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I have a Xiaomi Redmi 4A I bought in China a few months ago still running the Chinese ROM.

  • Android version is 6.0.1 MMB29M
  • MIUI version is MIUI 8.5 | Stable 8.5.4.0(MCCCNED)
  • Laptop is MacBook Air running Sierra

The two are paired and I can connect easily. I can send files from the Mac to the phone using Bluetooth File Exchange.

I cannot use the Mac's "Browse files on device" feature because "The device does not have the necessary services".

From the phone's Bluetooth settings I can connect to the Mac but can't find any way to send a file. I can't find any app or tool on the phone for sending files or using Bluetooth. I've looked through the UI, in the Tools section, looked in the phone's storage using Explorer, and I've tried searching the phone for "transfer", "send", and "bluetooth".

I can transfer in both directions using a USB cable.

For this question I'm looking for a solution without any 3rd party apps. If it's not possible without such an app, that's an acceptable answer. I'm looking for non-USB solutions for this question.

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4 Answers 4

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Here are the ways you can transfer data between your Android phone to Mac. https://101android.com/transfer-data-android-to-mac/

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Sorry didn't get your question initially because of "I'm not looking for non-USB solutions for this question." sentence.

As for Bluetooth solution - Open Mac->Settings->Bluetooth on your Mac, there will be checkbox "Show Bluetooth in menu", Bluetooth icon will appear near your clock in top right corner. Click it, there will be "Send files to device". Click it, choose file, choose your device. You transfered file from Mac to Phone.

As for reverse direction - open any File Explorer application on your phone (stock explorer, ES, whatever), select file you want to transfer, long tap it, select "Share", select "Bluetooth", select your Mac Bluetooth name. You done.

Sorry for my English and maybe not very accurate menu item names - I am Russian and have Russian Mac OS and Android.

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  • Oops thanks for pointing out that thinko! I'll fix that right away ... Mac to phone works no problems. I thought I mentioned in my question but maybe I made multiple thinkos (-: Will try the long-tap solution ASAP.
    – hippietrail
    Nov 10, 2017 at 12:11
  • If only there was a Redmi 4A manual, an MIUI manual, or an Android manual somewhere to learn the basic! (-:
    – hippietrail
    Nov 11, 2017 at 3:43
  • Well this worked when I first tried it after reading the answer. But now it fails every time. Same phone and laptop. I've tried sending photos taken with the camera from Gallery and Explorer. The error message is "Request can't be handled correctly."
    – hippietrail
    Nov 12, 2017 at 5:09
  • Please check if you have Bluetooth enabled both on your Mac and on your Phone. This is most common reason of such errors.
    – Serj.by
    Nov 14, 2017 at 7:53
  • Yes I checked over and over and sent a file in the other direction to verify. Just a few minutes ago it did work again for the first time in a while though...
    – hippietrail
    Nov 15, 2017 at 0:11
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Here is an official Android utility to transfer files: https://www.android.com/filetransfer/ As a pity there is no other non 3rd-party options for Mac.

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  • As mentioned in my question, I can transfer files fine with the USB cable. (Using either AFT or a couple of other apps, though AFT wasn't working when I first tried it in China.)
    – hippietrail
    Nov 9, 2017 at 9:23
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Note: If you are ok with third party app then,

There is an app called Shareit available for this purpose. It is cross platform (supports mac, pc, ios, android and windows phone). Uses wifi for file transfer, so its very fast. Please check it out.

Shareit Official website

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  • I don't have Wi-Fi at home. I do have Shareit. I find it frustrating because it seems to work perfectly sometimes and not at all at other times. Depending which pair of devices I'm using and what Wi-Fi signal I'm on.
    – hippietrail
    Nov 9, 2017 at 9:18

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