Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

Provides: Remote file access
Format: Download
Developer: FlyingMac
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher; 10.5 is required for iPhone support
Processor Compatibility: Universal
Price: $35
Availability: Now
Version Reviewed: 1.3.3

Have you ever needed a file when you are away from your Mac? And to make matters even more irritating than not having the file, you know exactly where it is on the machine at home. This normally only happens to really important files, and there’s nothing you can do about it. At least, there didn’t used to be. Yes, FarFinder might be the sort of application you don’t realize you need until it’s too late. It allows you to use a web browser to access your Finder—or, much more fun, to use your iPhone to access files on your Mac when you aren’t able to physically reach them. All you need is a connection to the internet.

FarFinder is really a menubar application that serves a webpage from your Mac. It links itself to a custom web address defined by you (basically, just their standard site plus your username).  This page is accessible to anyone who knows the page name and your Mac’s log-in details.  Essentially, you log into your user account through the webpage to gain access to FarFinder’s features.

Setting all of this up couldn’t be much more simple.  After installation, all you do is run the app, which basically hides itself in the menu bar.  It will ask you to pick out a username which determines your customized URL.  As long as your Mac has an internet connection and is running FarFinder, this link will let you access all of the features that FarFinder has to offer.

The FarFinder web interface could probably pass as the Finder to many, but it really is just a web interface.  You can do many of the things you can do from within the normal Finder like navigate through folders, get file information, search using Spotlight, view image slideshows, listen to songs or watch videos (streamed).  If you also have an iPhone and use the iPhone app, you can do all of this and even save files to your iPhone.  A few additional features seem strange, but may prove to be useful, like the ability to take a picture with your iSight camera or send e-mails directly from the Mac to which you are connected.

There are some limitations, but it’s nothing huge.  You can’t, for example, right click or drag and drop files.  That said, you just need to know how to access and manipulate files and you’ll be fine.  If you double click a file, you’ll be served a download of said file.  If you single click it, you can use the buttons at the top of the window to do things like get its info, e-mail it, etc. Alternatively, you can even upload a file from the computer you’re using to your Mac at home.

FarFinder is obviously useful to anyone who has important files on a computer that’s both always on and always connected to the net. Check and check for me. How about you? It becomes insanely useful when you add an iPhone (preferably 3G) into the mixture. Just think, you can now access all of your files from just about anywhere. You can even stream media such as songs and movies from your Mac to your iPhone. So, the next time you want to play a song for a friend but don’t have it synced to your iPhone, no problem; just open up FarFinder.  You can even use your home Mac as a pseudo security cam.  While you can’t move the camera, you can take pictures at any time.  So, if you know that someone is at your place, you could spy on him.  But you wouldn’t do that without telling him…would you?

While testing this application, I found a few minor glitches in the app. For instance, the iSight feature used to break iChat’s video chat feature until you restarted your Mac. I say used to because FlyingMac fixed it far faster than I could have possibly expected.  I’m not going to say how fast, because I wouldn’t want to impose some kind of standard on them, but suffice to say, they care about their users and their applications.  I’m confident that if you find a bug or glitch, they’ll find a solution, and they won’t waste time implementing it.

Don’t kick yourself later for not at least trying out FarFinder right now.  It can save you a lot of headaches, but, truth be told, if it only saves you one headache, doesn’t that make it worth it?  FlyingMac let’s you try out FarFinder for a full 20 days without any sort of obligation, so you owe it to yourself to give it a try.  Remember, even if you don’t use it every day, it’s there when you need it.