How to upload photos from iPhone to Xiaomi: all the ways from AirDrop to cloud services

Sharing photos between smartphones in different ecosystems — Apple and Xiaomi — is often a headache for users. While both companies offer advanced data sharing tools, cross-platform synchronization remains a weak point. If you’ve just switched from an iPhone to a Redmi Note 12 or Xiaomi 14 and want to migrate years of accumulated photos without losing quality, this guide will help you choose the best method.

We tested all the current methods, from standard features like AirDrop (which, by the way, does not work directly with Xiaomi) to little-known life hacks using Python scripts for automatic sorting. In the article you will find not only step-by-step instructions, but also a comparative table of methods for speed, preservation and maintenance. EXIF-The focus has been on the problem of duplicate photos when transmitted via Google Photos, a common error that is rarely warned about in standard guides.

Important: If you have an iPhone with iOS 17+ and Xiaomi on MIUI 14/15, some methods (such as Bluetooth transmission) may not work well due to changes in exchange protocols, and we have outlined the current workarounds for such cases.

1. Transfer via Google Photos: pros and pitfalls

Google Photos remains the most versatile cross-platform sharing solution, but it has critical nuances: automatic synchronization and the ability to select quality (original or compression), but many users face duplicate photos when transferring: the system creates copies for each album in which the image is located.

To avoid chaos in the Xiaomi gallery, before the transfer:

• 📁 Remove photos from albums like “Favorites” or “People” on your iPhone – leave only the main storage.
• 🔄 Turn off the "Shared Albums" feature in Google Photos settings on iPhone.
• 📊 Select the “Original Quality” option (if you have space in the cloud) or Xiaomi will get compressed versions.

Step instructions:

1. Install Google Photos on your iPhone from the App Store.
2. Sign in with the same account as Xiaomi.
3. Enable autoboot: Settings → Backup and synchronization.
4. On Xiaomi, open Google Photos and wait for the sync to complete.
5. Select the necessary photos → “Save to the device”.

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If photos are displayed in different ways after transfer in the Xiaomi gallery, use the Files by Google application to sort by date of creation (EXIF:DateTimeOriginal option).

2.Using Lightning-USB-C cable: maximum speed without clouds

Direct cable connection is the fastest way (up to 40MB/s on the iPhone 15 Pro), but requires an additional adapter or Lightning-USB-C cable. EXIF-Minus on Xiaomi with data. MIUI 14+ Automatic mounting of the iPhone as a drive may not work.

Algorithm of action:

1. Connect your iPhone to Xiaomi via an adapter (e.g. Apple USB-C to Lightning).
2. The iPhone will be asked “Trust this computer?”
3. On Xiaomi, open the notification "USB-Connection and select "File Transfer".
4. Use Files or MiXplorer to access the DCIM folder on your iPhone.
5. Copy the photo to the Pictures folder on Xiaomi.

⚠️ Note: When transmitting via cable, the iPhone can automatically rotate the photo to the 90° (iOS bug 16-17). To avoid this, open the photo in the Photos app on your iPhone before copying and click "Change" → "Returning is going to reset orientation metadata.

3. AirDrop + workaround for Xiaomi (via Mac or Windows)

AirDrop doesn’t support direct transfer to Xiaomi, but there’s a computer-by-computer workaround that’s relevant if you have a MacBook or PC running Windows 10+. The transfer speed is comparable to a cable (10-30MB/s), but requires additional devices.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on AirDrop on your iPhone (swipe down for Control Point → hold the network unit → turn on AirDrop for “All”).
2. On Mac, open Finder → select iPhone in the side menu under Network Devices.
3. Drag the photo from the Mac photo to any folder.
4. Connect Xiaomi to your Mac via cable and copy the photo to your DCIM/Camera folder.

For Windows:

• 🖥️ Use iTunes or Explorer to access iPhone photos.
• 📂 Copy files into a folder on PC, Then move to Xiaomi via Mi. PC Suite.

4 Wi-Fi Transmission: Snapdrop and Alternatives

If the cable is not on hand and the clouds seem slow, use web services to transfer over the local network. Snapdrop (snapdrop.net) is the most popular tool, but it has a file size limit (250 MB at a time). Xiaomi will also suit the built-in Mi Drop (formerly Mi Share), but it only works with devices on MIUI.

