dropbox
Latest
Found Footage: MacOSXTutorials explores Mac Dropbox tips
As a Dropbox fan, I am always looking for new uses for the ubiquitous cloud storage service. Matt Fisher, whose videos have been featured on TUAW before, has produced a new video chock-full of great Mac OS X Dropbox tips. In this 10-minute clip, Matt shows: How to copy the Mac clipboard to a Dropbox text file by creating an Automator service A demo of AirDropper, an excellent way of securely requesting files from others and having them delivered via Dropbox How to email files to Dropbox using Habilis A quick way to access your Dropbox using a Chrome Extension (also available for Firefox) Start torrents from any computer or device connected to Dropbox Add PDFs to iBooks Edit files from anywhere using Droptext Some of these tips are rather straightforward, while others are incredible "why didn't I think of that" ideas that can really help make you more productive. What are your favorite things to do with Dropbox and your Mac? Leave us a comment.
Dropbox goes to private beta for BlackBerry (and no, you're probably not invited)
With Android and iPhone clients already under its belt, online storage service Dropbox is well on its way to being on a majority of the world's key smartphone platforms -- and now, it's adding BlackBerry to the stable. 1,000 lucky jerks were already able to get into the closed beta, but it seems the rest of the world will have to wait until the beta goes public or the software goes gold, whichever comes first. Now we just need a little Symbian love and we should have this thing locked up, eh, guys? [Thanks, SeanBest]
Dropbox + text editing = Droptext
Most of the bloggers here at TUAW are huge fans of Dropbox, the free cloud storage service. Since you can share documents with all of your iDevices, wouldn't it be nice to be able to edit your files from any of them as well? There are actually several solutions for cross-platform on-the-go Dropbox file editing, like Documents To Go Premium (US$14.99) for both iPhone and iPad. However, if your need is just for plain vanilla text file editing for iOS, you might want to take a look at Droptext ($0.99) from developer Kevin Smith. Any type of file with a MIME type of TEXT can be opened from Dropbox and edited in Droptext. Those files types include .txt, .php, HTML, CSS, and many source code types. Smith promises to add the ability to add your own file extensions in a future version of Droptext. Editable file types appear with a text file icon when you browse your Dropbox, and they're opened immediately with a tap. When you're done editing, tap Save, and the file is saved back on Dropbox in its revised form. It's not a fancy app, but Droptext does what it is supposed to do -- bring Dropbox text editing to iOS. [via Wired Gadget Lab]
Apple spotlights apps ready for iOS 4.0
We already spotlighted a few big apps that have made the jump to iOS 4 (and I'm sure we'll have more coming up soon), but Apple has gone ahead and put a few of its favorites on a page in iTunes for you to browse through as well. There are some excellent games on the list (PopCap didn't waste any time, and Ngmoco has a few, along with both Firemint titles). Art app Brushes and TUAW favorite Dropbox are there too, along with a bevy of other popular titles. This list definitely isn't definitive (iBooks is obviously ready for iOS 4, though it's not on there), but if you want to see what the Retina Display is like or check out multitasking on an app like Pandora, you can do so. One interesting note on what's not on there: Apple hasn't yet updated its official Remote app, and Texas Hold 'Em hasn't been updated since it first came out back on September 1st, 2008. So even Apple isn't worrying about compatibility with all of its apps -- if you have a favorite app that's not updated often, you might be waiting a while to get full functionality with the new OS. [via DF]
Enter Gmail contact syncing and DropBox; exit MobileMe?
Well, that's that. I have whittled MobileMe down to two useful functions: Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe. And yes, I use one of those functions quite often, say, when my husband is off on some 80 mile jaunt on his bicycle. I have, thankfully, yet to require the services of the other one. But the rest of it: email, syncing, and online storage? Gone the way of the dodo. Initially, I moved mostly over to Gmail to take advantage of its more robust email aliasing. I have several email addresses on personal domains, and Gmail gave me the best mix of domain use, plus sophisticated filtering and spam identification. MobileMe just doesn't play nicely with personal domains, and once Google enabled IMAP for gmail and then push email, I basically abandoned my .me address, relegating it to receiving Apple Store retail receipts and my Apple ID for iTunes.
