When transferring files between Android phone and Windows PC, we just need to connect the two devices and use Media Transfer Protocol or MTP to move the files as desired. However, this is another story regarding file transfer between Android and Mac as MTP is not supported by default on Mac.
Luckily, Android File Transfer on Mac is capable of syncing Android to Mac. The problem is that a number of users have recently reported problems that Android file transfer doesn't work on Mac and only receive error messages such as cloud not connecting to device, unable to connect to Android Mac and more. Therefore, in this post, we will tell you what to do if Android File Transfer is not working.
Part 1: What to do if Android File Transfer is not working
First of all, Android File Transfer not working on Mac is a common problem and many people have encountered it. So, there is no need to worry or get upset when this happens on your device. Here are some tips to solve this problem in a few minutes.
Android File Transfer uses USB to connect Android phone and Mac. When it is broken or misused, Android file transfer does not work. The following steps may help you resolve this issue.
Step 1. First of all, unplug your Android phone, USB cable and Mac. Carefully examine the USB cable to ensure it is not damaged or damaged.
Step 2. If it is broken, please use another USB cable to connect your devices. If not, reconnect Android and Mac via USB cable, unlock your Android phone, go to Settings > Developer Options and make sure USB Debugging is enabled.
Step 3. When the connection options dialog box appears, select File Transfer or MTP to. If you just want to transfer photos to Mac, you can also choose PTP mode. Only PTP is available for LG smartphones.
Tip 2: Mac and Android Troubleshooting (Restart Mac)
If something is wrong on Mac or Android, it may cause Android File Transfer to not work either. Troubleshooting Mac and Android may solve this problem.
Step 1. Make sure you have Mac OS X 10.5 or later installed on your computer. If the Android file doesn't work, disconnect your smartphone from your Mac and restart your Mac. Then open Android File Transfer after Mac starts up. If it doesn't work normally, please reinstall the Google app.
Step 2. Next, unlock your Android phone, go to Settings > About Device > System Updates > Check for Updates. If an update is available, install it. Then restart your smartphone.
Step 3. Then connect your Android phone to Mac using a USB cable and make the connection properly. Android File Transfer should now detect your phone normally.
Major smartphone manufacturers have released some apps to help users backup smartphones or sync files between Android and computer, such as Samsung Kies, Sony PC Companion, HTC Sync Manager and more. These tools sometimes conflict with Android File Transfer and also cause Android File Transfer not to work. The solution is simple: remove the manufacturer's tools. We use Samsung Kies as an example.
Step 1. Download the installation file from Samsung official website to your Mac computer.
Step 2. Double-click the downloaded file, select the uninstall option, and follow the on-screen instructions to remove Samsung Kies from your computer.
Step 3. Restart your Mac, connect your smartphone to the Mac, and launch Android File Transfer to sync files.
In addition to uninstalling Samsung Kies, you should also install the latest version of Android File Transfer. Google is releasing updates for Android File Transfer to fix bugs, including bugs that cause Android File Transfer to not work properly.
Tip 4: Try Alternative Software (Best Android File Transfer for Mac)
Apart from Android File Transfer, there are several Android data transfer apps in the market. According to our research, the best alternative solution to Apeaksoft Android Data Backup and Restore for Mac when Android File Transfer Mac is not working. Its benefits include:
- Sync Android with Mac in one click.
- Selectively transferring files from Android to Mac is easy.
- View Android data on your Mac by category.
- Password protect your Android data on Mac with advanced encryption technology.
- Support various types of data including contacts, call history, messages, videos, photos, music, etc.
- Recovering lost Android data from backup is easy.
- Compatible with all Android devices from Samsung, HTC, LG, Moto, Google, Sony, HUAWEI and other manufacturers.
All in all, Android Data Backup & Restore provides the best way to transfer various Android files between Android phone and Mac. This is your best choice, especially when Android File Transfer does not work on Mac.
Part 2: Use the best alternative to Android File Transfer
With the description above, you can get a general idea about this great Android File Transfer alternative. You can take the following guide to learn how to sync Android data to Mac.
Step 1. Install the best Android alternative to transfer files on Mac
Download and install Android Data Backup & Restore for Mac on your computer. There is a special version for Windows PC. Then connect your Android phone to your Mac and launch the program. It will detect your handset automatically.
Step 2. Preview Android Files to Sync
If you want to transfer all Android data to Mac, please click the One-Click Backup button on the home interface to do it immediately. To selectively sync specific files, click the Backup Device Data button. In the data type window, select the desired data types. You can add a password to Android backup by checking the "Encrypted backup" checkbox.
Step 3. Syncing Android to Mac is Easy
If you're ready, click the Start button to start the synchronization process. Once this is done, remove your Android phone from the Mac. And you can view the backup file on Mac in Android Data Backup & Restore at any time.
