Setup guide
Everything from the first QR code to mirroring on a network that blocks devices. It takes about two minutes.
Install
AndLink is two apps: one in your Mac's menu bar and one on your phone.
- Mac: install AndLink from the Mac App Store (coming soon) and open it. Its icon appears in the menu bar.
- Phone: you don't need to search for it. The QR code in the Mac's menu opens the app's Google Play page (coming soon).
You need macOS 14 or later and Android 10 or later. The Bluetooth connection needs Android 12 or later.
Connect your phone
With the QR code
- Put the phone and the Mac on the same Wi-Fi, or plug the phone into the Mac with a data cable.
- Click AndLink in the menu bar. Until a phone is paired, the menu shows a QR code. Scan it with the phone's camera.
- Without the app, Google Play opens: install it, open it and tap Connect. With the app, tap Connect with QR code in it and scan. Either way there's no code to compare.
With a 6-digit code
- Open AndLink on the phone. Macs on the same Wi-Fi appear under Nearby Macs.
- Tap your Mac. Both screens show a 6-digit code.
- If the codes match, tap Accept on the Mac.
To add another phone, choose Add phone… in the Mac's menu. To add another Mac, tap Add a Mac with a QR code on the phone. A Mac can pair several phones but connects to one at a time.
Phone settings, and why
Android keeps what AndLink does behind a few settings. After the first connection the phone app opens a guide that shows each one with a picture, says why Android asks for it, and takes you to the right screen. You can skip the optional ones.
| Setting | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
| Notifications Required | The Mac asks for mirroring and sends files through the phone's notifications. Android doesn't let an app in the background open a screen by itself. |
| Battery: Unrestricted Required | When the screen turns off, Android puts apps to sleep to save battery, and the link to the Mac would drop. |
| Notification access Optional | Android lets an app read other apps' notifications only with this access. It's what shows your notifications on the Mac. |
| Accessibility Optional | The only official way for an app to tap and type in other apps, used to control the phone from the Mac (Pro). It works only while mirroring and doesn't read or store what's on screen. |
| Microphone (audio recording) Optional | Android requires it to capture the sound other apps play. AndLink sends only the phone's own sound and never records the room. |
| Nearby devices Optional, Android 12+ | Lets the phone reach the Mac over Bluetooth when Wi-Fi can't. Location isn't used. |
If you installed the app from a file rather than Google Play, Android 13 and later may grey out Notification access and Accessibility as restricted settings. Try to turn the switch on once, then go to App info › ⋮ › Allow restricted settings and try again. The guide shows these steps too.
USB cable
For office or café Wi-Fi that keeps devices apart, or when the two aren't on the same network. No developer options or USB debugging needed.
- Plug the phone into the Mac with a cable that carries data (charge-only cables won't work).
- Android asks once whether to open AndLink. Allow it; tick the option to always open it and it won't ask again.
- A paired phone switches to the cable by itself. If this is the first time, tap Mac connected by USB cable under Nearby Macs and compare the 6-digit code.
- If nothing appears, unlock the phone and set its USB mode in the notification shade to file transfer.
- When you unplug the cable, the phone goes back to Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth if Wi-Fi can't reach the Mac. Wait two or three seconds before plugging it back in.
- If the Mac says another app is using the phone's USB connection, quit apps that open the phone's files (such as Android File Transfer or OpenMTP) and plug it in again.
Bluetooth
A paired phone with Android 12 or later can stay connected over Bluetooth when Wi-Fi and the cable are both unavailable. You don't pair it in the system Bluetooth settings, and the first pairing always happens over Wi-Fi or the cable.
- It's on by default on both sides: Also connect over Bluetooth under Paired Macs on the phone, and in the Mac menu's settings. The phone asks for the Nearby devices permission, the Mac for Bluetooth access.
- When Wi-Fi drops, the phone waits 8 seconds (Wi-Fi often comes back), then looks for the Mac. It usually connects within 20 seconds.
- Over Bluetooth: notifications and replies, clipboard, links, battery, ringing the phone, and files (slowly; the Mac asks first above 20 MB).
- Not over Bluetooth: screen mirroring. Use Wi-Fi or the cable for that.
When it won't connect
If the phone can't reach the Mac, its connection panel says why and offers other ways to connect.
| The phone says | What it means |
|---|---|
| The phone isn't on Wi-Fi. | Turn on Wi-Fi and join the Mac's network. |
| The phone and the Mac are on different networks. | Each is on a different Wi-Fi (for example a guest network). Join the same one. |
| This Wi-Fi seems to block devices from connecting to each other. | Common on office, café and guest Wi-Fi. Use one of the ways below. |
Other ways to connect:
- Connect with a USB cable: works without Wi-Fi.
- Connect with Bluetooth: for a paired phone; tapping it searches right away.
- Turn on your phone’s hotspot: join the Mac to the phone's hotspot and both are on the same Wi-Fi.
Screen mirroring
Click Screen mirroring in the Mac's menu. Android asks on the phone every time mirroring starts; that's Android's privacy rule.
- If Android asks what to share, choose Entire screen. With a single app, everything else shows black on the Mac.
- Keep screen on while mirroring (on by default) stops the phone from turning off its screen, which would end mirroring.
- Dim phone screen while mirroring (off by default) turns the phone's brightness all the way down while mirroring and puts it back afterwards. It needs Android's permission to modify system settings.
- If the phone's screen turns off or locks anyway, mirroring ends. Unlock the phone and start it again.
AndLink Pro (Mac)
Pro adds control from the Mac, phone audio, high quality up to 1920 px at 60 fps, screenshots and recording, always on top with ⌃⌥⌘M, and dropping files on the mirroring window.
- Try every Pro feature free for 7 days from when you start the trial, once per Apple Account. Nothing is charged automatically.
- To keep Pro, buy it once in the Mac app. It's not a subscription.
- On another Mac with the same Apple Account, choose Restore purchase.
Privacy
AndLink has no account and no server of ours in between: data goes only between your phone and your Mac, over Wi-Fi, the cable or Bluetooth.
- After pairing, everything is end-to-end encrypted (AES-256-GCM). Pairing information stays on your devices.
- Unpair from either side whenever you like. The other side forgets it too.