AndroBridge

A free, open-source, native macOS file manager for Android phones. Plug in your phone (developed and tested against a Google Pixel) and copy files both ways in a two-pane, Finder-style window.

⬇ Download the latest DMG · Install guide · Phone setup · Architecture

• Native: Swift + SwiftUI, ~4 MB universal app (Apple Silicon + Intel), macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
• Private: no account, no cloud, no analytics, no network traffic except to phones you connect.
• Safe: every transfer is written to a hidden temporary item, verified (sizes + SHA-256), then renamed into place. Nothing is overwritten silently; moves only remove the source after the copy is verified; Mac files you delete or replace go to the Trash.

Verified by the maintainer on a physical Google Pixel over USB and Wi‑Fi, plus an automated test suite on an Android 16 emulator.

It talks to the phone with Google's adb (Android Debug Bridge), over USB or Wi-Fi, so the phone needs USB debugging turned on (a one-time switch; see below). A mode that works without it (MTP) is on the roadmap.

What works today

Area	Status
Automatic detection of USB phones; reconnects after unplug / adb restart	✅
Unauthorized / offline / busy device states with on‑screen instructions	✅
Two‑pane browser (Mac ⟷ phone), breadcrumbs, back/forward/up, list + icon views	✅
Sort by name/date/size/kind, search the current folder, multi‑select, hidden files toggle	✅
Copy and move files and whole folder trees in both directions	✅
Progress, speed, time remaining, cancel, retry, persistent history	✅
Conflict handling: Skip / Replace / Keep Both (Finder‑style "Photo 2.jpg"), "apply to all"	✅
Drag and drop between panes, and from Finder onto the phone pane	✅
New folder, rename, delete (with confirmation), copy/paste within the phone	✅
Open / Quick Look phone files (fetched to a temporary read‑only copy)	✅
Phone and Mac free‑space display	✅
Wi‑Fi: pair with code, connect, mDNS discovery, remembered phones, auto‑reconnect	✅ (verified on a Pixel)
Finder sidebar integration (File Provider)	❌ not built, see docs/ROADMAP.md
MTP mode (no USB debugging)	❌ not built, see docs/ROADMAP.md

Installing

1. Install Google's Platform Tools (gives you adb), once:

   brew install --cask android-platform-tools

   Or download SDK Platform‑Tools for Mac from developer.android.com. If you already have Android Studio, AndroBridge finds its copy automatically.
2. Open AndroBridge-<version>.dmg and drag AndroBridge to Applications.
3. The app is unsigned and not notarized (that needs a paid Apple Developer account). The first time, macOS will refuse to open it:
   • Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway next to “AndroBridge was blocked”, then confirm.
   • Or in Terminal:

     xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/AndroBridge.app

   A copy you build yourself on your own Mac isn't quarantined and opens directly.

Set up your phone (once)

Steps below are for a Google Pixel; other Android phones are similar (the Developer options menu may sit under a different heading).

1. Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7 times (enter your PIN). “You are now a developer.”
2. Settings → System → Developer options → turn on USB debugging.
3. Plug the phone in with a USB‑C data cable. Unlock it. On “Allow USB debugging?” tick Always allow from this computer and tap Allow.
4. AndroBridge shows the phone as Connected and opens Internal storage.

If the phone shows Waiting for authorization and no prompt appears: unplug/replug, or Developer options → Revoke USB debugging authorizations and reconnect. If it shows No USB permission, quit Android File Transfer / OpenMTP / Android Studio (only one app can own the USB interface).

Wi‑Fi (Android 11+)

Phone and Mac on the same network. On the phone: Developer options → Wireless debugging → on. In AndroBridge: sidebar → Connect over Wi‑Fi…

1. Pair (first time): on the phone tap Pair device with pairing code; enter the IP:port and 6‑digit code it shows.
2. Connect: enter the IP:port shown at the top of the Wireless debugging screen (different from the pairing port), or click a phone found by Scan Network.

Remembered phones reconnect at launch (the phone's port changes when Wireless debugging is toggled; AndroBridge looks it up via mDNS).