MobileDL uses Simplenote to download files to your Mac
If you've ever been on your iPhone and wished you could save a file to your Mac, your wish just came true thanks to Scott Jackson and MobileDL. Saving files to your Mac from your iPhone/iPad is now as easy as copying the URL and pasting it into Simplenote iPhone/iPad app (free) or a Simplenote web account (also free). MobileDL runs on your Mac's menu bar and periodically (default is every 10 minutes) checks a note in your Simplenote account called "MobileDL Downloads" and downloads any file listed there. If the note isn't there, MobileDL automatically creates it for you. One URL per line of any kind of file: ".mp4, .mov, .mp3, .zip, .dmg, .app, .pdf, if it's a file on the web, MobileDL can download it." Even HD YouTube videos are supported. There is a short screencast available which shows how it works. I went into MobileDL's "Advanced" preferences and changed the download directory to my Dropbox folder. So once the files are downloaded on my Mac, I can even access them via the Dropbox iPhone app or any of my other computers. It even keeps a log in Simplenote of files which it has downloaded for you. This is something I have been meaning to create myself using shell scripts and cron. MobileDL is a much nicer solution. There's also a command-line version which should work on Windows or Linux computers. I have only two "feature requests" that I would like to see: 1) Growl notifications not on every "check" but only when a file is downloaded and 2) support for sending URLs to Simplenote via email (something available to premium Simplenote customers). Right now MobileDL can't handle more than one "MobileDL Downloads" note. Hat tip to Minimal Mac for bringing this very cool (and free!) app to my attention. UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments, you can control which notifications you get from within the Growl preference panel. The MobileDL preference panel just lets you turn Growl on/off as a whole, but in the Growl pane you can turn notifications on/off for checking for downloads, downloading a file, or when download is complete.
Time Machine plus a clone secure the day
Time Machine isn't a new feature of OS X. It was first announced as part of Leopard, not Snow Leopard, and it even had its own Get A Mac commercial. I mention it because I just recently started using it, and today was the first day that it really came in handy. I haven't been using it because I never had a spare drive to use. Instead I had one which I used for a nightly "clone" of my entire hard drive using SuperDuper! (others use CarbonCopyCloner). When I recently saw a good deal on a 2TB drive, I decided to start using Time Machine with it. Time Machine keeps more extensive backups. Apple describes Time Machine as "hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month" whereas SuperDuper takes a snapshot at a particular time, in my case, 6 a.m. every day. My most important and most frequently changed files are stored in Dropbox which gives me at least a partial "off-site" backups. Dropbox saves every file change for the past 30 days, whereas Time Machine runs once an hour. Time Machine also makes it easier to recover information from iCal or Address Book. This morning I ran the Safari 5 update on my iMac, and it didn't work. The computer seemed "hung up" and when I determined that nothing was happening, I rebooted it. (That sound you hear is the collective gasp of people who realize that rebooting after a "failed" installation can lead to Very Bad Things.) My iMac would then not let me login. I've since gotten it to work, and the point of this is not to scare you off installing Safari 5 -- this could happen with any software installation. The point is this: with Time Machine plus a clone, I know that I could disconnect the clone drive to prevent it from updating for a few days to make sure that everything is working while still having backups in place via Time Machine. If the iMac had failed to boot entirely, I could have used the SuperDuper clone to boot and restore, sometime Time Machine cannot do on its own. The moral of the story is one you've heard time and time again: backups, backups, backups. Are you using them? Have you tested them lately to make sure they'd work if you needed them?
Protect your browser from "tabnabbing"
Have you heard about "Tabnabbing"? It is the term for a new kind of attack, which can be summarized as grabbing a Web browser tab when you aren't looking and making it appear as another site. Aza Raskin, lead designer for Firefox, created a page that illustrates this. If you click on that link and then ignore it for awhile (create and switch to another tab), Aza's page will turn into a lookalike for Gmail. He claims this will work in "all major browsers," and I confirmed it in Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox on the Mac. It even worked -- albeit poorly and less regularly -- in OmniWeb and Opera. However, before users of either of those browsers claim some sort of victory, please realize that my testing was not scientific or extensive, and Aza's "proof of concept" may not be as thorough as some other sites. Aza's example isn't too difficult to spot; if you look at the Address Bar you will see this URL still points to his domain, but he could easily redirect you to a non-Latin domain name that looks like a different website which would be harder to spot. What should you do to protect yourself? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, Aza thinks you should use Firefox, which has an Account Manager feature that is supposed to help protect you from this kind of attack. But what about the next phishing attack? Or what if you prefer a different browser? Read on for a better solution that will allow you to use just about any browser you choose...
