How does it work?
Android and iPhone each have a perfectly good sharing feature that refuses to talk to the other side: Quick Share stays on Android, AirDrop stays on Apple. The browser is the neutral ground both phones already have, so that's where this transfer runs.
Open Quick Transfer on the Android phone and pick your files; a 6-digit code appears. Type that code into transfer.zip/quick in Safari on the iPhone and the files stream across encrypted, directly from phone to phone.
Nothing is installed on either device and nothing is uploaded to a cloud account. The phones don't even need to share a Wi-Fi network, one on mobile data works fine.
How to Transfer Files from Android to iPhone
- Open this page on the Android phone, tap the button above and pick the photos, videos or files you want to send.
- On the iPhone, open transfer.zip/quick in Safari and type the 6-digit code shown on the Android phone.
- Safari downloads the files to the iPhone's Files app. Keep both phones online and unlocked until the transfer finishes.
Getting photos into the Photos app
Safari saves what it receives to the Files app, under Downloads, and iOS doesn't add pictures to the photo library on its own. Open the image in Files, tap the share icon and choose "Save Image".
Several photos sent together arrive as one zip. Long-press it in Files and pick Uncompress, then select all the images and save them to Photos from the share sheet in one go.
Switching phones? Move to iOS has a catch
Apple's Move to iOS app only works while the iPhone is still in initial setup. Once you've started using the iPhone, the app is no help, and a factory reset just to copy files over is a steep price.
A browser transfer works at any point. Send the camera roll in batches from the Android phone whenever you get around to it, weeks after the switch included. Contacts and calendars are still easiest to bring over through your Google account.
Will the iPhone open Android files?
Photos from Android phones are regular JPGs, and Android video is H.264 or HEVC, all of which the iPhone plays natively. The common stuff just works.
Everything else still transfers, because the browser doesn't filter by type. A file iOS can't preview simply sits in the Files app, where you can forward it or hand it to a compatible app.
FAQ
Can I use Quick Share to send to an iPhone? No. Quick Share (formerly Nearby Share) only works between Android devices and Windows PCs. An iPhone can't receive from it, which is why the browser is the practical cross-platform route.
Do I need to install anything on either phone? No. Chrome (or any browser) on the Android phone and Safari on the iPhone are enough. There is no app and no account on either side.
Where do the files end up on the iPhone? In the Files app under Downloads. Images can be saved to the photo library from the share sheet, and zip archives unpack with a long-press. iOS handles that natively.
Will photo and video quality survive the transfer? Yes. Files move bit for bit with no recompression, unlike messaging apps. A 4K clip from the Android phone arrives on the iPhone at its exact original size and quality.
Do both phones need to be on the same Wi-Fi? No. The transfer runs over the internet, so Android on mobile data and iPhone on home Wi-Fi works. Both phones just need to stay online until it finishes.
Is there a file size limit? No. The files stream directly between the phones without being stored on a server, so multi-gigabyte videos are fine. Bigger transfers simply take longer.
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