Any sugguestions for App to transfer files from Android Phone to Mac? (File Manager, OTG)

[Cox Orange]

Hello,

I know people do this with network connections these days...

I'd like to connect our Smartphones to my Mac via USB-cable and transfer the Files (Camera Media, complete WhatsApp folder, pdfs,...) from the Phone to my Mac.

I used to use an OTG USB stick and currently do, but I'd like to directly copy the files without this step in between. Some time ago I already tried connecting one Phone via USB cable directly and used the App "Android File transfer". But it had some problems. I then learned in an android forum, that the App is indeed not working correctly and probably never has and is not recommended.

But even Google recommends using Android File Transfer still today for Macs: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2840804?hl=en#zippy=,mac-computer

I am searching for something like Total Commander.
Preferably one that is able to
a) create zip files (because WhatsApp-media looses its "created on"-Date, when you don't zip it) and
b) that the File Manager can create the Zip-file on the target device, instead of first creating the zip of the original folder on the smartphone and you then have to move the zip to the target destination.

Thank you very much!

 

[Ruggy]

The only time I had to do it I used Android File transfer and it worked fine for me.
USB stick would be my next option and I doubt you'll get anything better. it's really quick to use a card reader and very reliable so I would stick to that.
Can you use the cloud? One drive, dropbox something like that? You can load a lot of stuff onto something like google storage and download it that way?
One other thing which is probably totally impractical but I'll say it anyway: you can transfer a lot by email. It never ceases to amaze me how reliably email manages to transfer every sort of file. Very easy to do
Sorry, I don't know of anything else.

 

[Silly Burrito]

I'd just use Airdroid. https://www.airdroid.com/

Free and it works beautifully.

 

[SimpleGift]

If you want to connect via a USB cable, a good modern replacement for Android File Transfer is OpenMTP: https://openmtp.ganeshrvel.com/

It's free (donation suggested) and has versions for Silicon (M1 and M2) and older Intel systems.

 

[Cox Orange]

Thank you all! I will try the suggested Apps.

Meanwhile I tried Android File Transfer again, with only a few files, just to prove something someone had suggested to me re the changing WhatsApp date codes.

The pictures keep their "created on" and "last changed on" date, as long as I copy them directly to my Mac or an attached hard drive, but when I copy the pictures back to any Smartphone, they get a new date.

(Why is this important? I want to keep the existing gallery app, but most gallery apps sort pictures by "last changed" date.)

In forums I was adviced that one had to zip the files first, but this doesn't keep the dates either.
But, well, this might be a topic for another thread.