Scribe allows you to send text and images from your Mac to your iOS device
Hot on the heels of the launch of Command-C is Scribe, another utility for sharing information between an iOS device and your Mac. Scribe is a one-way service that allows you to send text, URLs and images from your Mac to your iOS device. It strays from its competition by using Bluetooth 4.0 instead of WiFi to pair your devices.
Scribe includes a utility that sits on your Mac in the menu bar and a companion iOS app. Pairing the devices takes a few quick steps once that starts with you turning on Bluetooth on both devices. Once connected, you don't have to pair the devices again as they immediately recognize each other. The connection stays active in the background for a short time, but it does drop once your iPhone goes dormant or you move out of range of your Mac. To reinitiate the connection, you have to open the Scribe app on your iPhone and wait 10 seconds for the Mac to find it.
Sharing between the devices can be accomplished using the services menu or the menu bar app. You can select text or a URL and then send it to your iPhone's clipboard by right-clicking on the item to call up Services > Send with Scribe. For images and for any other items, you can copy it to the clipboard and then select Scribe in the menu bar. Clicking on "Send from Clipboard" will deliver the item over to the iPhone and place it on the iOS clipboard.
Once on the iPhone, users can just paste the item into an appropriate app. Users can also open the Scribe app to access a running list of the text items that were shared. It's an easy and convenient way of sharing items between your iOS and OS X devices.
There are a few limitations to Scribe. First, it's unidirectional and only sends items from your Mac to your iOS device. Unlike the bi-directional Command-C, there is no way to transfer the iOS clipboard to the Mac in Scribe. Scribe is also limited to snippets of text and smaller images. If you try to transfer a larger image, you will be warned that the transfer may fail. Last but not least, none of these transfer apps that use a wireless connection are capable of maintaining a persistent connection. You have to remember to connect the two devices before you start sending items over.
Scribe for Mac is available from the Mac App Store for US$2.99. The companion iOS app is available for free. For the apps to work, both the Mac and iOS devices must support Bluetooth 4.0.
