Help and FAQ

Yes: the one that sends and the one that receives. Airplop exists for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, and these versions talk to each other. A Windows version is planned; it is not on sale yet, and where this help mentions it, it describes the Windows app as it is built today.

Neither. Both devices do need to be connected to the same local network: the same Wi-Fi, or a wired network (Ethernet). That network does not need internet access. Between two Apple devices, the system can also connect them directly, with no shared network (see Connections between devices).

iOS and iPadOS pause apps that are not on screen. An iPhone or iPad is therefore only visible while Airplop is open. A transfer that has already started keeps going if you switch apps, as long as the system allows it; if the system interrupts it, the transfer pauses and resumes when Airplop is back (see Transfers).

Android works the same way: the device is visible while Airplop is open, and a running transfer continues in the background, with a notification, as long as the system allows it; otherwise it pauses and resumes (see Transfers). On Mac, the device stays visible as long as Airplop is running, even with its window closed (icon in the menu bar).

By default, visibility is “My devices”: only the devices in “My devices” can see you and send you files.

To receive from a device that isn’t yours, or to add it to “My devices”, choose “Everyone (10 min)”: for 10 minutes, any nearby Airplop device sees your device’s name and can offer you files, and every transfer asks for your approval. Then Airplop goes back to “My devices” on its own.

With “No one”, your device stops announcing itself and accepts no connections, not even from your devices. You can still send.

The three choices have the same name on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.

Photos, videos, files of any type, whole folders with their subfolders, a text, a link or the clipboard.

• From the app, on every device.
• On Android, also from another app’s Share menu.
• On Mac, also by dropping files on Airplop’s window or on a device’s tile.

• iPhone and iPad: in the Files app, Airplop folder, or the folder you choose. If you allowed it when Airplop first opened or in its settings, received photos and videos go to Photos instead of staying in Files; you can change this in Airplop’s settings.
• Android: in Pictures/Airplop, Movies/Airplop and Download/Airplop depending on the file type, or the folder you choose.
• Mac: in Downloads, Airplop folder, or the folder you choose.
• Windows (planned version): in Downloads\Airplop, or the folder you choose.

macOS has no Wi-Fi Direct, and does not let a Mac App Store app join a Wi-Fi network on its own. Use your local network instead: the same Wi-Fi, or an Ethernet cable for the Mac.

On the same network, it shows up as long as Airplop is running on the Mac, if it is in “My devices” or set to “Everyone (10 min)”. With no shared network, only the direct link between Apple devices can connect them, and the Mac only opens it while Airplop’s window is open (or in “Everyone (10 min)”): with its window closed, it only announces itself on the local network and over Bluetooth, so as not to slow down its Wi-Fi. Open Airplop’s window on the Mac, or put both devices on the same network.

In “My devices”, choose the device, then Remove. It will no longer recognise yours or be able to send you files without your approval. It is not notified.

It can only find you if you are set to “Everyone (10 min)”. Before accepting, you see its name, its fingerprint (a 16-character code) and what it is offering. On iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, you can also check its identity with the 6-digit code, without adding it to “My devices”.

Airplop tells you (and, on iPhone, iPad and Android, offers to open the settings). You can also go there yourself: on iPhone and iPad, Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network; on Mac, System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network; on Android, Settings › Apps › Airplop › Permissions. Turn on Airplop, then go back to the app.

If the link drops (Wi-Fi lost, app closed or sent to the background), the transfer pauses. For 10 minutes, the sending device reconnects on its own as soon as the other one shows up again, and Airplop picks up where it left off: pieces already verified are not sent again. If a source file has changed in the meantime, that one starts over.

After those 10 minutes, the transfer resumes the next time the two devices connect. On Android, if the system closed Airplop during the pause, the transfer does not resume on its own: tap the receiving device again. Incomplete files are kept for 7 days, then deleted.

Each one-mebibyte piece is checked on arrival (BLAKE3 fingerprint), then the whole file. The file is only saved in place if it is identical, byte for byte, to the one that left; otherwise only the damaged pieces are sent again.

Airplop recompresses nothing: a HEIC stays a HEIC, a ProRes video stays ProRes, a RAW stays a RAW. It sends exactly the bytes the system gives it. Two points matter:

• on iPhone and iPad, an edited photo is sent in its current version, with its edits;
• on Android, a photo’s GPS location is only kept if you allow “Photo location” in Airplop’s settings; otherwise Android removes it, and Airplop reminds you when you pick photos.

Photos stored only in iCloud must first be downloaded by the iPhone, which needs the internet.

Yes, with all its subfolders, even empty ones, in a single transfer: you accept it once, not file by file. On Android, this version sends folders of up to 2,000 files: beyond that, Airplop declines the whole folder, with a message, and you can send its subfolders one by one. Files that arrive on an iPhone, iPad or Mac keep their modification date; on Android, received files carry the date they arrived. Symbolic links are skipped. An Apple package (an app or some documents) arrives as a package on an Apple device, and as a folder elsewhere.

A received text is shown with a Copy button, a link with an Open button. Nothing opens on its own. Sending the clipboard is always your own action.

Airplop never opens a received file on its own. On Mac, every received file is marked as coming from elsewhere, like a download: macOS warns you before opening a received app or program. On Windows (planned version), this marking applies to files from a device that is not in “My devices”. Only accept what you expect.

In the app: the list of what you sent and received, with its verification. It stays on the device and is sent nowhere (see the privacy policy).