Re: How do nonroot Android & nonjailbroken iOS run SMB servers to connect to each other & Windows?

On Fri, 18 Apr 2025 18:35:32 +0000, Tyrone wrote :

If someone can explain why "net use Z:" mounts Android as a Windows drive
letter when I use a WebDav server on Android, but the same command doesn't
mount Android as a drive letter when I use SMB, I'd love to know why.

 
Because there is no SMB (port 445) server running on Android. Android does not
allow anyone to use port 445 for servers.  iOS does. WebDav is using port
8080.  That's why it works on Android.

Hi Tyrone,

Thanks for helping out on this thread, where you and Crhis were the only
people, other than me, who did any work to solve teh question being asked.

As a result of our efforts, the rest of the group has learned a ton.
Which is exactly how Uenet is supposed to work as a team.

So I thank you very much for all your effort & patience in testing SMB.

I'm not a network expert by any stretch of the imagination, so I will defer
to your greater knowledge level, but just to add value to this
conversation, I had long ago compiled a listing of the available free SMB
servers on Android with information from Frank Slootweg and others, oh,
maybe five years ago.

Here is that listing.
But I do not know how many of these are still developed.

Free Android SMB Servers:

SimbaDroid (Open Source)
https://github.com/buttercookie42/SimbaDroid
SMB Version(s): SMBv1, SMBv2, SMBv3
Note: This app does not require root.
Notes: No user authentication; intended for trusted networks.
Source:
https://xdaforums.com/t/app-4-0-3-no-root-lan-drive-samba-filesharing-server-smb1-and-smb2.3790945/page-12#post-90056889

Samba Server for Android (deprecated)
SMB Version(s): SMBv1, SMBv2 (no SMBv3 support)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.j4velin.samba
Note: Root not required.

Droid NAS
SMB Version(s): SMBv1 only
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ragingdev.droidnas
Note: This app likely requires root.

SMB Server for Android (by AL-SULTAN)
Free and Pro versions available
SMB Version(s): SMBv3
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=alsultan.smbserver
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=alsultan.smbserver.pro
Note: This app uses a non-standard port (4445 instead of 445).

SambaDroid (deprecated)
SMB Version(s): SMBv1 only
https://github.com/SambaDroid
Note: Currently only available as source, no GitHub APK anymore.

Samba Server Pro by Ice Cold Apps
SMB Version(s): SMBv1, SMBv2
Note: Likely requires root.
Availability: Available on APK sites.

File Server (by The Olive Tree) (deprecated)
SMB Version(s): SMBv2 only (no SMBv3 support)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.olive.file.server
Note: This app likely requires root.

LAN drive - SAMBA Server by Webrox
https://download.cnet.com/lan-drive-samba-server/3000-20432_4-77826371.html
SMB Version(s): SMBv1 and SMBv2
Note: Requires root access.
Additional Information:

In addition, it's worth noting that Android itself has had a built-in SMB
client (as of Android 8.0 Oreo, supporting SMBv2 and SMBv3). This is
typically accessible through file explorer apps and doesn't turn your
Android device into a server but allows it to connect to other SMB servers
as a client.