‘Android File Transfer’ app for macOS has been hidden from Android.com

Ben Schoon | Feb 16 2024 - 2:01 pm PT

For years now, Google has offered the “Android File Transfer” app on macOS to enable users to access files and photos when plugging them into a Mac. But, suddenly, Google has hidden that tool from the official Android website.

As Google itself describes, the Android File Transfer app allows users to “Browse and transfer files between your Mac computer and your Android device.” This is because macOS doesn’t support showing the MTP file structure that Android users. So, there are apps to fill the gap, and this is the one Google distributes. A popular third-party alternative is OpenMTP.

Google offers Android File Transfer for free and it’s a pretty quick and easy process generally.

But, suddenly, Android File Transfer is no longer easily accessible via the official Android website. Android.com has shown a link to the tool in its footer for years now, but it’s been removed this week. Going back, we narrowed down the timing of the change to literally within just a few hours of Android 15’s first developer preview coming out. We can’t be any more specific than that, unfortunately.

Why has Google made this tweak?

This was a decision Google would have had to make, but the exact reason why is unclear. macOS still won’t play nicely with Android natively, so it’s unlikely that has anything to do with it. One theory we’ve got is that, maybe, Quick Share could be getting a release on macOS. Google’s app technically can already work on macOS, but it’s not officially supported.

In any case, Android File Transfer isn’t gone. The app is still available through a direct link as well as through Google Search, which is probably where everyone was getting it anyway. But, at this point, it’s just strange. The tool is also still linked to from Google’s support pages.

Still, it’s strange to suddenly drop the link, especially with it happening pretty much simultaneously with Android 15’s launch. On that note, yes, the app does still work with devices running Android 15 and, yes, it’s also still required to access your files too.