Photo Transfer App for Mac

Receive photos and videos on your Mac from any device over local WiFi. Mac App Store app. Apple Silicon and Intel.

Download on the Mac App Store

Free: up to 5 photos or videos per batch. PRO: unlimited items per batch. Full resolution in both.

Photo Transfer App on macOS — receiving photos from iPhone over local WiFi via the Mac App Store

Built for Mac

Photo Transfer for Mac is distributed through the Mac App Store — sandboxed, notarized, and trusted by Gatekeeper out of the box. It supports drag-and-drop into Finder, runs on Apple Silicon and Intel, and lets you save received photos anywhere on disk. No third-party installer, no admin password, no cables.

Mac App Store, signed and sandboxed

Distributed through Apple's curated store. Sandboxed, notarized, and trusted by Gatekeeper out of the box — no third-party installer, no admin password prompt at install time.

Drag & drop into Finder

Drag received photos straight from the app window into any Finder folder, any USB drive, any network share. Drag files in the other direction to send them out.

Apple Silicon & Intel

Runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. No Rosetta required on Apple Silicon.

Save anywhere you want

Pick the destination folder once or per transfer. Received photos land exactly where you choose — not hidden inside an app container you can't find later.

No cables, no iTunes, no Apple ID

Your iPhone connects to your Mac over local WiFi, not Lightning or USB-C. Nothing to sync, nothing to sign in to, no Apple ID sharing required between devices.

Receives from anything

Works with iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Windows PCs, and any device with a web browser. All over the same local WiFi.

How it works on Mac

Three steps. No cables, no cloud, no account.

  1. 1

    Install from the Mac App Store

    Free download. One click from the Mac App Store — Gatekeeper and notarization handled automatically.

  2. 2

    Open the app on both devices

    Launch Photo Transfer on your Mac and on the other device. As long as they share a WiFi network, they discover each other automatically.

  3. 3

    Transfer at full quality

    Send or receive photos and videos at their original resolution. EXIF, GPS, Live Photo data, and RAW information all preserved end-to-end.

System requirements

macOS version
macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later
Architecture
Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
Network
Local WiFi network shared with the other device
Permissions
Local Network access — no account, no cloud storage required
Price
Free on the Mac App Store. Optional PRO unlock for unlimited transfers and cloud backup.
Languages
English

Frequently asked

Common questions from Mac users.

Do I need iTunes or a cable to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac?
No. Photo Transfer replaces the iTunes / Finder sync workflow entirely. Your iPhone and Mac communicate over local WiFi — no Lightning or USB-C cable, no iTunes or Finder involvement, no Apple ID sign-in required.
Does it run natively on Apple Silicon?
Yes. Photo Transfer runs directly on Apple Silicon and Intel chips — no Rosetta translation required.
Can I drag photos from the app into a Finder folder?
Yes. Drag from the Photo Transfer window straight into any Finder folder, the Desktop, an external drive, or a network share. Dragging the other way — from Finder into Photo Transfer — lets you send files back out to a phone or tablet.
Does it work with my iPhone's iCloud Photos?
Yes. If a photo is stored optimized in iCloud and only a preview is on your iPhone, Photo Transfer asks iOS to download the original before sending. The transfer itself stays local over WiFi.
How is this different from AirDrop?
AirDrop is great for small ad-hoc shares between Apple devices. Photo Transfer is built for larger, structured workflows — whole albums, thousands of photos, with progress, destination folder control, and support for Android, Windows, and web browsers (not just Apple devices). It also preserves EXIF and GPS consistently, which AirDrop can strip in certain workflows.
Does the free version have any limits?
Free: up to 5 photos or videos per batch. PRO: unlimited items per batch. Full resolution in both.

Guides for Mac

Step-by-step walkthroughs for the most common transfer scenarios.

Transfer iPhone photos to Mac
Transfer iPad photos to Mac
Transfer Android photos to Mac
Send photos from Mac to iPhone or Android
Back up phone photos to Dropbox
Use Photo Transfer from a web browser

Your photos belong to you.
Move them freely.

3M+ total downloads. Move photos and videos between your devices over local WiFi.

Free: up to 5 photos or videos per batch. PRO: unlimited items per batch. Full resolution in both.

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