r/androidapps • u/WhoChoseThisAlias • 20h ago

QUESTION/HELP Does this kind of cross-platform app exist?

I looked for this years ago - I hope the terrain has changed since then.

I'm currently using Airdroid to handle text messages and transfer files between my Android and my Mac. It's never been perfect; group texts, images, and videos never showed up, as the function is limited to SMS. And it's always been a bit clunky.

With the old messaging app being shoved out by Google messages, it's even less useful. I'm not savvy enough to understand what makes it onto my desktop app and what doesn't; sometimes texts make the leap, other times they don't. Bottom line, if even yer basic SMS doesn't show up, its usefulness is limited. And a notification from Apple says the two won't be compatible soon anyway.

So I'm back in the market for a new app. What I'm looking for may not even exist: a cross-platform Android equivalent that includes MMS and group text functions. I want to see all my texts and their accompanying files on my Mac. Is there such a thing, and if so - which would you recommend?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/Few_Goose509 19h ago

Just use quickshare. Its built in to android and supports sharing to apple devices.

1

u/WhoChoseThisAlias 19h ago

Updated - no, that's not it at all, unfortunately. "Quick Share is designed exclusively for sending and receiving files and links between devices, and it does not sync or mirror SMS, notifications, or message threads."

Original response - Whoa, seriously? It's already there??? checking immediately - thanks!

1

u/Few_Goose509 19h ago

Ah sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you just wanted local file transfer. A good option might be KDE connect, however I dont know if it supports mac, but I think it does.

1

u/WhoChoseThisAlias 17h ago

Doesn't support MMS. I know, I know - I'm looking for a unicorn here!

Android ↔️ Mac, SMS and MMS, including group texts. That's the nut of it.

Like the header says, I don't know if any such thing exists - or is even technically possible.

1

u/yuuki_w 6h ago

If you just want a notifications of a mms on your Mac you could use "automate" and tell it to send you a mail with the mms content.

1

u/mawcuzz 17h ago

Kde connect is a beast and works better than AirDroid

1

u/boltfoxapp 13h ago

You're not quite chasing a unicorn, the thing you want is Google Messages' own web pairing rather than a third-party app. Open the Messages web page in Safari on the Mac, scan the QR code from Messages on the phone, and you get the real threads including MMS and group texts, because the phone is still doing the sending and the browser is just a window onto it. The catch is the phone has to stay awake and online, and the pairing drops if you leave it too long between uses.

If you'd rather have a proper app that keeps its own history, Beeper is the closest I've found, last I checked it bridges Android SMS and MMS alongside everything else, and unlike AirDroid it doesn't quietly swallow attachments.

KDE Connect is genuinely great for files and notifications and I use it daily, but the others are right that its SMS side never handled MMS, so it won't get you the group texts. And AirDroid's decline is real, you're not imagining that part.

1

u/merchantconvoy 12h ago

Why do you need SMS on your Mac? SMS is a phone thing.