I Recently Shifted to Android from iPhone - 6 Apps That Make It Easy to Use Android with Mac

20Mar

In 2020, I made the rather inconvenient decision to daily-drive an iPhone and Android daily. In 2023, as I had built a complete Apple ecosystem, I decided to keep my Pixel 7 aside and use my iPhone 13 as my primary device.

Lately, though, I have been FOMO-ing about Android, especially with smartphone makers bringing up great devices and amazing features.

So, last week, I decided to (temporarily) shift to Android from the iPhone.

Current Setup and Issues

I’ve been packing a OnePlus 13R, a balanced Android device that takes me through a whole day without any hassle. In terms of performance, I am happy. However, compatibility is a different aspect altogether. Using this Android smartphone with my M2 MacBook Air has not been seamless by any means.

Unlike Microsoft Windows, macOS does not offer native compatibility with Android, as you know. It means I have to say goodbye to many convenient features, especially Continuity. The problem? I don’t want to go back to Apple’s walled garden so quickly.

Naturally, I started looking for alternative methods: ones that make it easy to use Android with a Mac. Sure, these methods cannot bring the level of integration you get between macOS and iOS, but I believe these are the next best thing.

I thought I would share six of those sweet apps and how they help my setup. So, if you also have plans to shift to Android (temporarily or permanently) while keeping your Mac, you might find them helpful.

Apps That Make It Easy to Use Android with Mac

Blip: An AirDrop alternative for cross-platform file sharing.
Pushbullet: For notification mirroring between Android and Mac.
Unified Remote: Allows controlling Mac from Android, similar to Keynote Remote for iPhone.
LocalSend: A high-speed, local network file transfer solution, USB alternative.
Resilio Sync: An iCloud Drive alternative for file synchronization.
MobiMover: An Android manager for Mac, useful for backups and file management

Blip — AirDrop Alternative

The thing that I miss the most about daily driving an iPhone is AirDrop. Companies like OnePlus are building features to transfer data with the iPhone, but the Mac is out of the picture. Thankfully, I came across Blip a few months ago, and it’s been part of my digital lifestyle ever since.

If I may be so bold, Blip is the best AirDrop alternative that works on Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and Linux. So, you get an app that lets you send files to any of your devices. The best part? These devices don’t even have to be close to each other. Depending on where they are, Blip can use Wi-Fi/Ethernet or the Internet.

Unlike things like Dropbox and Google Drive, you don’t have to worry about file sizes either. You can use Blip to transfer files as large as 1TB if you want. Blip can take a toll on your Wi-Fi bandwidth while at it, though. But if you have your devices close by, Blip will use the Wi-Fi connection.

I find this setup near-perfect for many reasons. Most importantly, I have Wi-Fi or mobile data connectivity on my Android smartphone, and this setup works great when I want to send a screenshot or a file to my Mac or vice versa. I often use Blip to send large media files from my Mac to my Android as well.

While Blip is a fantastic option, it has a minor limitation. Unlike AirDrop, Blip needs an internet connection to work. It essentially uses high-speed servers for data transfer—unless your devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. But, as I said, this limitation does not cause a lot of trouble.

What’s more, Blip is entirely free to use for personal needs.

Pushbullet — Notification Mirroring

Since macOS Sequoia, I’ve been using iPhone Mirroring to get my phone notifications on my Mac. With the iPhone out of the picture, that option is unavailable. However, I don’t want to reach out to my smartphone whenever there is a notification ding.

Enter Pushbullet, which has solved this problem in the best way possible.

Pushbullet offers a Windows app and extensions for browsers like Chrome and Firefox. You can use it to mirror all notifications from your Android smartphone onto your Mac. I have set it up on Arc, and I get a notification alert whenever something pops up on my smartphone.

Setting up Pushbullet is easy, and you can expect on-time notification mirroring. Pushbullet also lets you reply to some of these notifications, such as an SMS message. Pushbullet can directly open apps as well. For instance, if I get a WhatsApp message, clicking on the notification will open WhatsApp Web directly.

Once again, Pushbullet cannot replace iPhone mirroring. But it’s better than reaching for your phone when you get a notification.

But if you want something that lets you control your Android smartphone from your Mac, you should check out Scrcpy (pronounced Screen Copy). It needs you to set up ADB tools and enable USB debugging. But the process is quite straightforward.

Unified Remote — Control Mac from Android

iPhone lets you control some elements on your Mac, especially while using Keynote. Keynote Remote used to be great when I didn’t have a slide controller at my disposal. That is, I could use my iPhone to manage the slides I had running on my Mac. Naturally, I wanted an alternative for this one too.

Unified Remote requires a two-step installation. You first need to install the Unified Remote Server on your Mac and install the Remote app on your Android smartphone. You can connect your Android remote to the server via Bluetooth, and you are good to go.

