We recently posted about Google Tone which is a pretty nifty tool to transmit links over audible tones encoded using the classic DTMF tones. At that time we thought that it was a unique project of its own kind but we are proven wrong a few days ago project Chirp released their Chrome extension. Chirp is similar to Google Tone and is able to transmit and receive various types of online links in form of audible sound signal. It is available as an app for Android and iPhone as well as in form of an extension for the Google Chrome browser.
After installing the Chirp extension in the Chrome browser, you can find its yellow colored button in the omnibar clicking on which will open another small window that will help you send the link to the currently open web page in form of a sound signal. Any device running Chirp on it is able to hear it and receive the link.
You can also right click on any link and choose to Chirp it. This way you can send pictures, videos, mp3 files, web pages etc., – almost anything – in form of links to other devices. All the items are sent as shortened URLs using the chirp.io domain, so the receiving device must be online to fetch whatever those received links point to.
When you send a link from the Chrome browser, it identifies the object being sent and you can send the item right away. But if you have to send that item repeatedly over and over again, then you can click on the gear-link icon in the small Chirp window and choose to download the audible code as an mp3 file by clicking on Download as mp3. You can play this mp3 file in any media player to send the same link to surrounding devices in future.
In the smartphone apps for Chirp, you have to touch on the small plus icon to add a new item to be sent. All the items being received on your device are displayed in the Chirp app interface in the order they are received. For some types of links like pictures and web pages, a preview is also displayed.
If you touch on the preview of the received items in the Chirp app, then it shows the actions you can take for the received items. For example, if you receive a picture, then you can choose to save it in phone’s gallery. If you receive a web page link, then you can choose to open it in browser.
Conclusion: Chirp is great for sending links without the need of permissions, passwords, PIN codes or pairing up devices. You can just send the links to any device that is listening using the Chirp app. But the audible nature of the communication makes it unsuitable for places that require silence and quiet.
You can download Chirp app and extension from http://chirp.io/.