# Exportador: Your iPhone photos, byte for byte.

> Free Mac app to transfer photos and videos from your iPhone to a folder over a cable, without the Photos app or iCloud. Original files, each one verified.

Plug in the cable, pick, and export straight to a folder, without going through the Photos app or creating a library. Exportador copies the original files without converting anything, and checks every one before calling it done.

- Install with one command (Terminal): `curl -fsSL https://exportador-beta.web.app/install.sh | sh`
- Support the project: [Buy me a coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/hansvergarw)
- This page in Spanish: [Español](https://exportador-beta.web.app/es/index.md)

## Why it exists: Backing up your photos shouldn’t be a project.

Exportador grew out of a backup that always took more than it should. On a Mac, getting photos off an iPhone means opening Photos, creating a library and leaving everything stored inside it; to have them in a folder of your own, you export them all over again. And more than once, that export never even started: no error, no warning.

| With the Photos app | With Exportador |
| --- | --- |
| You open Photos and create a library. | You connect your iPhone with the cable. |
| You import, and everything is stored inside the library. | You pick the photos and videos you want. |
| You export again to get the files into a folder. | They’re copied straight to your folder, each one verified. |
| Sometimes the export doesn’t start, and nothing says why. | If something fails, it tells you which file and why, and lets you retry. |

Exportador does one thing, with no detours: it copies the originals from your iPhone to the folder you choose, and confirms they arrived complete.

## Key facts

- Platform: macOS 13.3 or later. There is no Windows version.
- Connection: USB cable only; reads straight from the iPhone, without iCloud or the Mac’s Photos library.
- No Photos app: it doesn’t create or use a photo library; it copies straight to the folder you choose.
- Formats: HEIC, DNG (ProRAW), JPG, PNG, MOV (HEVC and H.264), MP4, Live Photos and edited photos.
- Integrity: each file is written as .part, synced, re-read without cache and checked against its BLAKE3 hash and size before an atomic rename.
- Metadata: EXIF, GPS and capture date are preserved; the file’s modification date is set to the capture date.
- Privacy: photos and videos never go over the network; the account (email and a code, no password) needs internet when the app opens and stores usage totals (how much is exported, speed, errors, general details of the Mac and library), which can be turned off; read-only access to the iPhone.
- App languages: English and Spanish, chosen the first time it opens.
- Price: free. Supported by donations (Buy Me a Coffee).
- Installation: a Terminal command that downloads the latest version (universal: Apple Silicon and Intel), checks its Developer ID signature, puts it in Applications and opens it.

## How it works

### 1. Connect: Plug in the cable. That’s it.

Unlock your iPhone and tap “Trust.” Your library shows up on its own, with no extra steps: the first thumbnails arrive in just over a second.

### 2. Choose: Pick photos like in Photos.

Photos are grouped by day. Take one, a range, a whole day or everything; drag to lasso-select, and press the space bar to see any photo up close.

### 3. Export: Export and forget about it.

Choose a folder once and Exportador remembers it. Each original is copied and verified before moving on to the next; anything you’ve already exported is marked and never copied twice.

## Always original: What comes out is exactly what you shot.

Exportador asks the iPhone for the original files. Nothing is converted or recompressed, and no metadata changes: **EXIF, GPS location and capture date** stay intact.

- **HEIC**: Photos, exactly as the iPhone stores them
- **DNG**: ProRAW, undeveloped
- **JPG · PNG**: Photos you received and screenshots
- **MOV · MP4**: HEVC and H.264 video, not re-encoded
- **Live Photo**: Photo and video with the same name: `IMG_4821.HEIC` and `IMG_4821.MOV`
- **Edited**: Always the original. Optionally, `IMG_E` and `.AAE` too

Each file gets its capture date as its modification date, so the folder sorts itself in Finder.

## Verification: No half-copied files.

Every copy goes through six steps before it gets its final name. If the cable comes loose or you cancel, the folder only ever holds complete, verified files.

1. **Temporary copy**: Written as `IMG_4821.HEIC.part`.
2. **To disk**: Forced to disk with `fsync`.
3. **Uncached re-read**: Read back from the disk, not from memory.
4. **BLAKE3 and size**: The hash and size must match what the iPhone sent.
5. **Capture date**: Becomes the file’s modification date.
6. **Final name**: An atomic rename that never overwrites another file.

**30 of 30** files identical, byte for byte, to the Image Capture download in a test with a real iPhone.

## Performance: Twenty thousand photos, no stutter.

The grid only draws what’s on screen and requests thumbnails in batches, with a disk cache. Scrolling a huge library feels the same as a small one.

