Luma Luma Transfer: Send music from your Mac to iPhone
Mac & Luma Transfer, updated
Luma Transfer brings music from your Mac straight into Luma on your iPhone or iPad. The files go from device to device over Wi-Fi or a USB cable, with no cloud, no server and no detour through the Finder.
Where to find Luma Transfer
- As a free Mac app for everyone without Luma for Mac. Get it on the download page; it runs on macOS 26 or later.
- Built into Luma for Mac: File › Luma Transfer – Send to iPhone…, or right-click songs or an album › Send to iPhone with Luma Transfer…. Exactly those tracks then land in the list.
Both look and work the same. On the iPhone or iPad you need the current version of Luma.
Send music
- Get the iPhone readyOpen Luma on the iPhone and tap Settings › Import Music › From Mac. It says “Ready to receive” and shows the name your iPhone appears under on the Mac.
- ConnectThe Mac and iPhone need to be on the same Wi-Fi, or you connect the iPhone to the Mac with a USB cable.
- Drag in musicDrag files or whole folders into the Luma Transfer window, or click Choose Folders or Files…. Subfolders come along, so even a whole collection works in one go.
- Pick the device and sendSelect your iPhone at the top. Next to it you see whether it’s connected over USB or Wi-Fi and ready. Then click Send.
- Accept on the iPhoneThe iPhone asks “… wants to send you music”. Tap Accept. Keep the screen open in Luma until everything has arrived.
Luma imports every track right away and sorts it into the library, just like any other import. On the Mac, each track gets a checkmark as soon as it’s on the iPhone.
Duplicate songs
Before anything is sent, Luma checks the list against the library on the iPhone. Songs that are already there appear on the Mac under “Already on the device” and aren’t transferred again. So feel free to drag in your whole collection: only what’s missing comes across.
What's compared is title, artist, album, track number and length from the tags, not the file name or format. A FLAC file therefore counts as present if the iPhone already has the same recording as an MP3 with the same tags. More in How Luma recognizes and matches songs.
What gets transferred
- Included: the audio files with everything inside them, meaning tags, embedded artwork and embedded lyrics. Since version 1.1, lyrics files next to the songs come along too (
.lrc,.elrc,.ttml,.txt); the iPhone needs Luma 1.6 for this. On the iPhone they become an ordinary copy in the library. - Not included: other files next to the songs, playlists, collections, likes and play counts. You bring those to the iPhone with the Luma Data backup from Luma for Mac, see Using Mac and iPhone together.
- Storage: before starting, the iPhone checks there's enough free space: for every song that will actually arrive, plus some room for the file currently arriving and for iOS.
Security and privacy
- Every transfer has to be accepted on the iPhone. Nobody can send you music unasked. If you don't tap Accept within 90 seconds, Luma declines the request.
- Only one transfer runs at a time. A second Mac is told that a transfer is already in progress.
- The iPhone only receives while the From Mac screen is open.
- The data goes straight from the Mac to the iPhone. There is no server, no cloud and no account.
- If there isn’t enough free space on the iPhone, Luma declines the transfer before it starts.
If it doesn’t work
My iPhone doesn’t show up in Luma Transfer
Check that Luma is open on the iPhone and showing the From Mac screen. Over Wi-Fi, the Mac and iPhone need to be on the same network. If it still doesn’t work, connect the iPhone with a USB cable.
The Mac says “Open Luma ▸ Import Music ▸ From Mac”
The iPhone is connected by cable, but Luma isn’t receiving right now. Open Luma on the iPhone and tap Settings › Import Music › From Mac.
Luma isn’t allowed to use the local network
To transfer over Wi-Fi, Luma needs access to the local network. Allow it on the iPhone under Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network › Luma. Over a USB cable it works without this permission.
The transfer stops
Keep Luma open on the iPhone and don’t lock the screen while the transfer runs. A quick switch to another app is fine, but longer stretches in the background end the connection. Simply start the transfer again: whatever already arrived is skipped.
“These Luma versions don’t match”
The Mac and iPhone speak different versions of the transfer protocol. Update Luma on the iPhone and Luma Transfer or Luma for Mac to the latest version.
A track didn’t make it into the list on the Mac
Luma Transfer only takes formats Luma can play: MP3, M4A, M4B, FLAC, AAC, WAV, AIFF, CAF and Opus. It skips other files in a folder. More under Formats.
Other ways from a computer to the iPhone, such as iCloud Drive or a Windows PC, are covered in Music from a Mac or PC to your iPhone.
Still have a question or found a mistake? Email hello@suenavus.com.