Dropbox app brings iPad support, fantastic external editing
The Dropbox team updated the Dropbox app today with full iPad compatibility and the option to choose which app will open a document. It's a very welcome refresh for an application that many users (myself included) depend on. As usual, the app is free. Let's look at the improvements. First of all, the cosmetic changes. While in the landscape orientation, Dropbox offers the same split view that Mail and several others use. Pictures and documents look great and legible on the large screen. Across the toolbar are icons to jump to your favorites, adjust your account settings, email a public link to a file (or copy it to the clipboard), mark a file as a favorite and finally choose an app to open a file. In portrait orientation the sidebar disappears and you're left with a full-screen view of your document and a few icons at the top. It looks super. I flipped through a multi-page PDF document as if it lived on my iPad, then sent it to GoodReader just as easily (for the record, GoodReader can also access your Dropbox files directly). Other apps that handle PDFs include QuickOffice and Air Sharing HD. You say you don't have any of those apps? No problem. Dropbox will suggest apps that support a given document type, complete with icon, brief description and purchase link. It gets better: Microsoft Office docs (.doc/docx, .xls/xlsx, .ppt/pptx) can be sent to their corresponding iWork apps for editing. I took a huge PPT file from Dropbox (about 400 slides), sent it to Keynote, and it opened right up, looking good. The new build is a solid update that makes Dropbox a pleasure to use on the iPad. The UI is uncluttered, files look great (especially in portrait mode) and it's simple to send a file to your favorite app. What's not to love? If Dropbox doesn't float your boat, check out Pogoplug (and its accompanying iPhone app), a USB NAS adapter that gives you network access to your data from home and on the road. %Gallery-92270%
msmtp, a free tool to send email from Terminal
I fully expected that my article on mailsend would lead to several "Why don't you use use XYZ instead?" replies, and it did. Suggestions included Ruby, Python, iPhone push notifications, and configuring postfix/sendmail. But one suggestion was to use msmtp, and that turned out to be the golden nugget. What makes msmtp so great, especially compared to mailsend, is that it completely eliminates the need to store your Gmail password in a plain text file on your computer. msmtp uses the Mac OS X Keychain instead. The other big advantage is that mailsend required several command line arguments every time, which makes it very likely that someone (i.e. "me") is going to screw it up. Once msmtp is configured, I can use the venerable "/usr/bin/Mail" to send email from the command line, and /usr/bin/Mail is nearly idiot proof. (Note I said "nearly" -- this is not a challenge!) In short: msmtp was what I was looking for when I found mailsend. Although configuring msmtp took about 30 minutes, it was well worth it, and now that you have these handy instructions, it should take you even less time than it took me. (You can also get mstmp from Rudix or MacPorts but I still like building my own whenever possible. You might not share my neuroses, however.) Read on for a complete walk-through.
MobileMe and Dropbox, a study in opposites
I have been using 1Password to move from "less secure" to "more secure" passwords. Like many people, I got into the bad habit of reusing a (relatively weak) password - let's call it "pa$$word" - on many different sites. I recently made a "New Smart Folder" in 1Password tasked with finding any site where my password is "pa$$word," and have been browsing the results. That's when realized I was using the same password for both MobileMe and Dropbox. I was surprised how easy it was to change one of them, and what a complete pain it was to change the other. To change my Dropbox password, I logged in, clicked a link labeled "Account" and then another labeled "Account Settings." Even a web novice could manage that. Next, I entered my old password, control clicked the "New Password" field, chose the 1Password submenu, and selected "Strong Password Generator," which produced nice random string of letters, numbers, and symbols. I then clicked "Change Settings" and that was it. I expected that I would have to update all of my Dropbox clients (iMac, MacBook Pro, and iPhone) and change the password on each of them. I didn't. Dropbox automatically told all of the clients, "Hey, the password changed, and since you're an authorized client, here's the new information." Even the iPhone client automatically updated. It was smooth as could be. In fact you could say it "just worked." MobileMe, on the other hand, "just didn't" -- at least not easily.
