Codes, already copied.
One-time codes from texts and notifications show up in the notch, copied and ready to paste.
TapDrop. Touch.It’s there.
Touch the top of your Android phone’s screen to your Mac’s notch and hold it until it buzzes. The page, photo, video or PDF on it lands on your Mac.
Free and open source (MIT). No accounts, no cloud, no tracking. Source on GitHub
- 112 lux
Touch the top of the screen to the notch.
- 1,480 lux
The screen flashes white. The notch sees it.
- 2 lux
Then black. The notch goes dark with it.
- 112 lux
It buzzes. Lift it off. It’s on your Mac.
The real thing, not a picture of it.
TapDrop looks at your screen only when a tap counts, then sends what’s behind it. Smart mode decides from what’s showing; you can choose for each app.
Copied from Android phone
Gate B32, boarding at 7:40. Seat 14A, window. Bags go to belt 6.
⌘V to paste- 01
A web page
Opens in your Mac’s browser as the page itself, not a picture of it.
On your phone 
On your Mac - 02
A photo
The original file, full quality, straight into Downloads.
On your phone 
On your Mac - 03
A video, mid-clip
The original video file, found even with the player’s controls hidden.
On your phone 
On your Mac - 04
A PDF or document
The file itself, with its own name.
On your phone 
On your Mac - 05
A part you circle
Just that part. Any words in it arrive as text on your clipboard.
On your phone 
Copied from Android phoneGate B32, boarding at 7:40. Seat 14A, window. Bags go to belt 6.
⌘V to pasteOn your Mac
Anything else arrives as a screenshot, copied to your clipboard too. When TapDrop can’t find the original for certain, you get the screenshot, never a guess.
Only the notch can send.
The notch on a MacBook holds an ambient light sensor. TapDrop uses it as a key: a tap counts only when it sees your phone’s own screen light up and go dark, pressed right against it.
What the notch sees
112 lux- 01Room
Before anything happens, the notch reads the light in your room.
- 02Covered
Your phone lands on the notch, screen first, and covers the sensor.
- 03White
The phone’s screen turns white at full brightness. The notch sees the light arrive.
- 04Black
Then the screen turns black, and the notch goes dark on cue.
- 05Counted
White − black is your phone’s own light, in a dark room or in sunlight. Enough of it, and the phone buzzes.
What can’t send
- A hand over the notchNo light
- A lamp switching onNever went dark
- Sun on the notchNever went dark
- A phone a few cm awayToo weak
- A tap on your palmNot the notch
- Your phone’s screen, on the notchSent
The rules, the timings and every verdict: how the light key works.
And when you’re not tapping.
Clipboard, both ways.
Send the Mac’s clipboard to your phone, or the phone’s to your Mac, in one tap.
Share sheets, both ways.
Pick TapDrop in Android’s share sheet. On the Mac, drop files on the menu bar icon to queue them for your phone.
See what the notch sees.
Test your tap on either device: a live graph of the notch’s light and a plain-words verdict for every try.
Watch it work.
The launch film: every kind of tap, codes, the clipboard and the light key, in seventy-five seconds.
It never leaves your Wi-Fi.
Your phone and your Mac talk to each other directly, over your own network. You pair once by checking that six digits match on both screens, and every frame after that is encrypted end to end.
- 0accounts to make
- 0servers in between
- 6digits to compare when you pair
- 256bit AES-GCM on every frame
Screens that block screenshots, such as banking apps, are never captured.
Get TapDrop.
TapDrop is free and open source. Download the Mac app from GitHub; your Mac then hands the Android app to your phone through a QR code. Pair once, and tap.
- An Android phoneAndroid 13 or newer, any brand.
- A Mac with a notchApple silicon, macOS 15 Sequoia or newer.
- The same Wi-FiBoth on one network, not a guest network.
Download for Mac
Open the DMG and drag TapDrop into Applications. It’s free, so it isn’t notarized by Apple: the first time, allow it once under Privacy & Security, Open Anyway.
Opening it the first timeScan the QR code
The Mac’s Set Up a Phone window shows a QR code: scan it and tap Download TapDrop (or download the Android app directly). It isn’t on the Play Store, so Android asks you to allow the install.
Installing on AndroidPair, then tap
Pick your Mac on the phone, check the six digits match, click Pair. Then turn on tap to send and touch the notch.
Pairing and tap to send
Mac: macOS 15 or newer, with a notch for tap to send. Android: 13 or newer, any brand, or let your Mac hand it over with its setup QR code. Always the latest version. All releases · Source code