Claim is not a second copy. The on-disk .album/manifest.jsonl is self-describing. The second phone reads the ledger, reverses escaped names, and lists the same keys. Originals stay on the disk. Azalea does not host them. Bundle net.duguying.photos. Do not tell disks apart by folder name. When two enclosures each have a Backup folder, names lie. iOS volumeIdentity() returns a UUID when the OS has one. Some file-provider volumes return nil; then you label the enclosure yourself.

Favorites still will not show on Android. The files will. Android cannot reuse iOS local_identifier. After a claim, the new phone’s camera roll may stay empty until you download. That is the same rule as a bucket claim.

The May 2026 lawyer-style setup wrote the same Samsung T7 Shield 2 TB from an iPhone 16 Pro and a Pixel 8a: 6,412 items, 31.8 GB, 96 minutes, iCloud Photos and Google Photos backup off, object-storage form empty. Two failures were a loose cable (DeviceDetached), reseat, continue.

Steps on the second phone

Finish the first phone. Pending 0. Spot-check. Do not rename files in Finder, Explorer, or Files while you do this.
Plug the disk into the second phone before you open the profile so probe can see it. iOS: appear in Files, then Azalea USB Device, pick the same folder, not a sibling you created to “keep things clean.” Tap Check again after attach. Android: file-transfer mode if needed, Choose backup folder on USB, persist URI. If the URI changed after a reboot, grant again even if the profile still exists.
If the UI offers Choose a USB library / USB libraries, pick the existing library rather than New library unless you intend a second, empty ledger on the same volume.
When Historical indexes found (object storage) or the USB equivalent appears, Claim. Start fresh means treat the disk’s history as not yours. The warning about picking the wrong device and marking photos as done applies.
Compare counts. iPhone 15 lab library on 14 Mar 2026 was 18,432 items / 86.41 GB. Pixel 8 bucket claim on 2 Apr 2026 was 11,614 items / 81.95 GB (S3 us-west-2, included here because claim semantics match; USB uses jsonl instead of index/ objects). Favorites will not cross to Android.

Dropping files into that folder from a computer does not ingest them into the index. Finder preview is not an import path. If you need those files in Azalea, they have to enter through a phone backup, not a drag-and-drop.

Keep the first phone until the second phone has opened real files, not until the claim sheet looks green. A hotel OTG session that still says Waiting for USB device is an attach problem, not an empty library. Finish the USB backup steps on phone one, then claim. The T7 run in May 2026 had no object-storage keys at all; the stick was the only original.

Distinguishing two disks named Backup

People label both sticks Backup in Disk Utility or on masking tape that fell off. The app must not use the folder string as identity. Volume UUID when present. If nil, you are the label. Plug one disk at a time on switch day. The switch-day checklist says plug before opening the profile for this reason.

exFAT escaped names: logical key k stays the original; p is the physical path. Twenty-three colon-containing WhatsApp titles on the iPhone 15 run survived claim because nobody “fixed” them on Windows. A Mate 60 still with a trailing space in a Windows-copied name survived because escape held the key. If you rename, the second phone looks for a path that is gone.

Android mode=bridge cannot POSIX-open the tree. iOS every engine call later runs inside withAccess. Using the bookmark outside that scope turns into an opaque permission error. Re-pick the folder if the bookmark dies after an iOS upgrade; it is rare, and it looks like an empty claim.

One failure: claiming the wrong folder on the same volume

A Backup folder and an azalea/15-lab folder on one SSD are different libraries if you created two roots. The second phone must pick the root that contains .album/manifest.jsonl for the job you finished. Picking a parent that never saw the backup yields an empty library and a strong urge to wipe the old phone. Do not. Re-pick. Start fresh in the wrong place is worse: it can write a new ledger beside the old one.

Huawei yank at 61% (22 Feb 2026, 8,359 items, 36.64 GB) is not a claim failure. Finish the first phone after replug, then claim. Twelve temps are disposable.

FAQ

Is claim a copy to the second phone’s internal storage?

No. It attaches the disk library (or the bucket library). Internals fill when you download. That is how a Pixel can see an iPhone USB backup without duplicating 86 GB on day one.

Can Android reuse the iPhone’s albums and Favorites?

Albums that exist as files and keys, yes, as a listing. Favorites keyed by local_identifier, no. Re-star. Hidden on iOS is not MediaStore Hidden.

What if two phones write at once?

The family NAS case did two phones on one Synology share with device-dimension keys so objects did not collide. USB jsonl is append-only; do not run two writers on one stick at the same time in a hotel. Serialize. The T7 lawyer setup moved the disk from iPhone to Pixel; it did not dual-write.

Why does Android ask for the folder again after a reboot?

Persist was skipped, or the URI changed. Grant Choose backup folder on USB again. The control run that skipped persist listed nothing after reboot while still showing a USB profile.

More detail

USB picker: backup photos to USB and /en/features/usb. Migration: /en/features/migration. Download: /en/download.

Claim the same portable disk on a second phone