Conclusion:
Based on the above introductions, you can understand what to do if Android file transfer is not working. As you can see, this problem can be easily fixed with the help of our tutorial. And the procedures are not complicated and anyone can perform them easily. If troubleshooting doesn't work for you, don't worry, you can try the best alternative for Android File Transfer, Apeaksoft Android Data Backup & Restore. It allows you to sync Android to Mac in one click. And it is much more stable than other Android data transfer software. Either way, we hope our guides and suggestions are helpful.
New Year's holidays are not only kilograms of salads and artillery volleys of fireworks; When the New Year's frenzy passes, tons of photographs and videos are found on smartphones, proving that we are still wow, there is gunpowder in the flasks and we can celebrate the holidays like the last time.
And here a small problem arises, namely: how to transfer video from Android smartphone to MacBook?
Well, with old MacBooks, for example, everything is clear: connect a foreign smartphone using a USB cable, download Android Files Transfer or Samsung Switch for smartphones of the same name, and simply drag and drop the necessary files in a convenient window.
What if I have a new, innovative MacBook Pro for many thousands of rubles, which only has 2 USB-C inputs and doesn’t have a magic USB-C to USB adapter at hand?
Thank you Apple for Bluetooth
Yes, both MacBook and Android smartphones have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. But what good are they? Even if you put gadgets next to each other, or even rub your smartphone into the laptop screen, there will be no effect.
Because there is one secret checkbox in the Mac settings, without which the MacBook and the other device will not see each other wirelessly.
True, to Samsung's credit, it is still possible to directly transfer files from Korean flagships to Apple gadgets using Bluetooth Direct ( function similar to AirDrop). For this, a big bow to the developers. But if you have any other smartphone, see what to do.
How to connect MacBook and Android smartphone
You need to go to “System Preferences” – “Sharing” on your MacBook.
This is where the secret checkbox lies: in the left menu you need to activate the “Bluetooth sharing” item.
In the right field, be sure to change the values to “Ask what to do” to prevent unauthorized access to your MacBook by third parties.
That's it, now you can use the instructions for exchanging files with other devices via Bluetooth from the official Apple website.
In short:
- connect to your smartphone
- looking for the required file
- copy it to MacBook
- PROFIT!
Yes, get ready to wait a long time: the speed leaves much to be desired, but the main thing is that the files are transferred!
File transfer works in both directions, that is, you can transfer something from a MacBook to a smartphone. To do this, you need to find the desired smartphone in the list of devices connected via Bluetooth and call the context menu by right-clicking.
Then transfer the file to the device.
Yes, the smartphone may not immediately see the laptop ( My HTC deigned to connect to my MacBook for the 3rd time), yes, this is not at all similar to AirDrop in terms of convenience, but nevertheless, this method works.
Share videos and photos, happy holidays to you!
Android and Mac OS have quite a problem with transferring contacts from each other. For example, it is difficult to transfer contacts from my Android (Samsung Galaxy) to Mac OS. Of course, you can use special programs for this, like BootCamp or Parallels, to run Windows on a MacBook. But not everyone wants to waste their disk space for this. There is a solution - a special utility with the romantic name The Missing Sync for Android.
Installation procedure and operation:
1. Download the program installer from the official website. You need the version that is designed for Mac OS, although there is also one for Windows.
2. After installing the program, when you launch it for the first time, you are asked to connect your Android to your computer or connect it to a Wi-Fi network.
The calendar and contact list will be synchronized via Wi-Fi, and a USB connection is required to install the client itself on the phone.
3. From the Android OS desktop, launch the Missing Sync icon, or find its shortcut.
4. Synchronize your device with your Mac using Wi-Fi.
5. Of all the proposed options, leave a tick on Contacts. We remove the rest, since we don’t need them now.
6. Synchronize.
The process itself will take place in two stages. On the first one, records are read from the desktop Address Book, and on the second one, uploading to Android will begin. 150 accounts will be copied within five minutes.
7. After all the operations, open the Address Book on the phone and make sure that all steps to synchronize Android and Mac OS were performed correctly and the contacts were transferred.
It remains to add that The Missing Sync for Android program is free for only 37 days. For subsequent use you will have to pay $40.
1. Transfer files between phone and computer
One of the biggest problems facing Mac + Android users is copying files between their phone and computer. The fact is that Android, starting with version 4.0, does not actually support the Universal Mass Storage protocol, which was replaced by MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). It's worth noting that MTP, unlike UMS, is not a standard protocol (it's a Microsoft invention), so it's not surprising that Mac OS X doesn't support it. Be that as it may, you won’t be able to simply connect an Android smartphone to a computer with Mac OS X using a cord - the phone is simply not recognized as a removable disk.
To solve this problem, Google (the vast majority of whose employees, by the way, use Macs themselves) released the Android File Transfer application. Once installed, this application will automatically launch when you connect your smartphone to your Mac and open a window with a list of files and folders that you can copy from your smartphone and back with a simple drag-and-drop to/from the Finder. It's worth noting that this app (like most Google apps for the Mac) is terrible. In particular, it requires that the smartphone screen be unlocked, and if, while copying files, your smartphone suddenly “falls asleep” due to a timeout, then the process will have to start again.
