Why can't Mac see Android? Mac and Android: happy together? Connecting Android device and Mac via cloud

When it comes to accessing files or music from your Android tablet to your Mac, many users don't realize how easy it is to actually use Android with Mac OS and Apple computers. There's a common misconception that the two don't work together and Macs only interact with iOS mobile devices, but that's not true.

These days, users have a ton of options to transfer files, folders, images, music, and more from Android tablets to PCs running Mac OS, MacBooks, and even iPhones. There are many third-party applications for this purpose, but beginners will be interested in the basic tools.

Many different services or articles are available for those who want to use an Android device with a Mac, but the truth is that all you need is a small program from Google and a Micro USB cable, where without it. The cable comes in the box with your tablet. Below we will tell you the simplest method, as well as give some tips on how Android communicates with iPhone.

Unlike iPhone and iTunes, Android users are not limited to one app to handle everything when it comes to moving files and doing anything with them. iTunes is a blessing for many users, and a curse for others, but it does not prevent you from dragging/copying/pasting a file from Android to Mac OS, even from Windows, if necessary. The solution is different for each OS.

On the Internet you will find fancy programs for this task, one of them is AirDriod, which recently saw its update, AirDroid 3. It offers tons of additional functions not only for transferring data and information to your Mac, but also allowing you to control your Android tablet from your computer . For the most part, the program is intended for advanced users, and we want to tell you about the basic tools for working Android with Mac.

Instructions

All you really need to use Android from a Mac is the Internet on your computer and downloading one program, directly from Google. Nothing fancy like iTunes, we just need a simple program that allows you to drag and drop files from your Android tablet to your Mac PC. It is called .

Install the app on your Mac or MacBook desktop, then connect your computer to your tablet using the USB cable from the charger that came in the box with your device. When everything is ready, your tablet will appear as a hard drive on your computer. The usual pop-up window will appear, after which you can control the tablet from your Mac. You can transfer photos, perform backups, save music and videos, and much more. That's all you need to do, this is the easiest way.

Using Android File Transfer from PC

Use the USB cable that came in the box with your Android tablet to connect it to your Mac.

Double-click the Android File Transfer icon from PC to open it for the first time (then the program will be used automatically).

Browse files and folders on your Android tablet, add folders, copy files up to 4GB from your computer, delete files, and more.

You will see a window with a complete list of applications and files. To open or view any of them, simply drag it to your desktop and then move it to the directory of your choice. Import videos to iMovie or pictures to iPhoto. You can transfer files up to 4GB from your computer, but individual files must not exceed 4GB.

Sometimes you may see a USB notification asking you what type of connection you would like to use. By default, this should be "MTP" and the tablet or smartphone should be recognized as a "media device", allowing you to use Android to transfer any files. There is also a camera mode that will open the default image editor on your computer, you will only be able to use this mode to view photos and videos. Media Device remains the most effective mode, but if you need to view photos, try selecting Camera (PTP) mode as your Android tablet's USB connection type to Mac OS.

Once you are familiar with Android File Transfer, you can use this tool to transfer photos, videos, files, folders and documents, and more, even from iPhone to Android tablet. You will also be able to use Google Music Manager to transfer music from iTunes to your Google Play Music account. All this is quite simple and the interaction of Android with Mac OS is not at all as complicated as it seems at first glance.

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.

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!

To access Android content from a Mac computer, you need to download the free Android File Transfer program from the official website android.com.

The program is downloaded as a file adroidfiletransfer.dmg, which you then need to drag and drop into Applications.

Now that the program is installed, all that remains is to perform a number of simple steps in accordance with the instructions from Google:

• Launch Android File Transfer. The next time you connect your device to your computer, the application will launch automatically.
• Unlock the screen.
• Connect your smartphone or tablet to your computer using a USB cable.
• On a mobile device, pull down the notification panel by swiping from the top of the screen. Tap the USB connection message and select File Transfer (MTP).

• Use the Android File Transfer application window that opens to drag and drop the files you need from your device to your computer or vice versa.

• After finishing work, disconnect the USB cable.

Possible problems

There is no guarantee that Android File Transfer supports your specific smartphone or tablet model. For correct operation, Android version 4.4 and higher is required. If, after launching the application and connecting via USB, the mobile device is not detected, you need to make sure that you did everything according to the instructions, that is, unlock the screen and select the MTP file transfer method.

Additionally, Android File Transfer may conflict with proprietary mobile device drivers that you may have once installed on your Mac. These drivers must be removed.