MobileTechTalk Transferring data from a Mac to an iOS device has always been much easier than the transfer between iOS and a Windows computer. EaseUS has brought out a completely free software to tackle this.
Thanks for EaseUS for allowing us to bring you content on their software however they have had no influence in the review.
The program is for some reason only available on the US site for now as the UK one completely lacks the data transfer set of programs. Therefore, the link we will be attaching will be from the US site. MobiMover 3.0 is 34.1MB in size when downloaded so not a huge file overall.
EaseUS has allowed for the program to be able to create a backup of your iOS device onto your PC. iTunes also does this but instead of copying across files individually, it just copies the entire device. Whilst MobiMover allows you to export more specific files and folders as well as allowing you to specify where you would like to store these which is handy if you wanted to save your photos or files from your device on cloud storage or on an external drive.
The software also allows you to just use your Windows PC as an interface to clone to a new device, I feel this feature may be redundant with the new Quick Start available on devices running iOS 11 which does this all wirelessly so adding extra steps for connecting the 2 devices to a computer and then transferring data doesn’t benefit consumers whatsoever.
The minimum specs for your Windows computer are that it must be running Windows 7 or newer, this means if you bought your computer in the last 9 years or so, you should be covered. As for the iPhone side, the 4S or newer should be covered. The iPads supported are the iPad Mini 2 and newer, alongside the iPad Air and newer.
Then I guess the main selling feature of this free piece of software is the fact that you can customise which files you are transferring across since I always install these programs and take so many photos which I need to urgently go through and purge so this gives me a chance to do so.
You can purchase a “Pro” version of the freeware which realistically is more of a technical service as the only benefits that can be seen on the chart online are the lifetime upgrades of the program alongside technical support. I personally don’t know how many people will go for this as the target audience is the tech-savvy bunch so won’t really need this. However, if you do need this technical support then it’s always available.
The website has a live chat allowing users that have paid for the pro service to get technical support so this will be much better than waiting on a phone tree, this is also where you would ask about pre-purchase questions. I did find some of the English and grammar used on their site being questionable however this shouldn’t be too much of an issue since its unlikely you will be on the site for a long time.
When I installed MobiMover, I found that it actually requires you to have iTunes downloaded which is very confusing since it is pitching itself as an alternative to iTunes for the backup and sync features that it offers.
So, once I installed iTunes on my Windows PC, I then opened the program up once again. Therefore, you will have to factor in the size of iTunes within your overall software package especially if you are on a limited internet connection or have limited hard drive storage.
I had forgotten how bad the interface on Windows was for iTunes after becoming accustomed to iTunes on the Mac for the last 5 years. It just feels like this version of iTunes has the same interface that Mac did many years ago. It just doesn’t feel very Apple at all and they are slacking in their software which is one of the main reasons why people get Apple devices.
I first connected my iPad Air 2 to test out the functionality. I was required to trust the computer since these 2 devices had never been connected before. Within the app, The iPad didn’t show up with the correct icon and used the icon of an what seemed like an iPhone 6 or 6S.
I found when transferring across photos, the photos are stored within the camera roll of the iPad. This is one of the advantages over using iTunes since I would always have to transfer all of the photos over and using a Mac, it’s actually quite hard to transfer photos across from a Mac to an iOS device.
Usually, an iOS device shows up as a camera within Windows so you are very limited using just Windows built-in programs. iTunes requires you to sync with only 1 Mac or PC per iOS device but MobiMover allows you to transfer files from many different computers onto your iOS devices meaning if your job requires you to transfer files between devices quite like a memory stick but also have access on your iOS then this feature is really useful.
One thing I did find was that you need to disable iCloud for contacts, notes or calendar to be able to access them on your computer. This does seem a bit odd but obviously, we are all limited to what Apple allows us. You either have the ability to save your contacts within iCloud or have them all available locally which is a bit frustrating since I would like to have the ability to do both just as a backup.
You can export your messages, voice mails, books, safari bookmarks, safari history, all your music, videos and photos from your iOS device to the computer or to another device without having to disable iCloud. This is probably because Apple doesn’t lock all of these things under the iOS system-wide lock. The messages took a long time to load but I am not sure why this was the case so I would be willing to wait a while if you are looking to export them.