Personally, I eventually gave up and solved the problem by installing an FTP server on my smartphone, which I connect to from a Mac using the excellent CyberDuck FTP client.
As a result, the process of transferring files occurs quickly and, moreover, wirelessly (via Wi-Fi), and the FTP server itself ensures that the smartphone does not fall asleep during file transfer. Although from the outside it looks, of course, a little wild.
To transfer a small number of files, it is easier and more convenient to use the cloud file storage service Dropbox, which for me personally is an indispensable working tool. If you're not using Dropbox yet, it's time to fix that.
2. Sync contacts, calendar and Hangouts
This one is simple: Mac OS X supports synchronizing contacts and calendar with Gmail and Google Calendar, respectively. Just go to System Preferences -> Internet Accounts, add your Google account and check the boxes for the services you want to use. As a nice bonus, the built-in OS X Messages app works great with Hangouts (formerly Google Talk), and message history is synced between your desktop and phone.
3. Media Sync
If you, like most Mac OS X users, use iTunes to listen to music, you may encounter several problems.
First, iTunes supports a fairly limited number of music formats by default: MP3, AAC and ALAC (Apple Lossless). You can install plugins for QuickTime that allow this combiner to play FLAC, but this option is associated with some inconveniences, the discussion of which is beyond the scope of this material. Personally, I went the other way: I transcoded all my music from FLAC to ALAC using the excellent XLD application (on a laptop with a 2.5 GHz 2-core Core i5 processor, the process of converting a library of several thousand files took about 3 hours), which at the same time can automatically download metadata from the Internet and fill in tags in ALAC files, including album covers. On my smartphone, I use the PowerAMP player to listen to music, which understands ALAC perfectly.
Even if you don't store your music in lossless formats, you may have trouble copying files between iTunes and your smartphone. The first option for solving this problem is manual copying: iTunes stores all the music in a clear file structure, from where it can be easily copied to the phone (see point 1).
If you want automation, you have two options. The first is to sync music to your phone via the cloud using Google Music. The second is to use applications like DoubleTwist AirSync, which can synchronize your iTunes library according to the criteria you specify with a client application on Android. My experience using DoubleTwist, unfortunately, was purely negative: as a music player, this application is no match for the already mentioned PowerAMP, and the synchronization function works through the roof, often creating duplicate files.
It is worth noting that users of Sony Xperia Android smartphones are very lucky - they have the excellent Sony Bridge for Mac application, which solves the problem of copying files and synchronizing media between a smartphone and a computer.
4. Sync photos
Everything is simple here. Apple's proprietary Photo Stream, unfortunately, does not work on Android devices. Synchronizing photos through Google services is also not an optimal solution, since I personally cannot describe the Picasa application for Mac using censored words. Accordingly, the optimal solution is to use the above-mentioned Dropbox, which has an ultra-convenient function for automatically uploading photos taken on your phone.
5. Instant messages
I mentioned above that the Messages app on Mac works great with Hangouts, and message history syncs between your computer and phone. As an additional option, I personally use Viber - an excellent cross-platform messenger that also has a convenient "desktop" application with support for full functionality, including voice and video calls.
Bottom line
I hope I was able to show that Android and Mac get along well in the hands of one user. With the exception of copying files, all synchronization problems are perfectly solved using Google services (Gmail, calendar, contacts) or third-party solutions (Dropbox). So Mac owners can safely buy an Android smartphone, just as owners of Android smartphones and tablets can buy a Mac without fear of interaction problems between these devices.
Unfortunately, in the usual way (as Windows and Linux users are used to doing using a file manager), you cannot transfer files from an Android smartphone to a Mac and back via a USB cable. Previously, that is, before the Ice Cream Sandwich version, smartphones with Google OS used the UMS (Universal Mass Storage) protocol, which made it possible to connect these devices like a flash drive and you could easily exchange files between devices. But with the advent of Android 4.0, developers switched to a new standard - MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). That is why the “good corporation” released a special utility for this purpose called Android File Transfer.
Android File Transfer allows you to move absolutely any type of file, be it music, videos, photos, documents, applications and others. And in today's article, we will tell you how to use Android File Transfer to transfer files from Android to Mac and vice versa.
How to Transfer Files from Android to Mac and Back
Now, to transfer files from an Android device to a Mac, you just need to go to the desired folder in Android File Transfer, select the files and drag them to a random directory on your computer.
In the same way, you can transfer files from Mac to Android by moving files and folders from the file manager to the Android File Transfer window.
To create a new folder, you need to click on the folder icon in the upper right corner of the program.
To delete one or more files, you need to select them, right-click and select “Delete”.
It is worth noting that for the program to work correctly, versions of Android 4.4+ and Mac OS X 10.5 and higher are required.