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Air SharingCurrent Version: 2.8

—IMPORTANT NOTE—

This app is built for the iPhone and iPod touch (although it will still run in compatibility mode on an iPad). Have an iPad? Check out our new Universal edition, called Air Sharing (Universal).

The most powerful way to view your documents on the go.

—FEEDBACK—

"Wish you could copy that new proposal to your iPhone and review it on the plane? Now you can." — Apple Inc.
"Air Sharing makes using the iPhone as an external drive easy as can be. Any iPhone user who needs to view and move files on the go should download this app." — AppReview
"A dream come true for mobile workers" — Macworld
"The closest to a proper file browser you're going to get on a non-jailbroken iPhone" — Gizmodo
"Most Useful App" — 2008 Best App Ever Awards
"Editor's Choice" — PC Magazine
"App of the Week" — Apple Inc.
"It's so easy to use" — Chicago Tribune
"Our favorite file storage app" — Gizmodo
"A fantastic file storage app" — iPhone Alley
"Editor's Pick. Score: 10/10" — App Craver

—FEATURES—

Create a wireless hard disk
View documents
Many file formats supported
Email documents
Connect to your computer
Mount remote file servers
Perform advanced file operations
Print documents
Share files with other users

—FEATURE DETAILS—

CREATE A WIRELESS HARD DISK
Mount your iPhone or iPod touch as a wireless drive on a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer (on the same Wi-Fi network), or connect from any web browser
Drag-drop files between your computer and Air Sharing
Host a powerful web server with WebDAV (just like the iDisk)
No special software required on your computer (except on Windows XP, which requires free NetDrive app)
Security: local passcode, remote access password, optional Public folder

VIEW DOCUMENTS
Scrollbar for fast access in large documents
Folder popup for jumping back to previously viewed folders
Advanced auto-detection of text-file character encoding, using linguistic analysis
PDF Table of Contents for easy navigation
PDF page thumbnails
PDF Go To Page
High-quality viewing of large images
Slide show
Save images to Photos
Bookmarks

MANY FILE FORMATS SUPPORTED
iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote)
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), subject to iPhone compatibility
Web Archive (web pages downloaded by Safari)
HTML web page
PDF (even password-protected and large documents)
Adobe Illustrator (saved as PDF Compatible)
RTF (Rich Text Format) and RTFD (with embedded images)
Plain text (many character encodings)
Source code (most popular programming and scripting languages), with color-coded formatting
Movies, Audio, and Images (standard iPhone formats)

CONNECT TO YOUR COMPUTER
Mac OS X: just turn on Remote Login
Linux: enable SSH
Windows: download free Core FTP desktop app
Mac OS X found automatically via Bonjour

MOUNT REMOTE FILE SERVERS
Google Docs
HomePipe
Storegate
Dropbox
Box.net
MobileMe iDisk, FilesAnywhere (WebAdvanced), MyDisk.se, CloudMe, other WebDAV servers
Secure HTTPS connection when available
FTP and Secure FTP
SSH (SFTP)
View documents directly (automatic local cache)

PERFORM FILE OPERATIONS
Move, Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, New Folder
Zip and Unzip (supports password-protected archives)
Print (via Mac OS X 10.5+ or Linux with Printer Sharing)
Email attachments
Save and Get images to and from Photos
Download from URL (copy link from Safari, paste into Air Sharing)

PRINT DOCUMENTS
Requires Mac OS X (10.5+) or Linux with Printer Sharing
Prints most viewable formats
No special desktop software required

SHARE FILES WITH OTHER USERS
Auto-detects other users on same Wi-Fi network
Connects to Air Sharing on another device

COMPATIBILITY
Mac OS X 10.4+, Windows (XP, Vista, 7), Linux, or any web browser
Mac OS X or Linux required for printing
Free desktop software (Core FTP) required for connecting to Windows over SFTP

—SU
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Air Sharing Screenshots


Air Sharing Review

Easily moves files from your Mac to your iPhone for on-the-go access

Air Sharing lets you easily copy files between your iPhone and a wirelessly-connected Mac. By doing so, Avatron Software’s app addresses one of the most frequently lamented shortcomings of Apple’s mobile devices—their lack of storage space for documents and similar files. That makes Air Sharing a dream come true for mobile workers and productivity gurus. Once stored on your iPhone, you can view many file types within Air Sharing.


Air Sharing

Air Sharing connects to your Mac over a wireless connection. When you use Air Sharing for the first time, the program offers thorough instructions on how to set up the app to work with your network. This means following the Finder’s “Connect to Server…” dialogue boxes and entering Air Sharing’s IP address at the prompt in your Mac’s Finder window. The entire process takes only a few minutes, and you can customize both a password to protect your files on your iPhone, or assign a different port number should you need it. When the iPhone appears as a shared disk in the Finder window, your set up is complete.

Adding new files via Air Sharing is as simple as dragging-and-dropping them onto the Air Sharing disk icon in the Finder window. You can load individual files or entire folders. The app supports most major file types including documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, pictures, MP3s, MPEG-4 videos, and Apple’s own iWork formats, among others.

Viewing documents is easy and relatively straightforward. Air Sharing displays documents and other files in both portrait and landscape views. Air Sharing supports a “tree table” file hierarchy, which organizes your files into folders. Tap on a folder to drill down into its contents. A button at the top of the screen takes you back up the hierarchy, one folder at a time. To view a file, just tap it. Files load quickly; you can scroll and resize documents and PDFs with the now familiar finger swipe and pinch.

While navigating files in Air Sharing is generally easy, I did find poking around a lengthy document or PDF especially frustrating. Air Sharing does not offer a way to scroll to a specific page or part of a lengthy document. For example, I loaded a 50-page instruction manual PDF; if I want to read a paragraph on page 36, I have to scroll with my finger until I arrive on page 36. While reading large documents on an iPhone is hardly ideal, it is nonetheless frustrating that Air Sharing does not make navigating them easier.

That said, Air Sharing remains a convenient way to transfer files from your Mac to your iPhone, and then access them quickly. For anyone looking to carry important documents with them on the go, the app is a solid choice.

Air Sharing is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.x software update.

[Brendan Wilhide is a contributor to Macworld.com.]

Critic Reviews of Air Sharing iPhone App

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User Reviews of Air Sharing iPhone App

4 Macworld User Reviews
23909 iTunes User Reviews View »

Our user review snapshot

  • 95.0%
  • 90.0%
  • 95.0%

Our user reviews IN DETAIL:

Great storage and quick info

Well-made app, never any connectivity problems, but could have better document viewer (e.g. better zooming)


Just great

I have been using this app for months now and it is so easy and useful! I have to say that it has definitely come in handy in situations where a flash drive was not around, and being able to read things on the go is awesome.


Versatile and easy to use

Air Sharing holds .pdfs, archived Web pages, spreadsheets, word processing docs, photos, etc. It is easy to navigate, and makes nice use of iPhone's pinching features for zooming in and out. A must-have for anyone who needs to store documents on the move.


Really Needed This

I used to use my 3rd Gen iPod as a 'disk,' and now I can use my iPhone much the same. I have used this app for over 3 months, putting iLife docs, videos, pdfs, on my iPhone. Generally have had no problem with changing orientation, or zooming in and out.


Review it

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