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

Category:Productivity
Seller: SplashData
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.1 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 3.7 MB
Version Reviewed: 2.0
Age Rating: 4+
Price: $4.99

Being the geek that I am, I generally have a USB flash drive alongside my keys, wallet and iPhone. When I began testing FileMagic, it felt strange not needing a flash drive too; everything I needed was simply stored on my iPhone. With the majority of file types supported, you’re unlikely to come across any issues while transferring files, as long as you have a WiFi connection and the extra software.

Extra software, you say?

Unfortunately, FileMagic does require a small desktop application to connect to your iPhone. It’s free and is available for both Mac OS X and XP/Vista, but it’s a shame that you can’t access FileMagic through Finder, or Explorer on XP/Vista. This means that you’ll need the little desktop application installed on each computer that you’d like to transfer files to and from. This may cause an issue at work, if your internet access is restricted, and installing software is not permitted, but at home you should be fine. The desktop application is happy to run in the background, being around when you need it.

What about the iPhone app?

The iPhone/iPod touch application is very nice. It’s simple and easy to navigate, following the usual design layout of the typical iPhone application. While you can store pretty much any file type, a few of them will actually show/play on the iPhone itself. For example, you can view pictures, play .mp3, .aac and .wav files, watch .m4v movie files and read your Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint files and PDFs. Very handy to familiarize yourself with material before you sync it to your work desktop to finish, for example. There’s no ability to edit these documents on the device, but reading them is simple, with the usual pinch-to-zoom feature we’re all used to.

Are my files safe?

You’ll be happy to hear that you can set a password to protect your documents from prying eyes. Unfortunately, the password cannot be specific to a folder, but rather the entire application. Once you’re in the app, you have full access to your files. When connecting to a desktop, you’re asked to confirm the connection on your device, so you’ll know if there’s anyone around you trying their luck on FileMagic. With FileMagic, your files are stored on your iPhone or iPod touch directly. There’s no cloud syncing available here, so you know exactly where your files are and who has access to them. Even if you lose your iPhone, MobileMe’s new Find My iPhone function should give you a helping hand to getting your iPhone, and important documents back.

What options do I have to transfer files?

You of course have the option to transfer files via the FileMagic desktop application and a WiFi connection, but with the latest update (2.0), you can also send and receive files to nearby iPhones also running FileMagic provided both devices are on the same WiFi connection. This could be updated to use Bluetooth on iPhone OS 3.0, but for now, you’ll need WiFi. You can also email files as attachments directly within the FIleMagic application.

Anything else?

If having the ability to store files on your iPhone or iPod touch wasn’t enough, there are a couple of other features that enhance FileMagic. On the desktop application, you can import your address book as a .txt file to then sync to your iPhone for safe keeping. You can also sync emails from your desktop to your iPhone if you’re unable to send them on your desktop, or you’re just collecting drafts for later use.

FileMagic is a great application from SplashData. It fills a whole on the iPhone very nicely, with a simple, clean iPhone app and a user-friendly desktop companion.

Let’s not forget. though, that Apple is expected to release its own file transfer application into the App Store, named iDisk. We don’t know too much about its release as yet, but it’s sure to be a solid application, providing a connection to your MobileMe iDisk (if you have one) and to your desktop computer, possibly directly into Finder or Explorer. If Apple pulls it off, other file transfer applications such as FileMagic may find it difficult to compete. But FileMagic has a solid feature set already, and will certainly be a worthy competitor to a possible contender from Apple.

If you’re in need of a simple solution to store documents, images, video and audio to have with you where ever you go, FileMagic from SplashData for your iPhone or iPod touch is an excellent solution, and is sure to fulfill your needs.