A few days ago we ran into a seemingly simple problem. A large presentation (300MB) has been created on the iPad and we need to access it on the Android phone for sharing. In the old days, when everyone worked on a laptop or desktop computer, there were so many ways to share files – you could transfer them through a shared folder on your local network, put files on a USB pen drive, or create a temporary wireless network to transfer files. But iOS doesn’t make the process too easy, and while some Android devices do support USB On-The-Go (OTG), which allows you to connect a pen drive directly to your phone, not all devices have this feature.
You can use AirDrop to share files between iOS devices, and Android users can use Android Beam, but what do you do when you’re trying to manage an iPad and an Android phone? If you’re having trouble trying to move files between your iOS and Windows Phone devices, we’ve got a guide for you. Read on to learn more about sharing files between iOS and Android.
We were thinking about how to send the file via email or upload it to Dropbox so that it could be downloaded again on our phone, and luckily we learned that there are a lot of apps designed to solve the problem we are facing. While there are many different options, one of our favorites is using an app called Zapya, which is free on both iTunes and Google Play.
Here’s how it works:
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First, follow the link given above to install the app on both devices.
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Make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
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After installing the app, launch it on both devices. On an Android device, tap Create group.
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Now, click on the menu (three horizontal lines) button in the upper right corner and then click on Connect to iOS device. There you will see the names of the network and the host device.
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On an iOS device, you will first connect to the Wi-Fi network listed in step 3 and then launch the Zaiya app. choose Search and join In the pop-up menu, then tap the device name listed on the Android app.
The two devices are now connected and you can share files. You can share installed games and even other apps directly with other Android users, and your media and other files can be shared across platforms just as easily.
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Swipe the home screen left or right to switch between categories. To search for files, swipe right to get to the first screen – other free apps don’t include search functionality and can only browse files, which is why we recommend Zapya. Swipe right to browse categories, swipe all the way to the right to browse the file system.
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To share a file, click the file, then click send in the popup menu. If you want to send multiple files, click manythen click all the files you want to share, then click Send.
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On other devices, a pop-up menu will notify you that the file is being transferred and show the progress. To stop the download at any time, you can click Cancel on any device.
This method allows you to easily share files using just Wi-Fi, which means it’s faster than using a cloud service – and, since you’re not uploading or downloading anything, it won’t cost you anything or use up your data limit. It’s certainly slower than using USB-based transfer methods, but especially for getting files from an iOS device, it can be cumbersome and in some cases even impossible.
There are some limitations – On iOS devices, there are limits on what you can send. You can send photos and videos from your iOS device – to share other files, open them with the corresponding app, then tap the share icon and share the file to Zapya first – this usually works, but also causes the app to crash frequently. Since Android has an open file system, sending files from Android to iOS is much easier – just browse or search for the file you want and hit send, and it will appear in Zapya’s Inbox tab on your iOS device. Then you just click on the file and select Opened atopen it in the correct application.
We tried several other apps, but our favorites were Feem WiFi, which is also available on iTunes and Google Play, and Xender, which also has iTunes and Google Play apps.
Feem is easy to use, but it’s ad-supported and takes up quite a bit of screen real estate. We accidentally clicked on ads for some apps as well as the paid version of Feem, which takes you out of the app and directs you to the App Store or Safari. Xender is very similar to Zapya and has a phone copy feature that lets you copy all the data stored on your phone with just one tap, but we couldn’t find a way to search for specific files in the app. This isn’t a problem if you don’t have much local content, but we prefer having a search option.
If you have used any other methods to share files between iOS and Android devices, please let us know in the comments. For more information on our “How To” section, click here.