Overall whilst the program does definitely have its quirks and some redundant features because Apple is pushing simplicity with the Quick Start feature along with things we have had for years with Airdrop for easy file transfer. But the main reason why somebody would look for something like a program like this is that of how bad iTunes is on Windows. The interface feels fresh and modern matching Windows 10 rather than the Windows XP interface of iTunes 12.7.2.60. I have enjoyed playing around with this and till now I really wasn’t aware of a program that is FREE and has pretty much all of the features of the pro one.
The link to the EaseUS US website is here. The program is completely free and I really can’t see any faults in trying out the program to see if it works for you and one thing I really appreciate is the fact that the pro version only has the technical support and lifetime upgrades separating it from the standard program.
EaseUS MobiMover 3.0
Pros
- Speed
- Design
Cons
- Icons not fully updated
doesnt work. great for downloading everything i can already download but it wont transfer contacts which is the reason i downloaded it in the first place from the iphone 5s to the pc. it keeps saying that icloud needs to be turned off but iclould is already off.
Hmm, sorry about that – I’m positive it works generally.
You realize that the ad on the left prevents reading most of this article? and there’s no way to close it. It’s a struggleto even write this comment.
Hi Mike, thanks for the comment. Is this when using mobile or desktop browser? Is it the popout suggested articles?
Desktop, and yes. It’s doing it again right now.
This should be fixed now – thanks for the heads up!
desktop. it is a popout suggested article.
This program won’t work for me. It just cancels the transfer every time.
Hi Sheri, did you get any notification from the software?
Just downloaded this program because the ad says that I can transfer iphone contacts without itunes and the VERY FIRST pop up window when the wizard launches tells me I have to download itunes in order for the EaseUS program to work!!!!!!!!! Why don’t any of the install screen shots show this? What a damn lie.
Hey – sometimes you need to read the article…
“When I installed MobiMover, I found that it actually requires you to have iTunes downloaded which is very confusing since it is pitching itself as an alternative to iTunes for the backup and sync features that it offers.”
Thanks
Downloaded the free version for a try, need to transfer the images from my over loaded iphone to the pc, after transferred to the destinated folder, all the images are stored into different folders as set in iphone, BUT very big problems:
1) As in the iphone all the image and movie files are saved in the “Camera Roll” folder, eventhough some files are catagorised into specific folder, they’re still in the “Camera Roll” folder right? However when all the files transferred into the pc via EaseUS MobiMover, they seem jumped into specific folder but removed from the Camera Roll folder, but some images are still there(ie. duplicated files)
2) If I take some more photos with the same Iphone, and come to backup the images again, it seems the software/app cannot “select” which image files to be transferred?
I’m struggling with the above problems right now. If anyone knows how to tackle or having the same problems, please drop a msg.
Hi Tom, you could try the first tab on MobiMover, find the specific files you need to transfer. About, the folders, I think maybe they are trying to be the same as the folders on iPhone, but not doing so well for now. It should be better in the next version.
I have iTunes running and the first message I get is that “iTunes is needed, download and install now.” I can’t install it twice. How do I get past this?
I had the same problem as Curt. I hope there is a solution for this. I uninstalled MobiMover and then installed again and got the same message. I have iTunes installed, but MobiMover keeps telling me to install it. Very frustrating.
Hi guys, is the iTunes on your computer from Windows Store? If so, please try to download the new MobiMover on the EaseUS website, or you could try to install the iTunes from Apple.com, that works too.
Really frustrated as Bookmarks and Messages folders are empty after transfer. Please help me. I need to restore my phone and need to save important text messages.
Hi Billie, which function you were using? 1-click transfer?
Did you try to export the bookmarks and messages from the first tab, where you could select the content on your iPhone.
Same here. I have thousands of messages but there are 0 in the folder after export.
Is there nothing out there that works without iTunes? I have a Windows computer and no use for iTunes, and in the past, on Windows, iTunes was a disgracefully aggressive and memory eating product. I eventually uninstalled it everywhere. I want a backup solution that doesn’t involve iTunes.
Had a problem with iTunes where it woudn’t download Voice Memos. I had a lot on there (400+) and it would only show a few on iTunes, couldn’t download the rest. This thing worked great. Only problem is it shows the wrong date for the voice memo. I like to know what date they were recorded and this shows they were all recorded in 1986. Anyone know how to fix that?
My messages will not export to my PC, There is a folder but it is empty.
I read good reviews, but not these comments.
Just downloaded and selected only Contacts and Notes.
Transfer from iPhone to Win10 finished with ‘Transfered files: 22’
I am missing 2 Contacts, simply not there on the PC and missing 1 Note (the only one Note I have on iPhone).
So I reckon it should be 25 files. Not good.
