ZiggSend vs USB cable

A cable is fast and needs no cloud. It’s the protocol running over it that lets you down: MTP does one operation at a time with no check, and it’s widely reported to stall or skip files in large folders; on iPhone, importing can convert HEIC/HEVC, and iTunes syncs instead of copying.

14:30

Z

On the computer: Windows · MacOn the phone: App Store · Google Play

What it does well

• USB 3 speed when both cable and port are USB 3
• No cloud, no account
• Already in your drawer

Where it stops

• MTP (Android): one operation at a time; frequent reports of copies that stall or skip files in large folders
• On iPhone, photos and videos come out through the Photos app or Image Capture, which can convert them unless the iPhone is set to “Keep Originals”; everything else depends on iTunes/the Apple Devices app, which syncs instead of copying
• No check on what arrived

Side by side

When to use which

A cable with MTP to pull half a dozen files and check them by hand. ZiggSend over a cable, from Android to Mac, for a whole camera roll, with resume and verification; or over Wi-Fi, for any pair, when there’s no cable around.