Seeing my iDevices from Catalina's finder

[Howard Brazee]

I have both my iPhone 6s+ and my iPad Pro set up to show when on WiFi.

But when I place them next to my Catalina iMac, the finder only sees my iPad. It doesn't see my iPhone at all. My iPad doesn't need to be plugged into a power supply, my iPhone is invisible whether or not it is plugged into a power supply (both devices are fully powered.

And when I select "Files" for that iPad, more often than not, nothing shows up. It doesn't see any applications. I sometimes force-quit Finder and then I can see files. But I never see my iPhone unless it is plugged into my iMac. My wife's iMac can see her iPad and iPhone when connected by wi-fi (although sometimes we need to force-quit Finder in order to see their files) Her iPhone is a bit newer, it is a 7+.

When I want to move files between my iMac and my iPad & iPhone, I need to plug them into my iMac. When I do that, I can drag files to applications after selecting "Files".

Both my iPhone and my iMac are on the same Wi-Fi network.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

It should work, but you do need to set it up first by connecting the iPhone via a USB cable:

Sync content between your Mac and iPhone or iPad

See if that helps,

C

 

[Howard Brazee]

Occasionally finder will see my phone, and very rarely, can I select "files" and see my apps. Since I need to do this often, I don't test that very often, and just plug it into my iMac. Maybe it will be more reliable whenever I need to replace my phone (which might be with a phone that is completely cordless).

 

[Cory Cooper]

I will test it out here and see what I find.

C