Send photos and videos to an iPhone for upload in apps

Send photos and videos for upload in apps

Apps like TikTok and Instagram upload only from Photos. So a file from the Mac must get into the Photos library first. ghosthand upload does it for photos and videos:

1234ghosthand upload clip.mp4 ──daemon──> ghosthand.dev (R2, 1 day) ──> https://ghosthand.dev/u/<id>
iPhone Safari ──open link, tap Save──> iOS share sheet ──Save Video / Save Image──> Photos
                                                                                     │
                                                     Photos ──Share > TikTok──> draft or post

File	Way	Why
Photo or video, up to 100 MB	`ghosthand upload`, Safari Save > Save Video	One command, no install, no server on the Mac
Offline, or over 100 MB	USB copy into VLC, then Files Save Video	No network; needs VLC

Upload, then save from Safari

1. Upload the file

123ghosthand upload clip.mp4
# https://ghosthand.dev/u/3fK9xQ2mZr7T
# clip.mp4 (5234112 bytes), expires 11 Oct 2026 at 16:34. ...

Needs this Mac signed in to ghosthand.dev with a trial or plan, like acquire. No lease: the upload does not touch the iPhone.
At most 100 MB. The link expires after 1 day. Anyone with the link can download the file.
Keep the extension in the file name (.mp4, .jpg): it tells iOS the type.
MCP: the upload tool takes path (a file on the daemon's Mac), or data (base64) with name.

2. Open the link in Safari and save

123456789ghosthand key -l 42 cmd+space                       # Spotlight, from any app
ghosthand type -l 42 Safari
ghosthand key -l 42 enter
ghosthand key -l 42 cmd+l                           # address bar
ghosthand type -l 42 https://ghosthand.dev/u/3fK9xQ2mZr7T
ghosthand key -l 42 enter
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text Save --screentext        # wait until it says Save, not Loading...
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text "Save Video"             # "Save Image" for photos
ghosthand photo list -l 42 --limit 1

Why a page with a button. A direct video link only plays in Safari: the player and the Share sheet have no Save Video. The page downloads the file, wraps it in a File, and the Save tap calls navigator.share({ files }). The share sheet of a file has Save Video. navigator.share runs only from a tap, so the button is needed.

Offline: USB copy into VLC, then save from Files

1. One-time setup: install VLC

VLC is a free USB drop folder. It has no account and no ads. Its Info.plist has UIFileSharingEnabled (so --app can write to it) and LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace (so its folder shows in the Files app).

12ghosthand app list -l 42 | grep vlc
# org.videolan.vlc-ios  VLC <version>  [file sharing]  (page 2)

If it is missing, install it from the App Store with taps. Any other app with [file sharing] works too. System apps like Fitness refuse --app.

2. Copy the file and save it

The copy is byte for byte: no Wi-Fi, no quality loss, and large videos are fine.

1234567891011ghosthand file push -l 42 clip.mp4 /Documents/clip.mp4 --app org.videolan.vlc-ios
ghosthand key -l 42 cmd+space
ghosthand type -l 42 Files
ghosthand key -l 42 enter
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text Browse
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text "On My iPhone"
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text VLC
ghosthand hold -l 42 --text clip --duration 2000 --screentext
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text Share
ghosthand tap -l 42 --text "Save Video"         # "Save Image" for photos
ghosthand photo list -l 42 --limit 1

Upload from the app

Open the photo in Photos, tap Share, then pick the app. Tested with TikTok: Share > TikTok > Photo > Next > Drafts. The draft shows under Profile, ready to post later. The app's own + > Upload picker also shows the new item first.

Why not copy it straight into Photos

There is no USB way to add to Photos without an app on the iPhone. Tested on an SE2 (iOS 18.6) and checked against other tools:

Way	Result
`file push` to `/DCIM`	the file is on disk, but Photos does not import it
ImageCaptureCore upload	the iPhone does not offer upload, only delete
Finder photo sync, iMazing	read-only "From My Mac" albums; needs iCloud Photos off
Delete `PhotoData/Photos.sqlite` to force a rebuild	destroys albums and edits; never do it
3uTools, Tenorshare	they need their own app on the iPhone

AirDrop from the Mac lands the item in Photos, but it is hard to automate from the Mac side.

Clean up

12ghosthand file remove -l 42 /Documents/clip.mp4 --app org.videolan.vlc-ios
ghosthand photo delete -l 42 IMG_0042.MP4    # name from photo list

Test status

Tested on an SE2, iOS 18.6.2, October 10: ghosthand upload (mp4, ghosthand.dev) > Safari > Save > Save Video, the item showed in photo list. Earlier the same day: Mac share page > Save > Save Video (mp4, over a kimaki HTTPS tunnel and over the LAN URL), uguu.se link > Safari > Save to Photos (jpg), and VLC push > Files > Save Video (mp4). Every item showed in photo list.
A direct mp4 link in Safari opened the video player. Neither the player nor the Share sheet offered Save Video.
The TikTok draft was tested on the same phone.
VLC's file sharing keys were read from https://github.com/videolan/vlc-ios/blob/master/Resources/iOS/Info.plist