After you have given the necessary permissions, Unified Remote lets you control different aspects of your Mac, including the mouse, keyboard, files, volume, navigation, etc. You get a lot of other options from the full version of Unified Remote as well.

For this remote control system to work, your MacBook and Android should be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. However, if I remember things right, things were similar for many integration-oriented features of the Apple ecosystem.

All these features (and more) work on Windows PCs as well. In my experience, this Universal Remote is truly universal.

LocalSend — Great USB Alternative

As I said, I keep Blip on my Android and Mac for instant file transfers. However, the speeds from Blip are not always great. This means that, at times, I need a better tool to share files between my local devices. For what it’s worth, I had come across LocalSend a while back.

I think you should install LocalSend on your Mac and Android if you need a powerful way to transfer massive files between these devices. Unlike Blip, LocalSend relies on your Wi-Fi connection for peer-to-peer transfer. It is completely free to use and requires no technical skills for setup.

I get more customization options while trying to send/receive something using LocalSend. For instance, I get to control who can send me files or who can receive them—even when all devices are on the same network. I don’t use it much, but LocalSend offers link-sharing options as well.

As far as speed is concerned, LocalSend is powerful enough to send a 400MB file in less than 30 seconds (on a Wi-Fi 4 network). I often find it more convenient than using a USB cable for data transfer. Also, it helps to have LocalSend installed on all devices part of my workstation.

So, if you think Blip is too simple for your needs, do check out LocalSend as well. Despite being a free, open-source app, LocalSend has an impressive UI design and amazing features.

Resilio Sync — iCloud Drive Alternative

I know what you are thinking: isn’t Google Drive the best iCloud Drive alternative when on an Android? But it means paying Google for a premium storage plan. So, I prefer having a local P2P system to sync files and folders between my MacBook and Android.

This is where I use Resilio Sync.

Resilio Sync lets you share, sync, and even back up files and folders between your Mac, Windows PC, Android, and iOS devices. The app used to offer limited synchronization options in its free tier, but things are different now. It was one reason to try Resilio Sync again.

You must know that the synchronization option works only when both devices are connected to the Internet. However, if you don’t want to use a third-party service like Google Drive to deal with sensitive data, this might just be an advantage.

I know open-source options like Syncthing exist, but the speeds from Resilio Sync are great. More so, setting up Resilio Sync is easy on both Mac and Android. You download the clients, install them, and let them do the job. You can choose to add a folder for syncing and decide who has permission to do what.

For instance, I have a couple of folders that are sync only. So, whatever changes I make on my Mac will be available from anywhere as long as Resilio Sync is running on my Mac. This way, I can easily access all these files from my Android smartphone without making accidental changes to those files.

I use Resilio Sync on a case-by-case basis, but you can keep it running at all times. I also love the option to force-resolve folders. All these features make Resilio Sync a great way to access files on your Mac from your Android and vice versa.

So, if you need a sync and backup system that doesn’t rely on big tech servers, you should check out Resilio Sync once. It makes a huge difference to me every day, especially because I don’t prefer paying additional storage subscription fees.

MobiMover — Android Manager for Mac

I haven’t been a fan of iTunes/Finder for a long time. Even when I had an iPhone, I used iMazing to manage all things related to my smartphone, including backups and file storage. However, iMazing does not work with Android, and that puts me at a disadvantage.

However, I recently came across MobiMover from EaseUS, and it works great as an Android manager for Mac. I don’t even consider Android File Transfer at this point. Using iMobie MobiMover makes sense as I can easily transfer and back up a wider variety of files.

But I already said that I use Blip and LocalSend for data transfer between devices.

It means I use MobiMover the most for device management, especially backup. Since the last mess I had with WhatsApp chat, I prefer keeping a backup of my WhatsApp chats and media once in a while. The Social Media module of MobiMover comes in handy here.

And I like having a big screen to look at my storage and how things work out. I wish MobiMover had a Wi-Fi-based transfer feature, but I make do with the USB connection method. By the way, you may want to check out what MobiMover can do.

Given that I really like having a dedicated phone manager utility, it pays to have MobiMover on my Mac.

Wrapping Up

Most of the tools I have mentioned are free—or at least have a free plan. If you feel these apps contribute to your workflow, you can always upgrade, too. I have done that for a few other apps.

You’d have noticed that there are some redundancies in place. For instance, I prefer having both LocalSend and Blip on my devices. This way, even if I have to send something huge, I don’t have to worry about internet access.

I think you may want to check out NearDrop, which brings Quick Share support to macOS. Though I regularly use the app, it still requires some work. For instance, it doesn’t let you send files from Mac to Android. But if you can survive those minor setbacks, you should check out what NearDrop can offer.

I hope this guide helps you have a better Android-Mac experience!

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I Recently Shifted to Android from iPhone – 6 Apps That Make It Easy to Use Android with Mac

Current Setup and Issues