How to copy and paste between Android and iPhone

Copy on Android, paste on iPhone

1. Get the app on both devices. Install UniClip from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with the same Google or Apple account on each phone or tablet.
2. Send the text from Android. Select it in any app, tap the ⋮ menu next to Copy and Share, and choose Copy to Universal Clipboard.
3. Tap it on the other device. Open the app there and tap the clip. It is on that device’s clipboard, ready to paste. On Pro, a notification with Copy Now does it without opening the app.

It goes over the internet, so the phones don’t need to be near each other or on the same Wi-Fi. Mobile data works too.

Copy on iPhone, paste on Android

1. Get the app on both devices. Install UniClip from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with the same Google or Apple account on each phone or tablet.
2. Send the text from the iPhone or iPad. Select it in any app, tap Share, and choose Universal Clipboard.
3. Tap it on the other device. Open the app there and tap the clip. It is on that device’s clipboard, ready to paste. On Pro, a notification with Copy Now does it without opening the app.

If Universal Clipboard isn’t in the share sheet’s row of apps, swipe to the end, tap More and add it to your favourites. On Free, clips of up to 200 characters reach all your devices and disappear after 1 minute. Pro keeps every clip until you delete it, in a searchable history on every device.

Other ways, and where they fall short

• Message yourself. Works anywhere, but on the other phone you have to find the message, select the text and copy it again, and the chat fills up with old links and codes.
• Email or a shared note. Fine for a long piece of text, slow for a one-time code or a link you need right now.
• KDE Connect. Free and open source, for devices on the same network. Android 10 and later and iOS don’t let it read the clipboard in the background, so on both phones you send the clipboard by hand from the app or its notification.
• AirDrop and Quick Share. They send files and photos, not what you copied.

Why there is no built-in way

Apple’s Universal Clipboard runs on Handoff, which needs every device on the same Apple Account, so an Android phone can never join. Android 10 and later stop apps from reading the clipboard unless they are the keyboard or on screen, and iPhones ask before an app pastes from another app. So a clipboard that crosses between the two can’t quietly mirror everything you copy: you send what you want on purpose, which is how UniClip works.

Questions

Does Apple’s Universal Clipboard work with Android?

No. It needs every device signed in to the same Apple Account with Handoff on, so it only works between Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro.

Is there a free way to copy between Android and iPhone?

Yes. UniClip is free to start: clips of up to 200 characters go to all your devices and disappear after 1 minute. Messaging yourself is free too, just slower.

Do both phones need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

Not with UniClip. Clips go over the internet, on any Wi-Fi or mobile data, however far apart the phones are.

Can I send photos or files this way?

Yes: photos and files of up to 1 MB each, one at a time, on Free, and up to 10 MB each (2 GB in all), 10 at a time, with Pro — from the paperclip, the share sheet or by pasting.