Also the labels for phone numbers say ‘other’ when my iPhone contacts say ‘iPhone’.
I’m uninstalling.
Downloaded the free version and transfered files from ipad to PC “1-click transfer” (jpeg, png, and mov) but the mov files only show up on PC as photos and not videos. Went back to program to transfer from second option “ipad” and found folder with videos and was going to transfer that way but all the videos show up as 00:00 time… on ipad, videos have a duration and play. Any suggestions?
While I agree it is easy to transfer music from my laptop to my Iphone 10 using this software, it appears to have one shortcoming. The songs list in alphabetical versus numerical order in my IPhone. Does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Thanks
I have downloaded and installed this pis program several times onto my mac but every time I try to copy files from an iphone 7 onto my mac, the program immediately crashes. It may be free but if it doesn’t work, it’s about as much use as a chocolate teapot ….
when i download my songs it puts all the songs in their playlist folders but also adds them all again into a folder called all songs,, so it downloads them twice, if i upload them as they came, then i get them taking up twice as much storage on my phone (they dont show up as doubles either ), i found this out the hard way, so i deleted all the tracks and it still showed i was taking up space, but there were no tracks listed so god knows where they go, i reset the phone and had to manually add all the tracks and playlists onto the device, i have a lot of songs (not purchased through the itunes store) so it took a couple of hours to get it back to normal,, the play list should only be a small file like an m3u file, not the song itself, but mobimover dont see it that way,,lol, can ya try and fix it, i know its a free program, but i would buy it if i had to, as long as this bug was sorted out.
I uploaded (PC->iPhone) a list of audio files (a sequence of presentations), but with the numbers that head the file names gone, the end result is useless. The file titles are sorted alphabetically, but that is no use.
mobimover is one big joke
How so?
I have downloaded the file but when I press transfer it asks me to log in, clicked “not now” didn’t work – went back filled in for sign up – had trouble entering a password as it allocated one – OK accept waiting for email to confirm, none arrived after half an hour. Very frustrating. What do I need to do?
Please tell me how to delete this on mac. Doesn’t work for what I wanted and it is slowing my computer
I’m sorry, I’m unsure how to delete this other than via the same method as with all apps.
I Used Mobimover on MacBook Pro to download photos and videos from my iPhone. The photos were all significantly compressed, with a corresponding loss of resolution. For the videos, only a thumbnail was transferred. I can’t see anyway to get Mobimover to simply transfer both types of files intact. Nor have I seen any indication that the software was going to work this way. I have used other Easeus products and found them to work well and be easy to use. Incorporating the “features” noted above with describing them in the documentation, or giving the user an option to select different behavior is unacceptable and tarnishes the Easeus brand.
Correction: I meant to say “without” describing them in the documentation
Have you checked out their support? https://www.easeus.com/support/contact.htm
Worthless software. You have to dig through their website and knowledge articles, but they confirm that you cannot download attachments to your messages. You can download your messages but you lose all pictures or other graphics contained in them. You cannot view any message attachments in the saved file.
Your messages are just one continuous stream as well, You have to manually scroll down to find the next person, unlike the iPhone itself where you scroll through contacts and then look at messages under that contact.
I am removing this from my computer. I cannot believe anyone would give this a good review.
It has its limitations. Only allows the transfer for 20 photos daily. Don’t they know you can change the date on the computer to get round this. Just a nuisance.
For free, in a pinch though…
I have paid for the year subscription to get my Itunes from my Mac to my phone. It SEEMED like it has worked….until I went to my phone to play the song. It played the song for maybe 5 seconds and automatically switched to another song. Then after 5 seconds of the second song (still showing original song), all sound goes away completely. If I try to pick a new song, it will choose a completely random song. Not impressed and very irritated I spent $40. My iPhone is up to date on software. If there is a solution, I sure would like to know. They advertise 30 day money back guarantee….it’s been 2 hours and I’m thinking I would like my money back. But then again, will I even get it back at all??
Did you get a response from their support?
The product does not work for transferring contacts from an old iphone to a new iphone 12 via a PC. And worse still the support is awful. On going onto live chat they took over my laptop via Teamviewer and did exactly what i did (the definition of insanity doing the same thing and expecting a different result) it failed to download to the iphone and then I was told to call again for more support the next day between 7am and 10 am. I told them it was unacceptable but that’s all they offered. And finally will not give me a refund. Now I must call between 7am and 9am for further support.
Does the product say it supports later versions of iOS though?