Eric's Drop to Phone for iPhone

Native app for the same LAN URLs the Windows app prints (http://{ip}:17890/d/{token}). After one scan (or Connect on Nearby), the app finds peers on Wi-Fi by Bonjour (_droptophone._tcp). While the app is open it also advertises itself so other phones or the PC can send files here (POST /upload). Use Show my QR if discovery is slow.

The Xcode project is in this folder. Open it on a Mac. It cannot be compiled on Windows. CI builds the iOS Simulator target on GitHub (macos-15).

Safari still works without this app for Windows QR links. Use the native app for Photos/Files saves, Nearby peers, and phone ↔ phone. About Get the free Windows app opens the website home (not a zip) and support@welchsoftware.net.

Open and run

git clone https://github.com/ejw427/DropToPhone.git
cd DropToPhone
open src/DropToPhone.iOS/DropToPhone.xcodeproj

Signing & Capabilities → your Team (Personal Team is enough for a device install).
Bundle ID is com.droptophone.app (TestFlight / App Store). Change it only if you are sideloading with a free Apple ID and that ID is taken.
Enable the App Group group.com.droptophone.app on the app and the Share Extension (com.droptophone.app.share) in the Apple Developer portal. Without that group, Share sheet handoff fails.
The Share Extension target must stay embedded in the app (Embed Foundation Extensions). That is what makes Eric's Drop to Phone appear in the Photos Share sheet.
Run on a physical iPhone on the same Wi-Fi as the Windows PC. Keep the app in the foreground after Share; the extension does not send HTTP by itself.

Minimum iOS: 16 (VisionKit data scanner).

TestFlight / Match / CI: use the TestFlight HTML on the DEV site (TESTFLIGHT.html), not the raw markdown path.

Paid App Store submission (Plan B): APP_STORE.md.

Permissions

Key	Why
Camera	Scan the QR from the Windows window
Photo library add	Save pictures and video to Recents
Photo library (optional)	Add to the Eric's Drop to Phone album
Files / On My iPhone	PDFs and other documents, or a folder you pick
Local network	Talk to peers and advertise this iPhone on Bonjour
Bonjour `_droptophone._tcp`	Find Windows and other phones on Wi-Fi
Allows local networking	HTTP (not HTTPS) on the LAN

URL contract

Same as Safari, plus a gallery of items:

Status: GET /current (ready/preparing, role, peerName, peerId, items, progress)
Page: GET /d/{token}
One file: GET /d/{token}/item/{id}
Single file or zip of the whole drop: GET /d/{token}/file
Send to a peer: POST /upload (falls back to /from-phone on older Windows)

The app downloads each item (with a progress bar) and saves using your Save location setting. Pictures and video can go to Photos; other files always go to Files.

Save location

Open Save location in the iPhone app to choose:

Photos or Files as the default for pictures and video
Recents vs the Eric's Drop to Phone album
The Files folder (On My iPhone / Drop to Phone, or any folder you pick)

PDFs and other documents always save to Files, even if Photos is the default. After a save, the app shows the filename and the place it went. You can still save a single drop to the other destination when Photos can take it.