File Magic
by Eric March on March 25, 2009 at 9:48 pm
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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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App Name: | File Magic |
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| Developer: | SplashData |
Version: | 2.0 | |
| Publisher: | SplashData |
Size: | 3.7 MB |
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| Category: | Productivity |
Price: | $4.99 | |
SplashData have been one of the premiere mobile application developers in the PDA and smartphone market for years now, and they make quality stuff all around. I’ll admit though that I just haven’t had the opportunity to check out their iPhone offerings, so I was glad to have the excuse when SplashData’s PR firm offered this gem up for review.
File Magic is a file transfer utility for the iPhone and iPod Touch — and that sentence alone probably inspired at least one “…and?” in response. True, there are plenty of other wireless file transfer or so-called “drive mode” apps for the iPhone that let you tote around an assortment of files with you like you used to be able to do with the classic iPods. None of them are true “drive mode” apps in that you can copy over just any old thing though — and there are no exceptions here. That’s an Apple restriction that developers just can’t bypass. Like all the rest, you can copy over any file format the iPhone and iPod Touch recognizes — text files, PDFs, Non-DRM MP3s/AACs/WAVs, iPhone-formatted videos, Office documents, images, and so on. So?
So. To begin with this is from SplashData, whom I regard as one of the authorities on mobile productivity apps. I used their apps on the Palm platform. I used them on Windows Mobile. They’ve been at it a long time, they know what they’re doing, and they do it well, so I expect their iPhone applications to be just as useful and robust — and they are. But apart from the trust factor, what sets this apart from the rest? Let’s start with connectivity. File Magic requires that you install the File Magic Desktop Companion app from their website (free, MacOS or Windows). What, no VNC connection? Nope. And for one good reason: Bonjour. File Magic uses the zero-configuration networking capabilities found in Apple’s Bonjour system. This means that File Magic will automatically detect and connect to the Desktop Companion over without a single thing to configure ever.
Well, that’s not completely true. If you’re running a firewall, you may have to add the Companion to its list of exceptions. I’m running Windows 7, and while the Companion did insert itself into Windows Defender’s exceptions list, it only did so for public networking; I had to enable private local network pass-through. Once I did that though File Magic connected to my desktop instantly, and both the desktop server and the iPhone side synchronized, and I was able to see everything currently stored on the iPhone through the desktop companion. Copying files to my iPhone was as simple as drag-and-drop to the large area at the top of the Companion dedicated to that function. The file copied over and I was able to instantly access it on my iPhone.
File Magic uses a standard webview to view PDF documents, images, text files, Office documents, and so on, so you have the standard set of controls here: Pinch scaling, accelerometer support, etc. The only thing I noticed when viewing something in this way was that you have to reorient the device to portrait mode before you can return to the menus; the button to return to the menus is shaded out and inaccessible when viewing in landscape mode. No big deal though; you aren’t going to be reading the menus in landscape anyway. Playback of videos and audio files is done through the internal video player. No surprises here. File Magic also lets you create your own folders for storing whatever, so if you need to keep a particular set of files together in one place, just create a folder for it and copy the files into it.
One of the other stand-out features of File Magic is its ability to send files directly from one iPhone or Touch to another without having to copy to the desktop first. It can automatically detect any other iDevice on the network that’s running File Magic and connect to it through your router. From there either device can send files to or receive files from the other device. It does require that both devices be connected to the same WiFi network though — but one of the exciting things I’m looking forward to is iPhone OS 3.0’s peer-to-peer capability. This will allow file sharing between two devices running File Magic anywhere without the need to be connected through a router. That alone could make File Magic absolutely indispensable.
Without a doubt, File Magic does provide some very useful features and conveniences that other file transfer apps simply don’t offer, and it does so at a very fair price point to boot. Compare $4.99 here to the average $30 sticker price of their PalmOS and PocketPC apps. What’s more, if you register File Magic they’ll give you half off any other SplashData app, which is a pretty good deal if you were thinking of buying, say, SplashID, which I used on Palm and PPC and is also highly recommended. (Actually, buying that with the coupon would effectively be like buying SplashID at full pop and getting this one free. Free is good. Frapstr was founded on free. Mind you, you’ll get put on their mailing list, but they promise they won’t bug you much, and I trust that they won’t sell your E-Mail to other spam lists. If they do, just let me know and I’ll go kick ‘em in the shins ’til they dance. And then I’ll run away really, really fast.)
Jeez. I sound like a shill, don’t I? Rest assured I’m not getting any kickbacks for this other than a promo code, and I’m not about to sell my integrity for a lousy $5. Add a handful of zeroes and we’ll talk. (Oh, don’t give me that look. You would, too.) File Magic is good though, and worth the dosh.
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