Summary
In Shared Network mode the receiver always generates and displays the password, and the sender always types or scans it. I'd like an option to invert that, so the sending device is the one that displays the password and QR code, and the receiving device is the one that enters or scans it.
Motivation
The QR code path only works when the device showing the code has a screen the other device can point a camera at, and the device reading it has a camera. That's an asymmetry between desktop and mobile, but the current rule assigns the roles by transfer direction, which is a different axis entirely.
Concretely, Windows → Android/iOS is (I'd guess) one of the most common pairs, and it lands on the wrong side of this:
| Direction |
Displays password |
Enters password |
QR usable? |
| Android → Windows |
Windows |
Android |
yes — Android scans the desktop's QR |
| Windows → Android/iOS |
Android |
Windows |
no — the desktop can't scan a phone screen |
So in the Windows → Android direction the QR code is generated on a device nobody can scan it from, and the user has to read a 10-character random string off the phone and type it into the desktop by hand. Half of the transfers lose the feature that exists specifically to avoid that.
The same applies to Linux → Android, and to any desktop → mobile pair.

Summary
In Shared Network mode the receiver always generates and displays the password, and the sender always types or scans it. I'd like an option to invert that, so the sending device is the one that displays the password and QR code, and the receiving device is the one that enters or scans it.
Motivation
The QR code path only works when the device showing the code has a screen the other device can point a camera at, and the device reading it has a camera. That's an asymmetry between desktop and mobile, but the current rule assigns the roles by transfer direction, which is a different axis entirely.
Concretely, Windows → Android/iOS is (I'd guess) one of the most common pairs, and it lands on the wrong side of this:
So in the Windows → Android direction the QR code is generated on a device nobody can scan it from, and the user has to read a 10-character random string off the phone and type it into the desktop by hand. Half of the transfers lose the feature that exists specifically to avoid that.
The same applies to Linux → Android, and to any desktop → mobile pair.