- **60 fps** while scrolling 20,000 photos and videos
- **1.1 s** until the first thumbnails appear
- **30 MB/s** copy speed over a USB 2 cable, with two reads at once
- **0.45 s** to play a video straight from the iPhone, without copying it first

Measured with a real iPhone holding 4,239 items (125 GB) and with a simulated 20,000-item library.

## Privacy: Your photos never leave your Mac.

No cloud. Your photos and videos are copied over the cable and never go over the network. The app connects to the internet only for your account: to sign in and to store usage totals in it, which you can turn off.

What uses the network:

- **Sign-in**: your email and session, with Clerk (account service)
- **App usage**: totals in your account: how much you export, speed, errors, general details of your Mac and library. Can be turned off
- **Photos and videos**: never leave your Mac
- **Thumbnails and names**: never leave your Mac

Only your account uses the network. Nothing from your photos.

- **Read-only**: The app can’t delete or change anything on your iPhone. An automated test checks that the code uses no delete or write functions on the device.
- **Cable only**: It doesn’t go through iCloud or your Mac’s Photos library: it reads straight from the connected iPhone.

## Details: The things you don’t see are handled too.

- **No duplicates**: If an identical file is already in the folder, it’s skipped. If the name clashes but the content differs, it gets a -1 suffix.
- **By year and month**: Everything in one folder, or split into YYYY/MM folders, as you prefer.
- **Progress in the menu bar**: A circle that fills up while you export, with the files and time remaining.
- **Notified when it’s done**: If you’re in another app, a notification tells you when it finishes or if something interrupts it.
- **Recovers from interruptions**: If the iPhone disconnects midway, reconnecting it offers to finish what was left.
- **Checks free space first**: Compares the selection’s size with the free space on the disk before copying anything.
- **Instant video**: The preview plays the original from the iPhone, without copying it to your Mac.
- **Fully keyboard-driven**: Arrows, ranges, preview and export without touching the mouse. Light and dark themes follow the system.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I transfer photos from my iPhone to my Mac without iCloud?

Connect your iPhone to your Mac with the cable, unlock it and tap “Trust.” Exportador shows your library grouped by day: pick the photos and videos, and it copies them to the folder you choose. It doesn’t use iCloud or the Photos app.

### How is it different from importing with the Photos app?

Photos imports your pictures into a photo library, and to have them as files in a folder you have to export them again. Exportador copies straight from the iPhone to the folder you choose, with no library in between, verifies every file and, if something fails, tells you which one and why.

### Does Exportador convert HEIC photos to JPG?

No. It copies the original files exactly as they are on the iPhone: HEIC, DNG ProRAW, JPG, PNG, MOV and MP4. Nothing is converted or recompressed, and EXIF metadata, GPS location and capture date are preserved.

### What about Live Photos and edited photos?

A Live Photo is exported as a photo and a video with the same name, for example IMG_4821.HEIC and IMG_4821.MOV. For an edited photo, the original is always exported; optionally, the edited version (IMG_E) and its .AAE adjustments file too.

### How do I know the copies are complete?

Each file is written under a temporary name, forced to disk, read back without cache, and its BLAKE3 hash and size are compared with what the iPhone sent. Only then does it get its final name. If the cable comes loose or you cancel, no half-copied files are left behind.

### Can it delete or change photos on my iPhone?

No. Exportador only reads: it has no functions to delete, upload or modify anything on the iPhone, and an automated test checks this.

### Do I need an account or an internet connection?

Just your email: you sign in with a code sent there, no password, and the account is created the first time. You need an internet connection when you open the app, to verify it. Your photos and videos are copied over the cable and never go over the network.

### What data does Exportador store?

Your email, to sign in, and usage totals linked to your account: how often you open the app, how much you export, speed, errors and general details of your Mac (macOS version, chip) and your library (number of photos and videos, formats). They help improve the app. It never stores your photos, their names, locations or folders. You can turn them off in your account menu, and they’re deleted.

### Why are some of my photos missing?

If you use iCloud Photos with “Optimize iPhone Storage,” some photos only live in iCloud, not on the iPhone. To see them, turn on Settings › Photos › Download and Keep Originals.

### How do I install Exportador?

Open Terminal (⌘ Space, then type “Terminal”), paste the command shown at the top of this page and press Return. It downloads the latest version, checks it is signed by its developer, puts it in Applications and opens it, with no macOS warnings.

### How much does it cost?

Nothing: Exportador is free. It runs on donations alone, so if it helps you, you can buy me a coffee.

### Is the app available in English?

Yes. Exportador is in English and Spanish: you choose the language the first time you open it, and you can change it anytime from your account menu.

### What do I need to use it?

A Mac with macOS 13.3 or later, your iPhone’s cable and an account with your email. For now Exportador is Mac-only; there is no Windows version.

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Source: https://exportador-beta.web.app/