Photo: goffkein.pro (Shutterstock)
AirDrop is one of the most convincing reasons to go all-in on the Apple ecosystem. When it works, it’s a seamless way to send links and files between your iPhone and your Mac. However, while it’s usually fast, it’s also pretty flaky, and sometimes refuses to work for no discernible reason. I’ve always wanted a more reliable way to send links to my Mac, and my search has ended with the launch of Hyperduck.
How to send links quickly with Hyperduck
Hyperduck is a free app that works on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and lets you send links quickly from mobile to desktop. It’s the kind of app that does one thing and does it very well. You can open any file or link on your iPhone or iPad, tap the Share button, scroll down, and tap Send to Mac to do just that.
Why Hyperduck is better than AirDrop
As long as Hyperduck is open on your Mac, the link you share will load in your default browser. It’s faster and more reliable than AirDrop, which is why it’s become my preferred way to send links from my iPhone to my Mac. AirDrop makes you wait a couple seconds before your Mac shows up in the Share Sheet, and takes a second or so more to open the link in Safari. Hyperduck is much faster at sending and opening these links, likely because, when set up, it’s always on and ready to go.
Even better, it works when you’re not near your Mac, and even when your Mac is off. You can send multiple links to your Mac using the app, and whenever you boot your Mac and launch Hyperduck, these links will open in your default browser. That’s a significant leg up over AirDrop, which requires devices to be turned on and within range to send links.
What’s the catch?
Hyperduck works over iCloud, so you’ll need to sign into the same Apple ID on your iPhone and your Mac. While it’s usually fast and reliable, the app is subject to the stability of the iCloud infrastructure. If iCloud is facing an outage or unexpected delays, Hyperduck will be affected too.
The other big limitation is Hyperduck cannot send links from your Mac to your iPhone. It’s built purely for a one-way transfer. If you’re like me, that’s fine: I tend to send links from my iPhone to my Mac far more often than the reverse, since I’m looking to see those things on the Mac’s bigger screen.
To send links from your Mac to your iPhone, you can rely on the usual options—AirDrop, Universal Copy-Paste, and iCloud Tabs.
