DriveDroid

Your Android phone in Finder, over USB, without MTP.

DriveDroid is a macOS menu bar app plus a File Provider extension (the same mechanism Dropbox and Google Drive use). Plug in a phone with USB debugging enabled and it appears in the Finder sidebar. Browse, open, copy, rename, delete. Files transfer over ADB at USB speed; nothing is synced until you open it.

• macOS 15 or newer, Apple silicon or Intel
• Any Android 8+ phone with USB debugging on
• No app to install on the phone

Install

1. Install adb (brew install --cask android-platform-tools). Android Studio's platform-tools work too.
2. Download DriveDroid.dmg from Releases, drag the app to Applications, launch it. It lives in the menu bar.
3. On the phone: Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times, then Settings → System → Developer options → USB debugging on.
4. Plug in the phone. Tap Allow on the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt (tick Always allow).
5. The phone shows up in the Finder sidebar under Locations. The menu bar icon also has Open in Finder.

Unplugging the phone removes it from Finder, like ejecting a drive.

How it works

The app keeps the adb server running and follows its device list. For each authorized phone it registers a File Provider domain. The extension speaks the adb sync protocol directly to the local adb server, so listing, downloading and uploading go straight over USB. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Only shared storage (/sdcard) is exposed; that is what a non-root adbd can read.

Build from source

brew install xcodegen android-platform-tools
git clone https://github.com/mrbarkan/DriveDroid && cd DriveDroid
cp Local.xcconfig.example Local.xcconfig   # put your Apple Developer team ID in it
xcodegen generate
open DriveDroid.xcodeproj                  # Run the DriveDroid scheme

A team ID is required because File Provider extensions must be signed. A free Apple Developer account is enough for running locally; a paid one is needed for Developer ID + notarization.

Unit tests for the protocol layer:

cd Packages/ADBKit && swift test
ADB_SERVER_TESTS=1 swift test   # also talks to a running adb server

Release build (signed + notarized DMG)

One time: store notarization credentials in the keychain.

xcrun notarytool store-credentials DriveDroid \
  --apple-id you@example.com --team-id XXXXXXXXXX --password <app-specific-password>

Then:

scripts/release.sh                 # archive, Developer ID sign, notarize, staple, DMG in build/release/
SKIP_NOTARIZE=1 scripts/release.sh # sign only

Troubleshooting

• Phone missing from the menu. Run adb devices. unauthorized means tap Allow on the phone. Nothing listed means the cable is charge-only or USB debugging is off.
• Folder in Finder is empty or stuck. Check log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "com.mrbarkan.DriveDroid"'.
• Extension not showing up after building from source. Launch the app once from Xcode; macOS registers the extension on first launch. pluginkit -m -i com.mrbarkan.DriveDroid.FileProvider should list it.
• Files over 4 GB show the wrong size. Your phone is older than Android 8 and lacks stat_v2; open an issue.

License

MIT