Comparison
SideMount vs OpenMTP
Both move files between an Android phone and a Mac over a cable. OpenMTP is a free app with a window of its own. SideMount makes the phone a drive in Finder. Which one suits you depends on your Mac and on what you do with the files.
Pick OpenMTP if your Mac is older than macOS 26, if you would rather not turn on USB debugging, or if you copy files now and then and want to pay nothing. It is free, open source and well maintained.
Pick SideMount if you want the phone in Finder, so that Photoshop, VLC, Terminal or rsync can open and save files on it directly, without copying them to the Mac first. It costs $1.99 a month or $19 once, after a seven day trial.
What each one is
OpenMTP is a free, open source app for macOS, under the MIT licence. It talks to the phone over MTP, the Media Transfer Protocol that a phone offers when you choose File transfer in its USB notification, the same route Google's Android File Transfer used. It shows the Mac and the phone side by side in two panes, and you drag files between them. It runs natively on Apple silicon, supports files over 4 GB, and its latest version, 3.3.0, came out in August 2026.
SideMount is a paid menu bar app that mounts the phone as a volume in Finder. It does not use MTP. It speaks adb, the protocol of Android's developer tools, over the cable, so the phone needs USB debugging turned on once. It is built on FSKit, Apple's framework for file systems made by apps, which is why it needs macOS 26 or later.
Side by side
| OpenMTP | SideMount | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | $1.99 a month or $19 once, 3 Macs |
| macOS | 10.14 or later | 26 or later |
| What the phone needs | File transfer mode | USB debugging, turned on once |
| Where the files appear | In its own window | In Finder, as a drive |
| Open a file on the phone from another app | No, copy it to the Mac first | Yes, from any app |
| Terminal, rsync, scripts | No | Yes |
| Files over 4 GB | Yes | Yes |
| Over Wi-Fi | No, USB only | Yes, Android 11 or later |
| ._ files left on the phone | None, MTP sends only contents | None, refused |
Where OpenMTP is the better choice
- Your Mac runs an older macOS. SideMount needs macOS 26, because the part of FSKit it relies on arrived there. OpenMTP runs back to macOS 10.14.
- You do not want USB debugging on. It is a switch in Developer options, and Android asks you to allow each computer by its key, but some people would rather leave it off. OpenMTP needs only File transfer mode.
- You copy files a few times a year. For an occasional batch of photos, a free app that does the job is hard to argue with.
- You want to read the code. OpenMTP is open source. SideMount is not.
Where SideMount is the better choice
- You work on files where they are. With the phone in Finder, Lightroom can import straight from
DCIM, VLC can play a video off the phone, and a text editor can save intoDocuments. In an MTP app, every file goes through the app's window and a copy on the Mac first. - You use the terminal.
cp,find,rsyncand your own scripts see the phone like any drive. See rsync between Android and a Mac. - You have more than one phone, or no cable to hand. Each phone mounts as its own volume, and a phone on Android 11 or later can mount over Wi-Fi after pairing once. The cable is much faster, though.
- You want it to happen by itself. Plug the phone in and it is in Finder's sidebar, with nothing to open first.
What they have in common
Both move data over the cable, so the cable matters more than the app: a charge-only cable carries nothing, and a USB 2 cable or phone caps any app at roughly 20 to 40 MB/s. Neither sends your files anywhere but your Mac. And neither leaves the ._ files a Mac writes on SD cards behind on the phone.
Trying SideMount after OpenMTP
Nothing needs uninstalling, but only one of them can talk to the phone at a time, so quit OpenMTP first. Turn on USB debugging, download SideMount and follow the setup guide. The trial is seven days and asks for no card. If you go back to OpenMTP, switch the phone's USB notification to File transfer again.
Questions
Is OpenMTP really free?
Yes. It is open source under the MIT licence, with no paid tier, and it is downloaded from its GitHub page or its website.
Can OpenMTP show the phone in Finder?
No. OpenMTP shows the phone in its own two-pane window. To open a file in another app, you copy it to the Mac first. SideMount, MacDroid and a few newer free projects mount the phone in Finder instead.
Which is faster?
We have not measured OpenMTP side by side with SideMount, so we will not claim either way. OpenMTP's README says 100 to 120 MB/s on higher end phones. SideMount moved a 4.5 GB video at about 156 MB/s to the phone and 181 MB/s from it on a USB 3 phone in our tests. Your cable and phone matter more than either app.
Do I have to turn on USB debugging for SideMount?
Yes, once. It is how SideMount reaches the phone's storage without MTP. Android asks you to allow each computer, and you can revoke it in Developer options at any time. How to turn it on, phone by phone.
