# Send photos and videos straight to your contacts

> When a photo or video is too big for your relay, the Knit beta for Android can send it directly to your contact's phone, even from another city.

By Jeff Mixon · 7 November 2026

You send a friend a 3 MB video of your new puppy. Your texts have been going through, but the video shows "Not on relays." It's bigger than your relay can carry.

If you and your friend both have direct links turned on, Knit can connect your phones over the Internet and send the video straight across. You share it in the same chat you already use.

**What's a direct link?.** An encrypted Internet connection between your phone and a contact's phone. Knit opens it when there's something to send and closes it a few minutes after it goes quiet.

## Try it with a contact

You'll both need the Knit beta for Android. On each phone, go to Settings › Internet relays and turn on Connect directly to contacts. It's off by default.

Once you've both opted in, Knit can use a direct link for your direct messages, posts in groups you share, the photos and videos in those chats, and mesh calls. The public Nearby room and messages your phone forwards for other people stay on their usual routes.

## Knit handles the connection for you

When you're nearby, Knit uses the mesh to send messages over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, even without Internet access. When you're apart, your Internet relay holds messages until your contact's phone picks them up.

A direct link gives you another option when you're both online. Your relay introduces the phones, then they connect straight to each other. If the network blocks the connection, your relay still delivers the messages and files it normally carries.

*Knit can use the mesh nearby and a relay when you're apart. The Android beta adds a direct link between your phones.*

**Three ways a message gets from Sam's phone to Ana's**

- **The mesh** (No Internet): Nearby phones can pass the message along over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
- **Your relay** (Over the Internet): The relay holds the encrypted message until Ana's phone picks it up.
- **A direct link** (Over the Internet): The relay introduces the phones so they can send messages, photos, and videos straight to each other.

## When a direct link helps

Either phone can start the connection. If your contact turns the feature on after you've sent a video that was too big for your relay, their phone can ask yours for it.

- **Send a video that's too big for your relay** — If a photo or video in a direct message is over your relay's size limit, Knit can send it straight to your contact's phone.
- **Give a slow message another route** — If a message hasn't arrived after 20 seconds, Knit tries a direct link. Your relay keeps its copy and still delivers it.
- **Make a mesh call when you're out of range** — If the mesh can't reach your contact, Knit can connect the call over the Internet and keep it on the direct link until you hang up.
- **Share large files faster when you're together** — On some phones, sending a photo over Bluetooth can take minutes. If neither of you is on mobile data, Knit can use a direct link for larger photos and videos.

## What you share when you turn it on

Your direct and group messages stay end-to-end encrypted on a direct link, as they do on the mesh and through your relay.

When Knit tries to connect, your contact's phone learns your IP address, even if the connection fails. That address can reveal your approximate location and Internet provider. Your relay and the server that helps the phones find each other also see it.

While the switch is on, any contact you've accepted can learn your IP address this way unless you've blocked them. Leave the switch off to keep Knit from sharing your IP address with contacts through this feature. You can keep using the mesh and your relay as usual.

## Give it a try with a friend

Get the Android beta on both phones, then turn on Connect directly to contacts in Settings › Internet relays. Try sending a video that's too big for your relay while you're apart. Tell us whether it went through and attach a field log if you can.

- [Get the beta on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.getknit.knit): Join the Android beta through Google Play.
- [Download the beta from GitHub](https://github.com/getknit/knit/releases): Get the Android installer and read the release notes.
- [Share your test results](https://github.com/getknit/knit/issues): Open an issue and attach a field log if you can.
- [How Internet relays work](https://getknit.app/updates/internet-relays/index.md): What a relay carries, what it sees, and why its copies expire within 48 hours.

Canonical page: https://getknit.app/updates/direct-links/