Instructions for Snapdrop:

1. Open snapdrop.net on iPhone and Xiaomi (both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network).
2. On iPhone, select a photo → Share → Save to Files → On my iPhone → create a folder (for example, For Xiaomi).
3. Return to Snapdrop, tap on the Xiaomi icon and select a folder with a photo.
4. On Xiaomi, confirm the file acceptance.

Alternatives:

• 🌐 Send Anywhere (application): generates 6-digit code for transfer, supports folders up to 10 GB.
• 📡 LocalSend (open-source): an analogue of AirDrop with encryption, works without the Internet.
• 🔗 Mi Drop: Built-in to Xiaomi, but requires Mi Share installation on iPhone (available in App Store).

Turn off VPN on both devices

Connect to a single Wi-Fi network (5 GHz faster)

Close the background applications that use the Internet

Check the battery power (transmission consumes ~15-20% per hour)

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5. iCloud + Files app on Xiaomi

If you use iCloud, you can upload photos to the cloud and then download them to Xiaomi via a web interface or app, which is convenient for large libraries (up to 5 GB free), but has two critical drawbacks: compression when downloaded through the browser and possible authorization errors on Xiaomi.

How to move without loss:

1. On iPhone, enable sync photos with iCloud: Settings → [Your name] → iCloud → Photos.
2. Wait for the download to complete (check in Settings → iCloud → Storage Management).
3. On Xiaomi, open your browser and go to icloud.com.
4. Log in, select "Photo", hold the image → "Download".
5. For a batch download, use the iCloud bootloader extension for Chrome.

⚠️ Note: When downloading via Safari or Chrome browser on Xiaomi photo in format HEIC automatically convert to JPEG To save the originals, download the archive (select the photo) → "Download everything" or use the iCloud app for Windows in the middle PC.

6 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct: When nothing works

These methods are the last resort if other methods are not available. Bluetooth on an iPhone is limited to transferring one file (maximum 50 MB at a time), and Wi-Fi Direct requires manual adjustment on Xiaomi. Transfer speed is 1-3 MB / s, which is critically slow for large libraries.

How to transmit via Bluetooth:

1. Turn on Bluetooth on both devices.
2. On iPhone, select photos → Share → AirDrop and others → choose Xiaomi.
3. On Xiaomi, confirm acceptance (the file will be saved in Bluetooth or Downloads).

For Wi-Fi Direct:

• 📶 On Xiaomi, open Settings → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi Direct.
• 🔍 On iPhone, connect to the access point Xiaomi (password will appear on the screen).
• 📤 Use Explorer on Xiaomi to access iPhone folders by protocol FTP (attachment FX File Explorer supports this out of the box).

7 Automation: scripts and third-party utilities

For advanced users, there are ways to automate photo transfer while preserving folder structure and metadata. For example, a Python script with a Pillow library can convert HEIC to JPEG without loss of quality, and the Rclone utility syncs photos between the clouds (iCloud → Google Drive) in the background.

Example of a HEIC conversion script:

pip install pyheif pillow


import pyheif




from PIL import Image




import os





def convert_heic_to_jpeg(heic_path, jpeg_path):




heif_file = pyheif.read(heic_path)




image = Image.frombytes(




heif_file.mode,




heif_file.size,




heif_file.data,




"raw",




heif_file.mode,




heif_file.stride,




)




image.save(jpeg_path, "JPEG", quality=95)




Example of use



convert_heic_to_jpeg("photo.heic", "photo.jpg")

Third-party utilities for automation:

• 🐍 iMazing (Windows/macOS): Exports photos from iPhone with albums and dates saved.
• 📦 Syncthing: Syncs folders between devices over a cloud-free local network.
• ☁️ Rclone: Copies iCloud photos to Google Drive with saving EXIF.

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To transfer more than 1,000 photos, it is best to combine the methods: first transfer the main library through cable or Google Photos, then send the missing photos through Snapdrop or iCloud.

Comparative table of methods of transfer

FAQ: Frequent questions