Installing

Two apps, one on each device, and they only work as a pair. The computer can be a Mac or a Windows PC — the rest is the same. About three minutes.

1. On the Mac

1. Open the Airdroidfy.dmg you downloaded. A window opens with the app icon on one side and the Applications folder on the other.
2. Drag the icon onto the Applications folder. This step isn't decoration: running the app from inside the mounted image works once and disappears at the next restart, taking the activated licence with it.
3. Eject the image — the triangle next to Airdroidfy in the Finder sidebar — and open the app from your Applications folder.

The first time, macOS asks whether Airdroidfy may look for devices on your local network. Say yes. Without that permission it can't find your phone — and that is the only thing it does on the network.

If you declined by accident: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network, and switch Airdroidfy on. The app has to be reopened afterwards.

2. On Windows

1. Open Airdroidfy-Setup.exe and click Next through to Finish. No administrator password: it installs into your own user folder.
2. Leave Start Airdroidfy with Windows ticked. Without it, after a reboot the phone will not find the PC until someone opens the app by hand — and the symptom looks like a network fault.
3. The icon appears in the system tray, near the clock — it may be hidden behind the ^ arrow.
4. Say Yes when Windows asks whether the app may talk on the private network. That permission is how the phone finds the PC; on a public network the app does not announce itself, by design.

If you said no by accident: Settings › Network & internet › Windows Firewall › Allow an app, and tick Airdroidfy under Private.

A blue SmartScreen warning on first run is expected — it appears for every new unsigned program. More info › Run anyway. If Windows blocks it with no such option, that is Smart App Control: see what to do.

3. On Android

The phone app is free and lives on Google Play. It's the other half of the pair: without it, the Mac has nobody to talk to.

Both devices need to be on the same network. Your home Wi-Fi is fine. No cable, no cloud — and it won't work with the phone on mobile data and the Mac on Wi-Fi, because those are different networks. (The exception is the tablet as a display for the Mac, which works by cable too.)

On iPhone? Airdroidfy is on the App Store too — from there it sends and receives files with the Mac over the same network.

4. Pairing them

Pairing happens once per pair of devices. After that they recognise each other on their own whenever they're on the same network.

1. On the computer, click the icon (menu bar on the Mac, tray on Windows) and choose Pair device. A QR code appears.
2. On the phone, tap Pair device and point the camera at the code.
3. The computer asks whether to accept. Confirm, and you're done.

The QR code carries the computer's address on your network and the fingerprint of its certificate. That's what lets the phone recognise the same machine later, and turn away anything else pretending to be it.

5. The phone's camera as a webcam New

It's optional, and for now it belongs to the Mac with an Android phone: the phone's camera shows up in Google Meet, Zoom, FaceTime and any other video app as if it were a camera plugged into the computer — only over Wi-Fi. It needs Airdroidfy 0.1.17 or newer on the Mac and 1.0.29 or newer on Android.

1. In the Airdroidfy menu, in the menu bar, choose Install the virtual camera… It's a one-off, and the app has to be in the Applications folder — macOS won't install it from inside the mounted image.
2. macOS asks for one approval: under System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions › Camera Extensions, switch Airdroidfy on. That switch is yours — no app can turn it on by itself. If the menu then shows Reopen Airdroidfy to turn the camera on, click it.
3. Still in the menu, choose Use the phone's camera. The phone asks whether to accept and, the first time, Android asks for the camera permission.
4. In the video app, open the camera list and pick Airdroidfy (celular).

On the phone, the Camera for the Mac screen shows the lens in use, with Switch camera and Stop; the notification carries the same two actions. Only the picture crosses — the call's sound still comes from the Mac's microphone. With the phone stopped, the camera stays in the list and shows a waiting icon instead of a picture.

6. Your tablet as a display for the Mac New

It is optional too, and it is for the Mac with an Android tablet (or phone): the Mac's desktop carries on onto the tablet's screen, or the main screen is mirrored on it, and touch works as a mouse. It needs Airdroidfy 0.2.0 or newer on an Apple Silicon Mac and 1.1.0 or newer on Android 14 or newer, already paired.

1. With Airdroidfy open on the Mac, plug the tablet straight into the Mac with a data cable. No developer options: the Mac talks to the tablet as a USB accessory.
2. The Mac asks Use this tablet as a display? With Always on this tablet, next time you just plug in the cable; with Just this time, it asks again on the next plug-in.
3. On a MacBook, macOS asks whether the accessory may connect — sometimes twice. Allow.
4. On the tablet, when Android asks whether to open Airdroidfy, tick Always open and tap OK.
5. The first time, the Set up the display window asks for two macOS permissions: Screen Recording, so the picture reaches the tablet, and Accessibility, so touch can move the pointer. If macOS asks to reopen Airdroidfy, accept: the tablet reconnects on its own.

No cable, over Wi-Fi: on the tablet, Use as Mac display; or, in the Airdroidfy menu on the Mac, Use tablet as a display. Over the network the Mac asks before every session. Extend or mirror, tablet on the left or on the right and Disconnect display live in the Airdroidfy menu. The feature page explains every step.

On Windows, with Airdroidfy 1.1.0 or newer, the display works over Wi-Fi: on the tablet, Use as PC display; or, in the Airdroidfy menu in the tray, Use tablet as a display. The tablet mirrors the main screen or shows another of the PC's displays. How it works on Windows.

When it doesn't show up

The phone can't find the computer. Nearly always different networks. Check that both are on the same Wi-Fi — and if your router has a guest network, note that it usually isolates devices from each other on purpose. On Windows, also check that the network is marked private: on a public one the app does not announce itself.

It disappears after a while. On the computer, the app has to stay open — if the menu bar or tray icon is gone, it was quit. On Android, Airdroidfy holds a notification while it's available; if the system drops it to save battery, the device leaves the network with it.

I can receive but not send. Check that the device shows as connected on both sides. A pairing that only half-completed still lists the other side, but greyed out.

The camera doesn't show up in Meet or Zoom. Video apps read the camera list just once, when they open. If the browser or Zoom was already open when the camera was installed — or updated — quit it properly (⌘Q, not just closing the window) and open it again. Also check that the switch under Camera Extensions is still on.

I plugged the tablet in and the display didn't appear. Check, in this order: Airdroidfy is open on the Mac; the tablet is unlocked; the cable goes straight into the Mac, with no hub; and you answered the Mac's question (it also stays in the Airdroidfy menu). If the tablet says This cable only charges, the cable has no data wires — swap it. If Android asked whether to open Airdroidfy and you tapped Cancel, use Try again in the Mac's menu and tap OK.

I clicked Don't Allow on the accessory prompt. Unplug and plug the cable in again, and macOS asks again. If it doesn't, look in System Settings › Privacy & Security for the option that decides when accessories may connect.

The tablet says a permission is missing on the Mac. It is Screen Recording. From macOS 15 onwards, the system confirms it again from time to time — currently about once a month. Choose Allow on the Mac's prompt, and the picture comes back.

If none of that helps, write to support@airdroidfy.com and tell us what you see on screen. It's quicker than it sounds.