Transferring data from your old phone or media items from your Mac to your new Nokia Lumia may seem like a daunting task. Firstly, there’s finding the right program to use, then there’s selecting the right folders, digging deeper into the directory. Thankfully, Windows Phone App for Mac is at hand to make the whole process easier.
First things first, you’ll need to grab the right program and download it to your Mac, and there’s only one way to get that. You’ll need an iTunes account and access to the App Store, then search for Windows Phone App for Mac (or click that link, of course).
Find the USB cable that came with your phone and plug one end of if into your Nokia Lumia, and the other end into your Mac – then run Windows Phone App for Mac.
When you first do this, you’ll be greeted with a welcome screen telling you a little about how you can benefit from syncing your phone with your Mac. Running along the bottom of the screen, you’ll also see a progress bar as the app attempts to talk to your new Nokia Lumia.
Connecting should only take a few moments, but once linked, you’ll get the opportunity to change the default name of your smartphone to something more memorable and personal.
Probably the best way to ensure that your media files are all stored safely on your Mac is to tick the two boxes on this start screen. They authorise the automatic synchronisation when you connect the phone, and import your photos and videos to your Mac.
Press continue.
Now you’ve gone through the most basic of setups, you’ll have noticed that the left side of Windows Phone App for Mac would’ve filled out with categories. Here’s where you decide what needs to be synced, or not, by going into the categories and selecting the appropriate options. If you tick it, you want to sync it. It’s as simple as that.
Here’s what you can sync:
- Music – including music from your iTunes catalogue*
- Photos & Videos
- Movies & TV Shows
- Podcasts
- Ringtones
There’s also the possibility to browse your device manually and look at individual items by scrolling through the Browse Device category.
For further syncing options, the main screen of the app hosts a Device Options… button where you’ll be able to remove all the media from your device in one go. Remember, this will delete ALL your media, so be sure you want to do that before pressing that button.
It’s at that main screen that you’ll also find a shortcut key that’ll take you straight to the Windows Phone Store where you can browse through the 125,000 apps or games.
No matter what section of the app you’re in, you’re always one glance away from knowing how much storage you’ve got left on your phone.
The storage bar at the bottom of the app displays a detailed view of what types of media you’ve got on your phone, and how much room they’re taking up. By default, you’re shown the total memory, from both the phone memory and the SD card (should you have one), but this can be changed. Press it once to view the capacity of the phone, press it again to view the SD capacity, and once more to go back to the joint view.
There we have it, simple plugging in and syncing.
*Some protected (DRM) media files can’t be copied or synced between your Mac and your Windows Phone.
Image credit: Ed Yourdon