How to Send a Video From iPhone to Android Without Compression

The problem: silent re-encoding

Most cross-platform video sharing routes through a service that has its own opinions about file size. iMessage converts to lower bit-rates; WhatsApp caps individual videos at 16 MB and re-compresses everything else; Google Photos applies its “high quality” recompression by default. The video your friend sees is rarely the video you shot.

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AndroidLin

PathDirect · same LAN

EncryptionDTLS-SRTP

Throughput92 Mb/s

Progress0%

What “original bytes” actually means

A 4K video off an iPhone is typically HEVC, 50 Mb/s, in a .mov container. The browser reads the file exactly as the camera wrote it, streams those bytes encrypted over a WebRTC data channel, and the receiving Android writes the same file to its Downloads folder. No re-encoding. No resolution drop. No bitrate compression. The MD5 of the file on both sides matches.

Step-by-step

Step 1 of 5

Open InterDrop on the iPhone

In any modern browser, go to interdrop.com. The page picks up a temporary name and avatar for the device.

interdrop.com

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🔒 interdrop.com

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Looking for peers…

Will Android play an iPhone HEVC?

Yes. Every Android phone shipped since ~2019 decodes HEVC natively. If you’re sending to a much older device, AirDrop the file to a Mac first and re-export as H.264 — but for any phone bought in the last few years, the original file plays without converting.

A note on file size

4K video is big — a minute of 4K60 HDR is around 400 MB on iPhone. P2P moves it in about 30 seconds on the same Wi-Fi. The same minute over WhatsApp would be re-encoded down to ~10 MB and look it.

If you can read both phones’ specs, you already know which one decided to compress your video. P2P removes that decision from the chain.

Frequently asked

Will the Android phone keep the HEVC container?

Yes — the file lands as .mov/.mp4 in Downloads with the exact same codec. Most gallery apps preview it inline; otherwise VLC plays it instantly.

What about HDR / Dolby Vision metadata?

Preserved. P2P transfers the raw bytes including all metadata streams. The receiving device's player decides whether to honor it.

Can I send to Android while iCloud is syncing the same video?

Yes — the read happens against the local file on the iPhone, not the iCloud copy. iCloud sync continues in parallel.

Is there a way to avoid the iOS Safari battery cost?

Plug the iPhone in if you're sending several large videos in a row. For a single video it's negligible.