Getting iPhones to play nice with Windows can be a challenge, but so can getting Android to play nice with Macs\u2014and it\u2019s that second setup we\u2019re going to tackle here. Read on to find out how to get all your apps working together and your files seamlessly synced between a Google-powered phone and an Apple-powered computer.<\/b>
\nGetting iPhones to play nice with Windows can be a challenge, but so can getting Android to play nice with Macs\u2014and it\u2019s that second setup we\u2019re going to tackle here. Read on to find out how to get all your apps working together and your files seamlessly synced between a Google-powered phone and an Apple-powered computer.
Obviously there are a whole host of different paths to take here, depending on which apps you\u2019re already invested in, how much of your digital life you need on each device, and which other devices you\u2019re running on a daily basis. We\u2019ll cover some of the main configuration options, then you can pick and choose.
Maybe you love the apps in macOS, or maybe you just recently switched from an iPhone to Android, but if you\u2019re a fan of Apple\u2019s apps then the bad news is you just can\u2019t get them on the Android platform\u2014with the one exception of Apple Music (if you\u2019re willing to pay $9.99 a month).
You can\u2019t play iTunes movies on an Android phone, not unless you\u2019re going to jump through a lot of hoops to crack the DRM on them. You can\u2019t view your iCloud Photo Library, or get at your iMessage conversations, or make a FaceTime call. These apps are all locked-down Apple apps, with no third-party workarounds.
At this point you\u2019re probably thinking it\u2019s easier just to switch wholesale from Apple\u2019s ecosystem to Google\u2019s (see the section below), but you can get at some of your Apple information on Android. It might even be enough for you to get by.
Email, for example: An iCloud account can be added to Gmail on Android by tapping your username on the app menu, then choosing Add account and Other. Enter your iCloud credentials to log in and add your email address (if you\u2019ve got two-step authentication set up on your Apple ID, you\u2019ll need to create an app-specific password here).
You can export contacts and calendar information from iCloud to Google\u2019s apps on Android, but here the sync is only one way. Once you\u2019ve exported the data, you\u2019ll have to stick to Google\u2019s platform going forward\u2014unless you\u2019re happy working through the process every time you update something on macOS.
Open up iCloud on the web, click through on Contacts, then click the cog in the lower left-hand corner and choose Select All. Click the cog again, then Export vCard, and you can save your contact details to a file that can then be imported through the Google Contacts portal (click More then Import). Those contacts then sync to Android.
For calendars, again you can do this from iCloud on the web. Click Calendar, then the Share Calendar button to the right of your chosen calendar. Make the calendar public, and copy the link\u2014that can then be pasted into Google Calendar (click the plus icon on the left-hand pane then From URL). Events created on macOS will then appear on Android, but not the other way around.
There are some third-party options for syncing data like calendars and contacts (though not for iMessages and photos). We\u2019re reluctant to recommend them considering Apple or Google could change any part of their setup at any time, and that\u2019s before you get into the issue of letting a little-known app have access to all your phone and cloud data.
We did test out AnyTrans, which we couldn\u2019t get to work properly, and SyncGene, which actually did successfully sync contacts and calendar information between our iCloud and Google accounts. Automatic sync will cost you $4.95 a month, billed yearly (manual syncing between two devices is free), but if you really need it then it\u2019s one option\u2014just proceed at your own risk.
It largely depends on how much data you\u2019ve already got in iCloud. The Apple apps on macOS (and indeed iOS) are actually pretty good at handling Google cloud data\u2014it\u2019s getting iCloud data into Android that\u2019s the problem. For the best macOS-with-Android experience, you really need Google underpinning everything.
On the flip side, if you want to stick with Google\u2019s apps and services\u2014maybe you\u2019re a long-time Android user and you just got a Mac\u2014everything is much more straightforward. Refreshingly so, in fact.
The native Mail, Contacts and Calendar apps for macOS can all work with Google accounts rather than iCloud ones, and taking this route means everything syncs to Android easily and reliably. To set this up, click the Apple menu then choose System Preferences \u2014click Internet Accounts, then Google, and sign in with your credentials to start the sync.
From the same dialog you can pick whether to sync emails, contacts, and calendars all at once, or just one or two of the three. There\u2019s also the option to sync Notes, but this is a hacky kind of feature that syncs with a label in Gmail\u2014there\u2019s no actual comparable app on Android.
If you prefer living on the web, everything is even easier. Install Chrome for Mac and all your passwords and bookmarks from Android sync over, and you can then open up Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, your purchased movies and TV shows or whatever you like from your macOS machine. Everything is handled in the cloud and syncs in the background, so you know you\u2019ve got the same set of data on both devices.
Meanwhile, Google Photos will gladly slurp up pictures from your Mac and your Android phone and make all your photos and videos available in both places\u2014it can even upload pictures from your Apple Photo Library. To get started, you need Google Photos on your Android phone and Google Backup & Sync on your Mac.
For the desktop client, make sure your settings are right. Click the icon on the menu bar, then the menu button (three dots), then Preferences: On the My Mac or My MacBook tab, Make sure Upload newly added photos and videos to Google Photos is ticked, and all the folders where these media files are located are selected above. If you want all your Google Photos on disk on your Mac as well as in the cloud, sync the Google Photos folder locally (under the Google Drive tab).
This takes care of all kinds of other types of files too, provided you select the right folders in the Preferences dialog. You can open up PDFs, Word files, text files and so on from the Google Drive app on Android, though it won\u2019t have anything to handle files created in Pages or Numbers (your best option here is to export the files in a different format from the native macOS apps).
Unfortunately, iMessage remains a closed box that won\u2019t be appearing on any non-Apple devices until Apple decides to make an app for them, but you can now use Android Messages on Android and the web on macOS, as we\u2019ve outlined here. WhatsApp is another app that will work on Android and the web, so you can send and receive messages from your Mac computer.
What you can\u2019t yet do is make and receive Android phone calls from your Mac computer, as you very easily can with an iPhone. Applications like AirDroid can mirror your Android screen, but you still need to pick up your phone. If you want to make video and audio calls across Android and macOS, you need to use an option supported on both, like Skype or Google Hangouts.
As is usually the case when you want to use Apple hardware and non-Apple hardware together, switching to a different ecosystem of apps\u2014whether Google, Microsoft, or something else\u2014is the best option for getting everything operating in harmony. Put all your eggs in the iCloud basket, and you\u2019re going to run into problems.<\/p>\n

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