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2 easy ways
to connect
an Android
phone to a
Mac
computer
All you need is the
USB cable from your
phone charger or
access to Wi-Fi, and a
little bit of know-how.

Mar 20, 2014

All that creative energy can come to a

screeching halt when it’s time to
transfer videos and pictures from your
Android phone to your Mac computer
or laptop. It’s like locking your keys in
the car—you can see them, but you
can’t touch them.

The web offers a ton of how-to

articles with sometimes confusing
instructions and suspicious software
download links. Here are two
easy and safe ways to connect your
Android phone to your Mac computer.

1. AirDroid app
Look, Ma—no wires! The AirDroid
Android app connects your phone to
your Mac wirelessly. Once you set it
up, it basically works like a website:
navigate to your phone, download
files, and send and receive texts—all
from a web browser on your Mac. And
it doesn’t require downloading
software to your computer.

For the basic free service, AirDroid

connects your phone to your laptop
using Wi-Fi. Once you install the app,
go to AirDroid.com, sign in and access
all of the data on your phone—from
videos to your contact list. The site is
a perfect hybrid between the way you
use your Mac computer and navigate
your smartphone. With an upgrade to
a premium account, you can even
make phone calls directly from your
laptop.

Lost your phone? No worries. Open

your laptop, hop on the AirDroid site
and ring the alarm to find your phone.

Here’s how to get started:

Install the app on your smartphone.

Go to your laptop and
visit AirDroid.com.
Create an account.
Sign in using your email and
password; using your Facebook,
Google or Twitter account; or by
scanning the QR code.

After you’ve set yourself up, you’ll be

able to easily move computer files to
your smartphone and vice versa.

For more information, visit the AirDroid

Android app and AirDroid.com.

2. Android File
Transfer
If you’d rather not use Wi-Fi to transfer
files, then consider Android File
Transfer, a simple wire-based file-
transfer program. Install the
application to your Mac desktop or
laptop (running Mac OS X 10.5 or
later), and connect it to your phone
using the charger’s USB cable. When
it’s ready, your phone will appear as a
drive on your computer.

Follow these steps to start

transferring files:

Download Android File Transfer to

your computer.
Remove the USB wall charger
adapter from your phone charger,
so that you have just the USB cable.
Connect the phone to your
computer’s USB port with the
charging cable.
Open Mac Finder.
Look for the Android File Transfer
on the list of drives.
Double click the Android drive icon.

A file will open with a complete list of

applications. To open or view the files,
simply drag them to your desktop, and
then move them around as needed.
Import videos to iMovie or pictures to
iPhoto.

You can also use your phone as an

external hard drive if you want to
transfer files between, say, your work
computer and your home computer.
Of course, the receiving computer
would also need to have an app like
AirDroid or Android File Transfer
installed.

Now you know how to connect an

Android phone to a Mac. Easy peasy.

This content was created by an author contracted by

Verizon Wireless to provide helpful information on
mobile technology. The thoughts, opinions and
suggestions of the author may not necessarily reflect
those of Verizon Wireless. Availability, styles, colors
and prices may vary. Content is for informational
purposes only.

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