fdrop

Transfer photos from Android to Mac

Pick the photos on your Android, download them on your Mac. No cable, no app, original quality.

Keep for

Clipboard

Press ⌘V / Ctrl+V anywhere

Clips are visible to devices on your Wi-Fi for 30 minutes. Avoid sending passwords.

On your network

live
Looking for files…

macOS can’t open Android phones over USB on its own, and Quick Share doesn’t run on Mac, which leaves cloud uploads or third-party apps. Photos are also where quality quietly gets lost: chat apps shrink them and email caps how many fit in one message.

The quick way, with fdrop

  1. 1

    Open fdrop.cc on the Android

    Open fdrop.cc in Chrome, tap the drop area and pick photos from your gallery or Google Photos.

  2. 2

    Open fdrop.cc on the Mac

    On the same Wi-Fi, the photos appear under “On your network” automatically. Anywhere else, send yourself the link fdrop gives you.

  3. 3

    Download

    Downloads go to your Downloads folder. Drag them into the Photos app to add them to your library.

fdrop “On your network” list on a Mac showing a photo, a video and a PDF sent from an Android phone
What the Mac sees: everything sent from the Android on the same Wi-Fi, ready to download.

Other ways, and their catch

USB cable with OpenMTP

macOS can’t read Android phones over USB by itself. Install a free app such as OpenMTP, connect the phone in File transfer mode and copy files across.

Good: Full quality, no internet needed. Catch: Extra app on the Mac, and connections can be flaky. Google’s old Android File Transfer app is no longer updated.

Google Photos

Back up the photos with Google Photos on the Android, then open the app or photos.google.com on the Mac.

Good: Works across any platforms. Catch: Uploads everything first, needs your Google account on both, and Storage saver backups are compressed.

WhatsApp or Telegram to yourself

Send it to your own chat (Message yourself in WhatsApp, Saved Messages in Telegram) and open WhatsApp or Telegram on the Mac.

Good: You probably have the app already. Catch: WhatsApp compresses photos and videos unless you send them as a Document or pick HD, and it fills your chat history.

Email it to yourself

Attach it (or paste it) in an email to yourself and open the email on the Mac.

Good: Works on every device. Catch: Gmail attachments stop at 25 MB and Outlook.com at 20 MB, so most videos won’t fit.

Good to know

Questions

How do I transfer photos from Android to Mac without a cable?

Open fdrop.cc on both devices, pick the photos on the Android and download them on the Mac. No app or account needed. Of the built-in options, USB cable with OpenMTP is the closest, with the trade-offs listed above.

Will the photos lose quality?

No. fdrop doesn’t compress, resize or re-encode anything. The receiver gets the same file you uploaded.

Do the Android and Mac need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

Only for the automatic “On your network” list. If the Mac is somewhere else or on mobile data, copy the link fdrop gives you and open it there.

Do I need to install an app?

No. fdrop runs in Chrome on the Android and Safari or Chrome on the Mac. Nothing to install and no account.

How long do the files stay online?

2 hours by default. Pick 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days or 30 days before uploading, or delete them yourself at any time from the device you uploaded on.

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