files onto the page and sending starts. No upload button, no waiting on a progress bar pointed at a server.
Built for big files
On Chrome or Edge, incoming files stream straight to your disk as they arrive, so size isn't capped by browser memory. Firefox and Safari hold files in memory instead, so very large transfers may struggle there.