How do I send files from my computer to my iPhone without iTunes?

Short answer

Turn on Wi-Fi Transfer in FoxDL, open the address it shows in a web browser on your computer, and enter the 6-digit PIN. Then drag files into the page. Both devices stay on your own network and nothing passes through a server of ours.

Reviewed 30 July 2026

Step by step

  1. On the phone or iPad, open Wi-Fi Transfer and start it.
  2. Type the address it shows into any web browser on a computer on the same network.
  3. Enter the 6-digit PIN shown on the device to unlock the page.
  4. Drag files in, or browse and download files back out.

Uploads stream straight to disk rather than being held in memory, so a 20 GB film transfers without the tab dying. Permissions are per operation and the destructive ones — deleting, renaming — are off until you turn them on.

The server only runs while FoxDL is open and in front. Switch apps and the address stops answering: a foreground-only server cannot be left exposed by accident.

If the page will not open

  • Both devices must be on the same network.
  • Some routers block devices from seeing each other — look for AP or client isolation and turn it off, or test with a phone hotspot.
  • On the Mac, Wi-Fi Transfer is free; on iPhone and iPad, starting a session uses one free allowance.
The long version Five ways to get a large file onto an iPhone, and when each is the right one Wi-Fi, device to device, cloud, WebDAV or a drive — which route suits which job.

Platform by platform

On iPhone

Foreground-only server, PIN-protected. One allowance per session in the free tier.

On iPad

Same as iPhone.

On Mac

Free — no allowance, no advertising.

Try it yourself

FoxDL is free to download. No account, no sign-up.

Download on the App Store