Speaking of file transfer between Android and iPhone, you can find tons of apps on the web when you do a Google search. For example, you can use Apple’s file migration and sync solutions.
Method 1. Move to iOS app for iOS & Android
If you want to copy files from Android to iPhone, you can use the Move to iOS app from Apple which can help you migrate contacts, messages, photos & videos, files and folders, accessibility settings, display settings, web bookmarks, mail accounts, WhatsApp messages, and calendars. This method is very powerful as most file types are supported. However it only works well for the initial setup of your iPhone, and you don’t have the freedom to pick and move only those files or data you like. For example, you can’t specify a date range when you copy those camera photos from Android to iPhone, it simply copies all your photos and videos over. It doesn’t allow you to choose and send files manually, so you can’t use it to share files with your family, friends or coworkers.
Method 2. iTunes for Windows & Mac
iTunes is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. You can download and install it on a Windows PC, it comes preinstalled on Mac, and use it to manage your iPhone from computer. It however doesn’t work with Android devices. This is the most cumbersome way to share data from Android to iPhone as you have to use a computer in the middle, you have to use USB cables to connect up your phones to computer, you may need to use other apps to load content off from Android to computer first.
You can use Google’s solutions.
Method 3. Google Drive for Android and iOS
A cross-platform cloud hosting service, like Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, Tresorit, Sync, pCloud, Spideroak One Backup, IDrive. You need to create a Google account and download this app onto both Android and iPhone. Then sign in using the same Google account to keep your files and data synced between them. You can upload your files from Android and/or iPhone to remote server, then sync it with other smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices for easy access while on the go as long as you have internet connection.
It requires a Google account, internet connection. You can use it to back up your content from Android phone and restore them to iPhone. But apparently this is not a suitable way to share files with other people.
Method 4. Email file transfer
Bluetooth works well between Android device. The connection or pairing is problematic between Android and iPhone though.
Email works well if you need only to share couple of small files, not those heavy media files, such as HD photos, videos. You need to firstly add your email account to both Android and iPhone, or access the email accounts from web browsers, like Chrome, Safari. Here are several most popular free email services you can choose: Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo mail, AOL mail, etc. Android phones may come with the Gmail app which is actually an email client app. You can not only add Google Gmail to this app, but third-party email accounts, Yahoo mail, AOL mail, Outlook and so on. We can also see other email client apps in different names, such as Mail, Email, on Android. Other than that, you can also download third-party email apps, Blue Mail, Cleanfox, ProtonMail, Spark Email, Yahoo mail, Microsoft Outlook, Yandex Mail, etc.
The process of sharing files using any email programs is almost the same. Go to compose a new email, then attach files from your phone to the email, choose contact or manually type in recipient’s email address and send. In this case, we firstly log on the email account from the web interface or an email client app on Android, send the files to ourselves through email; then log on the email account on iPhone to download the attached files from email.
Android iPhone Wi-Fi or hotspot transfer apps
Many third-party wireless transfer apps through Wi-Fi or hotspot are available on both Google Play and the App Store, notably SHAREit，Zapya, Xender, Send Anywhere, Owlfiles, MFiles, etc. They are wireless, free, easy and fast.
The process of sharing files using any of these wireless transfer apps is quite similar. Here we will use Owlfiles file manager in this demo below. You can also opt for other file transfer apps as listed above.
Why we like Owlfiles?
- It is a multi-functional file manager with the ability to access files on local storage, server, NAS and cloud storages.
- Stream movies and music to your mobile or desktop device.
- Nearby Drop to share files between iPhone and Android.
- Access WebDAV Server, FTP Server and SFTP Server.
- Built-in FTP server and HTTP server for file sharing with PC/Mac.
- Clean UI, no annoying ads.
Method 5. Send files from Android to iPhone over Wi-Fi using Owlfiles
Unlike other wireless transfer apps mentioned above, such as SHAREit, Zapya, Xender, it may be your first time to hear this Owlfiles app. It was just renamed from the FE File Explorer.
Step 1. Connect Android and iPhone to Wi-Fi or Hotspot
Ensure you’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network on both Android and iPhone. You can choose to connect them up via Wi-Fi hotspot on Android or Personal hotspot on iPhone when a Wi-Fi network is not available.
Step 2. Put iPhone into the Receive mode
Run Owlfiles file manager on the iPhone, choose More tab from the bottom, then select Nearby Receive in the Toolbox section.
Now your iPhone will enter the Nearby Receive mode waiting to be connected and shared files from Android.
Step 3. Select and send files from Android
On the Android mobile, launch Owlfiles file manager app, switch to More tab from the bottom, click Nearby Send.
Browse through the folders to select the files, like photos, videos, music, PDF or else, to share from Android phone. Tap on Select button.
Owlfiles file manager on Android will scan and find your iPhone. Simply tap on your iOS device name to start sending the selected files from Android to iPhone through Wi-Fi or mobile hotspot.
Tap on the avatar of the iPhone to connect and copy all selected files from Android to iPhone over Wi-Fi or hotspot.
Step 4. Find received files on iPhone
Files will be saved to the Downloads folder. Switch to the My Files tab in the Owlfiles app on iPhone, open Downloads folder to find all received files. You can share these files with other apps on iPhone from there. For example, you can copy those received photos from Owlfiles to your Camera Roll or the stock Files app, open them with your favorite image editor, etc.