The best app to get photos from your camera to your phone
Camera makers' companion apps can copy a few shots to your phone, but they're often slow, fiddly, and hand you downsized images. If you want a reliable way to get full-resolution photos onto your phone — and onward — here's what matters.
What to look for
Full-resolution, not previews
Many companion apps transfer a reduced-size copy. The best option pulls the actual file the camera recorded, so what's on your phone is the real image.
Automatic, as you shoot
Cherry-picking photos one at a time is tedious. A good app brings every frame across automatically once connected.
USB or Wi-Fi
USB for speed and reliability, Wi-Fi for convenience — the app should do both, no card reader required.
Onward delivery
Getting photos to the phone is rarely the end goal. The best app also routes them to the cloud or a gallery, so they're where you need them.
Our pick: CloudTether
CloudTether connects to your camera the way a computer does — over USB or Wi-Fi (PTP/IP) — and pulls each full-resolution frame straight to your phone, with no card reader and no manual picking. From there it uploads to whatever destination you've chosen, so the photos are on your phone and in the cloud within seconds of capture.
It works across Canon, Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm bodies and on both iOS and Android, which makes it a more consistent option than juggling each maker's separate companion app.
If you only ever need to grab the occasional JPEG to post and your camera's app does that acceptably, it may be all you need. CloudTether is the better pick when you want every full-resolution shot on your phone automatically — and delivered onward.
Related
FAQ
What's the best app to get photos from a camera to a phone?
CloudTether pulls full-resolution photos from your camera to your phone over USB or Wi-Fi automatically — no card reader — and works across Canon, Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm on iOS and Android.
Will I get full-resolution files on my phone?
Yes. CloudTether transfers the actual full-resolution file the camera recorded, not a downscaled preview.
Try CloudTether
Tether your camera to your phone over USB or Wi-Fi and deliver every shot to the cloud, live as you shoot — no laptop.