A magic gesture to transfer images from an iPhone to a Mac (without AirDrop)

A buzzing video shows a trick to instantly transfer an image between an iPhone and a Mac or iPad, without going through AirDrop. A simple gesture on the screen of each device is enough, giving this function the air of a magic trick.

Some features of our computers and modern smartphones can sometimes look like magic, and it’s just this kind of sleight of hand that’s all the rage these days. A video shared by on TikTok by a former Apple employee shows his surprise by discovering a way to instantly send images between his various brand devices.

Simply display the image in question on your iPhone and pinch with three fingers. On your Mac, do the reverse gesture (spread three fingers apart) in a text editor like Notes, Messages, or email, and you’re done. It works both in reverse as well as with a iPad. Of course, there are a few conditions that must be met beforehand. Electronics (Mac, iPhoneiPad) must be logged in with the same iCloud account, and you must activate the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as Handoff function on source and destination devices.

A function that has gone largely unnoticed for three years

This magic trick relies on the universal clipboard, a feature added in 2019. Its use for transferring text was well known, but given the buzz it created, it seems most users were unaware that it was possible to use it with images. The three-finger gestures simply correspond to the copy and paste functions.

For Macs without touchscreenit seems to be possible to paste the image with the three-finger gesture on the touchpad, but not to copy it. It will therefore suffice to use the “Command and C” keyboard shortcut, or to go through the “Edit” menu. The trick is not limited to texts and images, and can also transfer files.