The setup is fairly easy: Start the program, select MTP mode under Add devices, and follow the instructions.

MacDroid is possibly the most elegant solution for connecting your phone, as it hooks right into Finder and displays your Android handset just like any other external drive. Like Google's file transfer tool, you also can't use it to view or edit files on your phone - you first have to move them to your Mac. You might also dislike that OpenMTP doesn't feel too native on macOS (it's an Electron app), but hey, it's free, open source, and should work well enough for most people. The tool works perfectly fine with my Pixel 3, but others on the Android Police team report that OpenMTP wouldn't recognize some devices at all. The program supports drag and drop and comes with a selection of keyboard shortcuts, though sadly, a few of them aren't identical to the ones in Finder. It gives you a two-pane view of the files on your machine and those on your Android phone or its SD card (or any other device that connects via MTP, really). OpenMTP is a fairly new project from a developer frustrated with Google's lacking Android File Transfer tool, released mid-2019. When you first plug in the cable to your desktop and your phone, make sure you open the Android notification shade, look for the Android System notification, and tap it to change the connection mode to File transfer / Android Auto. Depending on your phone and Android version, you might alternatively get to choose the connection mode via a popup when you plug in the cable. macOS generally has to rely on third-party software to do so.įor any of the tools below, I'd recommend using the cable that came with your phone to ensure it's high quality and won't disconnect during the process, but if you don't have it at hand, any cable rated for data connections should be fine.

While both Windows and macOS have support for MTP built-in, only the former is able to mount MTP devices natively. In contrast to something like exFAT, this won't give your machine full control over the device's file system, effectively preventing you from tampering with the system partition and other critical files. When it comes to establishing a wired connection with a computer, Android relies on MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).

You don't have to rely on Google's tool for transfers, though - there are a ton of third-party apps that solve moving files between Android and macOS much better. There is Google's Android File Transfer application, but the program is hopelessly outdated, finicky, and prone to crashes when you transfer a lot of data at a time. While Android app development is an easy feat for Apple's desktop OS, the situation is much different for simple file transfers. Android and macOS have never been the biggest friends.

Android file transfer download to imac