OpenMTP: High-Speed File Transfer Between Linux and Android — Ubuntu Install & Usage

Have you ever felt this? You buy a Linux laptop, want to transfer some files to your Android phone, plug it in via USB, and the system doesn’t even recognize it. When it finally does, you can see the phone storage in the file manager, but clicking on it throws an error.

This isn’t your fault. MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) support on Linux has always been half-broken. gvfs-mtp glitches out occasionally, mainstream tools barely have Linux clients, and decent open-source alternatives are few and far between.

Until I came across OpenMTP.

What is OpenMTP

OpenMTP is an open-source Linux MTP device manager, purpose-built to solve high-speed file transfer between Linux and Android phones. It supports file drag-and-drop, directory browsing, batch transfers, and its source code is available on GitHub.

Simply put: it’s a bridge between your Linux desktop environment and your Android phone.

Ubuntu Installation

OpenMTP offers two installation methods: AppImage and PPA.

Method 1: AppImage (Universal)

Download the latest AppImage from the GitHub Releases page:

wget https://github.com/sualpha/openmtp/releases/download/v3.1.6/OpenMTP_3.1.6_x86_64.AppImage
chmod +x OpenMTP_3.1.6_x86_64.AppImage
./OpenMTP_3.1.6_x86_64.AppImage

AppImage requires no installation — just run it. Works on Ubuntu 18.04 and above.

Method 2: PPA (Easy Updates)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sualpha/openmtp
sudo apt update
sudo apt install openmtp

After installing via PPA, you can find OpenMTP in your application menu, and it will be updated along with your system updates.

How to Use

After installation, open OpenMTP and connect your Android phone via USB.

On first connection, your phone will prompt you with “Allow USB debugging?” — tap Allow.

The OpenMTP interface is split into two panels: the left side shows your computer files, the right side shows your phone storage. Just drag and drop to transfer files. It handles large files without issue (tested with 4GB+ video files).

Comparison with Other Solutions

Final Thoughts

After using OpenMTP, I basically stopped using adb push/pull command-line operations. GUI drag-and-drop transfer with fast large-file speeds — faster than any cloud drive. Provided you have a decent USB cable.