Android → iPhone · Step by step

How to transfer videos from Android to iPhone without losing quality

A video from Android to iPhone is where the shortcuts hurt most: one wrong path and a sharp clip arrives blocky. Here is a path that moves the exact bytes and verifies them.

Why this usually goes wrong

There is still no direct path between most Android phones and an iPhone: AirDrop is built for Apple devices and only a few recent Androids (Pixels first) reach it through Quick Share, and Move to iOS only runs during setup. Day to day, people fall back to WhatsApp, which recompresses everything sent as media.

Video is big, so every convenient path shrinks it: WhatsApp compresses anything sent as media, Messages may convert it, email refuses it, and cloud drives wait for an upload that can take longer than the trip. A minute of 4K on a modern phone runs to hundreds of megabytes; a family vacation is easily 30 GB. Nothing in that list was designed for that.

Before you delete the clip on the phone, check that the size on the computer matches. ZiggSend does this for you: only files that passed the SHA-256 check get their final name, and History shows each one’s fingerprint (today’s on Free, all of them on Pro).

How to do it with ZiggSend

Rather see the screens? Illustrated step by step, with the app screens →
  1. Install ZiggSend for Android from Google Play (free).
  2. Install ZiggSend for iPhone from the App Store (free).
  3. On the iPhone, tap Receive files here: a QR code appears. On the Android, tap Connect to a computer → Scan the QR code and point it at the code. Both need to be on the same Wi-Fi, with ZiggSend open on the iPhone screen.
  4. Choose what to send. Photos and videos land in the iPhone’s Photos app, other files in the Files app, every one verified byte for byte.
Measured, not promised. 22 GB in 184 files with 0 failures from an Android to a Mac over a USB 2 cable (about 28 MB/s); an 806 MB video over home Wi-Fi in 46 s; up to 49.7 MB/s over Wi-Fi from a Mac to an iPhone. Every file is checked against the original on arrival. How we measure.

Other ways, and what each one costs you

MethodOriginal qualitySize limitThe catch
WhatsApp / TelegramNo — recompressed as media2 GB as a documentGoes through their servers
Move to iOSYesNoneOnly while setting up a new iPhone; running it again means erasing the iPhone
Google Photos / Drive“Original quality” only / Yes15 GB freeUpload on one phone, download on the other
Bluetooth——Does not work: the iPhone does not receive files over Bluetooth from non-Apple devices

What people ask before they trust a transfer app

“I don’t trust my private photos to a site I don’t know.”

Neither do we. ZiggSend has no site in the middle: the file goes from one device to the other over your home Wi-Fi (or, from Android to a Mac, a cable), and no file is stored anywhere else. The computer app only contacts ZiggSend to check for updates, to register a random install ID when it opens and, if you go Pro, to activate the license and check its status once a day; the privacy policy lists exactly what goes out.

“Mine fails at 64% every time.”

A transfer that breaks resumes where it stopped. Every file is written as a temporary part and only gets its final name after the SHA-256 check passes — you never end up with a half file that looks whole.

“I’m out of space and need to empty the phone.”

Move everything to the computer first: only files that pass the SHA-256 check get their final name, and History shows each fingerprint (today’s on Free, all of them on Pro). Then delete on the phone. Originals, no size limit.

Free forever with 1 phone. Pro when you need it.

The phone apps are free. So is the computer app, with one paired phone. Pro — several phones, full history, automatic folders, up to 3 computers — is $39 a year, or $19 once for the first 1,000 founders.

Get ZiggSend

Questions people actually ask

Does phone-to-phone need a computer?

No. The two phones pair by QR code on the same Wi-Fi and talk directly. A computer is only needed when the destination is a computer.

Is the phone app free?

Yes, on both phones. The license lives on the computer app; phone to phone needs no license at all.

Is there a limit on video length or size?

No. A two-hour 4K recording goes through in one piece. We measured an 806 MB video over home Wi-Fi in 46 s.

Does it re-encode anything?

Never. The file that arrives is hashed and compared with the original; if a single byte differs it is discarded and both sides are told.

Related guides

Photos from Android to iPhone in original quality4K and HDR video from Android to iPhone, untouchedLarge files from Android to iPhone, no size limitTransfer documents and PDFs from Android to iPhone

Compared with

ZiggSend vs WhatsAppZiggSend vs Quick Share