Using it

• Left pane = Mac, right pane = phone. The pane with the blue line is active; toolbar and menu commands act on it.
• Copy: drag between panes, or select and press ⇧⌘→ (to phone) / ⇧⌘← (to Mac). Add ⌥ to move.
• Files go into the folder currently open in the other pane.
• Return / double‑click opens; Space Quick Looks; ⌘⌫ deletes; ⇧⌘N new folder; ⇧⌘R rename; ⌘[ ⌘] ⌘↑ navigate; ⌘1 / ⌘2 list / icons; ⇧⌘. hidden files; ⌘R refresh; ⇧⌘K Wi‑Fi.
• Settings (⌘,): SHA‑256 verification on/off (moves always verify), default conflict behaviour, custom adb path, Wi‑Fi auto‑reconnect.

What Android lets you see

AndroBridge sees what adb shell can see: all of shared storage (/sdcard = Internal storage: DCIM, Pictures, Movies, Music, Download, Documents …) and SD cards. It can't see apps' private data, and newer Android versions restrict Android/data and Android/obb. Top‑level folders such as DCIM, Download or Android can't be deleted or replaced from AndroBridge, and nothing can be written outside shared storage.

Building from source

Requires Xcode 16 or later (Swift 6).

git clone https://github.com/arunmenon1807/androbridge.git && cd androbridge
swift test                      # unit tests, no phone needed
scripts/build-app.sh            # → dist/AndroBridge.app and dist/AndroBridge-0.1.0.dmg

Options: --arch arm64 (Apple Silicon only, faster), --bundle-adb (copy your installed adb into the app so it works without Homebrew; personal use, see licensing below), VERSION=1.2.3, SIGN_IDENTITY="Developer ID Application: …" to sign with a real certificate.

Open in Xcode with xed . (Xcode opens Package.swift as a project; pick the AndroBridge scheme and Run). For quick iteration, swift run AndroBridge.

Tests

Suite	Needs a phone?	What it covers
AndroBridgeCoreTests (19 tests)	No	adb output parsing (devices, listings, df, checksums, mDNS, errors), shell quoting (fed through a real /bin/sh), path safety rules, Finder‑style naming, local file manifests and SHA‑256, verification logic incl. NFC/NFD names
DeviceIntegrationTests (10 tests)	Yes, phone or emulator	Real adb: listing, storage, mkdir/rename/delete with Unicode, protected paths refused, 3 MB file round trip byte‑for‑byte, 180 MB download, nested folder round trip with SHA‑256, conflicts (keep both/skip/replace), move deletes source only after verify, cancelled upload leaves no partial files

ANDROBRIDGE_DEVICE_TESTS=1 swift test --filter DeviceIntegrationTests
ANDROBRIDGE_DEVICE_TESTS=1 ANDROBRIDGE_DEVICE_SERIAL=<serial> swift test --filter DeviceIntegrationTests

They create and remove /sdcard/Download/AndroBridgeTest-* on the device. The app has been checked by hand on a physical Google Pixel over USB and Wi‑Fi; passing on an emulator alone isn't proof for other phones, so see docs/PHONE-TEST-CHECKLIST.md for the checks only a real phone can answer.

CI

.github/workflows/build.yml runs the unit tests and builds the universal, unsigned .app + .dmg on a macOS runner; the DMG is uploaded as the AndroBridge-dmg artifact. Pushing a v* tag also creates a GitHub Release with the DMG attached.

Licensing

AndroBridge is released under the MIT License. Contributions are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md; security issues go through SECURITY.md.

adb

adb is part of Google's Android SDK Platform‑Tools. The downloadable binaries are covered by the Android SDK License Agreement, which restricts redistribution, so the DMG built by CI does not include adb; you install it yourself (step 1 above). --bundle-adb copies your own installed copy into your own build for convenience.

Project layout

Sources/AndroBridgeCore/   device, transfer and file logic (no UI)
  ADB/                     ADBClient, AndroidDevice (DeviceConnection over adb), parser, locator
  Services/                FileTransferService, TransferQueueManager, DeviceDiscoveryService,
                           WirelessConnectionService, LocalFileService, SettingsManager
  Util/                    ProcessRunner (argv-only subprocesses), ShellQuoting
Sources/AndroBridge/       SwiftUI app (views + view models)
Tests/                     unit + device integration tests
scripts/build-app.sh       .app + .dmg packaging
docs/                      architecture, roadmap, real-phone test checklist

More: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Disclaimer

AndroBridge is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Google. Android, Google Pixel and adb are trademarks or products of Google LLC; they are named here only to describe compatibility.