File sharing between iPhone and Mac is very easy, you can use iCloud, iTunes, AirDrop, etc. However it is not that easy when you need to send files from Mac to Android or transfer files from Android to Mac. You may find many solutions on the web. For example, you may install a phone manager program on the computer to manage your content on the phone; you may use a cloud service, the USB cable or Bluetooth for the file sharing. I would suggest to use a wireless transfer app without the complicate setup, paring or connecting. Snapdrop is a good one. It is open source, peer2peer, works over Wi-Fi, no setup or signup required. Today, we will introduce a more professional file explorer and manager for Android, CX file explorer, which can turn your mobile device into a FTP file server so you can connect to the device from other devices in the same network to download and upload files. Compared with Snapdrop, CX file explorer is more effective for bulk file transfer. Instead of using web browsers on the Mac and Android to choose, send and receive files, we use Finder on Mac to access files on Android and copy files back and forth between them. Check out more details below.
Step 1. Connect Android and Mac to the same network
Connect both your phone and computer to the same Wi-Fi network. If no Wi-Fi network available, you can turn on hotspot on the Android device, then connect to the hotspot from Mac. It won’t use your cellular or data plan for the file transfer.
Step 2. Enable FTP server on Android
It is much easier than you may think. Launch the file explorer app on your Android device, switch from the Local to the Network tab.
Then tap on Access from Network > Start Service. You will then get the FTP address(server IP and port number), username and password, see screenshot below.
Step 3. Connect to Android file server from Mac
On the Mac, click on the Finder in the Dock. Navigate to the Go menu, then choose Connect to Server. Type the address of the FTP server with port number into the text box, such as ftp://192.168.50.75:8791. Press Connect. Click another Connect button to continue. You will be requested to type in your username and password for the FTP server.
- Connect As: Registered User
- Name: pc
- Password: the random or predefined password in CX file explorer.
Finally hit the Connect button to establish the connection between your phone and computer.
Step 4. Copy files between Mac and Android
You will be able to browse to files and folders saved on your Android phone from Finder on your Mac, just like you access a connected USB drive. You can select files and folders on your Mac, copy and paste them to your Android phone. It is the same to copy files and documents from Android to Mac. You can share all kinds of files, such as photos, videos, documents, and more, between your phone and computer.