How to copy files from any Android device

(especially if you have an Apple computer)

01.07.2021 — Productivity — 1 min read

tl;dr SSH into your android and download the files with scp. This one works for me.

So this afternoon, I had decided to take some time to clear my smartphone, archive some old pictures and stuff. I usually park them on an external drive. Anyways, it happens that my OnePlus 6 does not connect to my new shiny MacBook Pro.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

USB/USB-C Cables

I tried, but Apple doesn't make it easy to recognize other devices.

SSH to the rescue!

I start browsing the Google Play store for some apps that allow me to run an SSH server on my smartphone. Quickly I've stumbled into this.

Straightforward setup, as you can see in the screenshot below.

Here's how the app looks like running on a smartphone.

Since my laptop and my smartphone are on the same network, they can communicate.

1ssh admin@<my_phone_ip> -p <ssh_server_port_from_app>
2# enter password...
3
4# then just copy stuff to my MacBook
5scp -r Images <my_macbook_user>@<my_macbook_ip>:~/Desktop

Hope this tip helps you out in case you get stuck due to the usual apple mumbo jumbo.

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