# Can Flower send files from the server to clients?

**URL:** <https://discuss.flower.ai/t/can-flower-send-files-from-the-server-to-clients/1190>\
**Category:** Flower Help - Intermediate\
**Tags:** flower\
**Created:** [January 5, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://discuss.flower.ai/t/can-flower-send-files-from-the-server-to-clients/1190 "2026-01-05T19:48:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bling](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/discuss.flower.ai/bling/32/307_2.png) [@bling](https://discuss.flower.ai/u/bling)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://discuss.flower.ai/t/can-flower-send-files-from-the-server-to-clients/1190/1 "2026-01-05T19:48:05Z")

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I have basic experience with gRPC, but I’m not familiar with the specifics of sending files via gRPC, the changes to the `.proto` protocol between different versions of Flower, and how Flower utilizes gRPC under the hood. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me answer the following questions!

If a client has already connected to a Flower server via gRPC, **how can the server send files to the client** (these could be `.tflite` model files or supplementary datasets)? Additionally, **would it be necessary to modify and recompile the proto files?**

Let me add some context about the usage scenario (though this likely won’t affect the answer to this post): Flower had an great Android demo ( [flower/examples/android at main · adap/flower · GitHub](https://github.com/adap/flower/tree/main/examples/android) ) for federated training between a PC server and Android clients. In this demo, the `.tflite` model files and datasets had to be packaged into the `.apk` during compilation. I want to extend this functionality to allow the `.tflite` model files and datasets to be dynamically updated by the server, eliminating the need to recompile and redeploy the `.apk` every time they change.

One thing to note is that this Android demo was written several years ago, and the Android client’s proto file looks like this ( [flower/examples/android/client/app/src/main/proto/transport.proto at main · adap/flower · GitHub](https://github.com/adap/flower/blob/main/examples/android/client/app/src/main/proto/transport.proto) ). I’m unsure if the version of Flower used on the PC server will cause any compatibility issues. For reference, I’m currently using `flwr 1.18.0` on PC server, which I’ve verified works correctly. However, I’m not sure if this `flwr` version satisfies my requirements. If I need to migrate the PC-based Flower server to the latest version to achieve my goals, I’m concerned about potential side effects that might arise from the Android client’s `.proto` file.