Dropack

iPhone app · In internal testing

A whole pack of originals,AirDropped to a friend.

Dropack packs the photos and videos you pick into one standard ZIP file and sends it with the AirDrop already on your iPhone. Your friend opens it in Dropack, and each item is saved into Photos with progress you can actually follow.

See how it works

iOS 17 or later. In development and internal testing — not on the App Store, and no public TestFlight.

Illustration: photos and videos going into one package

Two buttons

One side packs. The other unpacks.

Dropack’s home screen does two things. The sender taps “Send photos”, the receiver taps “Import photo package”. No account, nothing to learn first.

  • Send photos — Pick items, pack one ZIP
  • Import photo package — Open a ZIP, save to Photos
Illustrative interface, not final design: Send photos / Import photo package Dropack Send photos Pick items, pack one ZIP Import photo package Open a ZIP, save to Photos
Illustrative interface, not final design

How it works

Three steps, from your library to theirs.

  1. Pick and pack

    Choose photos and videos in Dropack, and it packs them into one standard ZIP on your phone. By default it keeps the original files — no recompression, no transcoding — so drone and camera footage goes in exactly as it was.

  2. Send with AirDrop

    Pick AirDrop in the system share sheet and send it to a friend nearby. Apple’s AirDrop does the transfer; its speed and reliability depend on both devices and their surroundings.

  3. Open and save

    Your friend opens the ZIP in Dropack, or picks it from the Files app. Dropack unpacks and saves into Photos as it goes, with task progress, pause and resume, and a separate list of anything that didn’t save, to deal with later.

Illustrative interface, not final design: Saving to Photos 18 / 42, Pause, 2 items to review Saving to Photos 18 / 42 Pause 2 items to review
Illustrative interface, not final design

Good to know

What it does, and what it doesn’t.

AirDrop does the transfer
Dropack handles the packing and the importing; the transfer in between is the system’s AirDrop. Dropack has no networking of its own, can’t make AirDrop faster, and can’t resume a transfer halfway.
It needs some free space
The ZIP itself takes up space, and unpacking into Photos needs temporary room too. Bigger packs need more space and more time.
When photos live in iCloud
If an original is only in iCloud Photos, the system has to download it from Apple before it can be packed.
Keep it open while importing
iOS doesn’t guarantee that apps keep running in the background. Keep Dropack open while it imports; after an interruption you can resume, and the file it was working on may need to be processed again.
A few items may need a check
Occasionally the system can’t confirm whether an item made it into Photos. When that happens, take a quick look in Photos.

Privacy

Packed on your phone. Imported on theirs.

Dropack packs and imports on your iPhone. It doesn’t upload your photos or videos to Dropack servers, and it doesn’t need an account. Originals in iCloud involve a download from Apple, and the transfer uses Apple’s AirDrop. This website has no analytics, no cookies and no third-party embeds.

Read the full privacy notes

Where it stands

Still in internal testing.

The first version is in internal testing. It isn’t on the App Store, and there is no public TestFlight. We’re not promising a launch date; when it’s ready, this page will say so.