How to get your videos on every device

Video is the file type that makes moving between devices hard. A ten-minute clip from a phone can run to a few gigabytes, a day of footage from a camera can fill a laptop, and the edit you want to show someone is on the desktop at home while you’re standing in their office with only a phone.

This guide covers how people usually move video between computers and phones, the storage and transfer problems that come with it, and how to keep video in Fabric so it streams to every device without each one holding a full copy.

How people usually move videos between devices

For one or two files, AirDrop, Nearby Share or a USB cable does the job. The catch is that the receiving device now holds a full copy, and phone storage runs low quickly once a few long clips arrive.

Phone photo services such as iCloud Photos and Google Photos sync videos shot on the phone to other devices signed in to the same account. They’re convenient for personal clips. Footage from a separate camera, screen recordings from a Windows PC, or exports from editing software need to be added by hand, and getting a full-resolution original back out can take a few steps.

People who work with video often carry an external SSD between machines, or use a cloud drive such as Dropbox or Google Drive. Drives are fast but sit in one bag at a time. Cloud drives offer online-only modes that keep files off the disk until opened, and how well playback works from that state depends on the app and the connection. Sending a file to yourself with a transfer service is the fallback, and the link usually expires within days.

Step 1: Put your videos in Fabric

Install the Fabric desktop app on Mac, Windows or Linux. It mounts Fabric as a virtual drive, so you copy footage into it from Finder or File Explorer as you would into any folder, straight from a camera card if you like.

You can also drag videos into the web app or click Upload a file. Uploading handles large numbers of files at once, which helps when you’re moving a whole shoot or a year of screen recordings.

Once a video is in, you can add a comment or tags to it. A short note on what the clip shows, or which project it belongs to, makes it easier to pick out later from a phone screen.

Step 2: Stream videos on your computers without using disk space

Files on the Fabric drive take no space on your computer and stream when you open them. A laptop with a small disk can show a library of footage many times its size, and each video opens in your usual player or editor from the drive. How to access cloud files without using disk space explains how the drive works.

Install the desktop app on each computer you use and they all see the same files. Editors can open project media from the drive on whichever machine they’re at; How to edit video straight from a cloud drive covers that set-up in more detail.

Because the files stay in your Fabric cloud, a team can work from a shared drive the same way, with each person opening the current files instead of passing copies around.

Step 3: Watch and add videos from your phone

The Fabric app for iOS and Android opens the same library, so you can play a clip on your phone that you uploaded from a desktop. It’s a practical way to show someone an edit or check a shot when you’re away from your computer.

Going the other way, the mobile app can back up your camera roll automatically. Choose to sync the whole camera roll, or only specific folders from it. New clips you shoot then appear on your computers through the Fabric drive, ready to edit, without a cable.

For a single clip from another app, such as a video sent in a group chat, tap Share and choose Fabric.

Step 4: Make videos searchable by what’s said in them

With transcription, Fabric turns speech in uploaded MP4, MOV and WebM files into a transcript you can search and edit. It works on YouTube and TikTok links too. Transcription needs a paid plan.

Search then covers what was said in every video. Click Search or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows), or search from the phone app, and describe the moment. Search matches by meaning and opens the result at the exact timestamp, so a phrase from a forty-minute interview takes you straight to the right point.

Step 5: Share a video for review from any device

To get feedback, share the video with someone as a commenter. They can leave timestamped comments and draw on the frame to point at something specific, and you can read and mark those comments as completed from your laptop or your phone. A reviewer outside your team can use the shared link without signing up.

To send a finished video to a wider audience, publish it as a link instead. Published links are view only, with downloads if you allow them.

Frequently asked questions

How do I watch videos from my computer on my phone?

Upload them to Fabric from the computer, or move them into the Fabric drive, then open the Fabric app on your phone and play them from there.

How can I store large video files without filling my laptop?

Keep them on the Fabric desktop drive. Files there take no space on your computer and stream when you open them.

Can I edit video directly from Fabric?

You can open video files from the Fabric drive in your usual editing app, because the drive behaves like any other folder on your computer.

How do I get videos from my iPhone onto my Windows PC?

Turn on camera roll backup in the Fabric iOS app, then open the videos from the Fabric desktop app on Windows.

Can I search inside my videos?

Yes, once they’re transcribed. Search covers the transcript and opens results at the matching timestamp. Transcription needs a paid plan.

Which video formats can Fabric transcribe?

Uploaded MP4, MOV and WebM files, plus YouTube and TikTok links.

Can someone comment on a specific moment in a video?

Yes. Share the video with commenter permission and they can leave comments at a timestamp, including a drawing on the frame.

Do I need a paid plan to keep videos on every device?

The free plan includes file uploads and every app, with storage and file size caps, so a large video library will usually need a paid plan. Transcription is paid only. See pricing.