Send photos and videos from an iPhone to Android
Last checked
AirDrop only reaches other Apple devices. To get pictures and videos from an iPhone onto an Android phone, open one web page on both phones and send them straight across.
Steps
- On the Android phone, open toss2.me in Chrome or any browser.
- On the iPhone, open toss2.me in Safari. On the same Wi-Fi, the Android phone appears in the list within a few seconds.
- Tap the Android phone, then Choose files, then Photo Library. Select the photos and videos and press Add.
- On the Android phone, press Accept. When the transfer is done, press Save next to each file, or Save all. They go to the Downloads folder, where your gallery app finds them.
Not on the same Wi-Fi?
If one phone is on mobile data, or you are not in the same place:
- Open toss2.me on both devices.
- On one of them, press Create a code. A 6-digit code appears.
- Type the code on the other device and press Join. The two devices now see each other, whatever network each one is on.
- Tap the other device, pick files, and accept on the other side.
Instead of typing the code, you can scan the QR code shown under it with the other phone's camera.
Tips
- Keep Safari in the foreground until the transfer finishes. iOS pauses pages in the background.
- Photos picked from the library may arrive as JPEG rather than HEIC, because Safari can convert them for compatibility, which also means Android can open them. To send the original files, save them to the Files app first and pick them with Choose File.
- Long videos are large. Send them over the same Wi-Fi if you can, so they do not use mobile data.
- Both phones must be online at the same moment. Nothing is stored in between.
Questions
Do I need to install an app?
No. Sending and receiving both work in a normal browser tab. The command line tool is optional and only needed if you want an always-on inbox on a computer.
Can I AirDrop from an iPhone to an Android phone?
AirDrop is built into Apple devices. tosstome does the same job in the browser: both phones open toss2.me, you tap the Android phone on the iPhone and send.
Does it reduce photo or video quality?
tosstome sends the file it is given, byte for byte, with no compression. Safari may hand over a JPEG version of a HEIC photo when you pick from the photo library.
Are my files uploaded or stored anywhere?
No. Files go straight from one device to the other over WebRTC when the networks allow it. When they do not, the file passes through a relay on Cloudflare that forwards the bytes as they arrive and keeps nothing. If the receiver is offline, nothing is sent.
Do both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi?
No. On the same network they find each other automatically. On different networks, for example a phone on mobile data and a laptop at home, one device creates a 6-digit code and the other types it in.