Scanner Pro updated, still powerful, still complex
Scanner Pro is a US$6.99 iPhone app by Readdle which will let you easily take a picture with your iPhone. We've looked at Scanner Pro before and now a new 2.0 version has been released with page edge detection, image stabilization, and German, Spanish, French, and Italian localizations. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to address the UI issues that Erica pointed out in her original review. The UI is complicated, and it took me several attempts to even figure out how to take a picture. The screen shot at the right shows the "workflow" for creating a new document (tap the icons at the bottom, working left-to-right, to step through the process). After I took a picture of a page of text, another menu offered to let me "crop" the scan down to particular sizes. it took a bit of effort to get the margins lined up, and eventually I just hit the "Select All" button instead. Scanner Pro does offer a few advanced features such as the ability to create PDF files with passwords, landscape orientation, manual light/contrast adjustments, Dropbox support, and integration with Print n Share to print your scans. It also supports iDisk (or other WebDAV servers) and Evernote. I tested the Dropbox support and it worked very quickly and smoothly. However when you initially save a document, you are only offered the option to send the file to Evernote, your photo library, or Google Docs. Dropbox is inexplicably missing from the "Send to" menu, which means that you have to step back out of the process and go to another menu to upload it. Frankly I think the whole idea of using your iPhone as a scanner is flawed in the first place, akin to using a wrench as a hammer. If you don't have a hammer but need to whack something, a wrench will do in a pinch, but no one with any serious hammering to do would ever choose a wrench for the job. Likewise, the ability to use your iPhone to capture a piece of paper and send it to someone else or yourself could come in handy in an "emergency" but I wouldn't do it very often. For occasional, light use I still don't see any reason not to use something like Evernote which is free, or just take a picture from the iPhone camera app and email it to yourself later. If you find yourself wishing that you could print and password protect PDF scans from your iPhone, you're much more of a power user than I am, and may find Scanner Pro worth the price. I still wish that the App Store supported time-limited demos so that people could download an app and test it for themselves before buying. I suspect that there are plenty of power users who would be willing to learn Scanner Pro's UI and benefit from what it has to offer. For the average iPhone user, $7 is probably more than they are likely to spend on an app they'll seldom use.
TextExpander 3 makes short work of keyboard shortcuts
TextExpander, one of my very most favorite (yes, I like it that much) utilities has been updated to version 3. This is a major update and renovation of the program, which has changed from a preference pane to an application. I honestly don't think that I could use a Mac without TextExpander anymore. I have a customized list of "frequently misspelled words" that I have it correct for me, as well as a snippet of text for creating a new shell script, a shortcut to insert the current date or time, HTML markup, and more. TextExpander has been able to sync via MobileMe for some time, but version 3 also includes the ability to sync via Dropbox. It can also correct "double caps" at the beginning of a sentence which happen when you accidentally hold down the shift key for too long. There is a feature to capitalize new sentences as well, but that feature was a little hit-or-miss for me. In its new application form, TextExpander has to be running for it to work. That may seem obvious, but since it used to be a preference pane, users may be used to it running "hidden" as a daemon in the background. There is an option to hide the application icon in the dock. If you hide it in the dock, you can still access TextExpander from its icon in the menu bar. They've even included several different styles of icon for the menu bar, which is good news for those of you who believe that menu bar items should only be black and white.
Automatically open Bittorrent files using Dropbox and Hazel
Every year there is a torrent made to let listeners download most of the music for SXSW. This year's torrent has recently been posted (previous years' are also available at the same site). I don't usually use Bittorent, so I asked around for client suggestions; Transmission seems to be a favorite among several of my TUAW colleagues. I also remembered a tip from my friend Guillermo Esteves (who did the awesome Star Wars crawl using only HTML and CSS), about using Dropbox to start torrents remotely. Guillermo provides some detailed instructions for Transmission and µTorrent to set them up to "watch" a folder for new .torrent files, with an important caveat to make sure that you don't download the files to your Dropbox. One additional Transmission tip: be sure that you un-check the box next to "Display 'adding transfer' options window" so that files will automatically be added, and be sure to check the box next to the "Start transfers when added" option. Guillermo shows both of those settings in his screenshots, but it took me a few minutes to figure out that I had them set incorrectly. Then I asked myself: "How can I be even lazier?" and I remembered Hazel, a program for automatically moving files from one folder to another based on a set of predefined rules. So I added a Hazel rule for ~/Downloads/ which will move any file where "Kind is BitTorrent Document" to my ~/Dropbox/Torrents/ folder. I repeated this on both my iMac and my MacBook Pro. Now I can be on my MacBook Pro and download a torrent file to ~/Downloads/ and have it moved to my Torrents folder, and have the torrent automatically start downloading on my iMac. So when I'm done with my MacBook Pro I can just close it without having to worry about interrupting any of my downloads. You may have noticed that we're big Dropbox fans around here. We use it for syncing Things or instead of a USB sync cable or keeping our notes with us or sharing screenshots, along with any number of other uses. Do you know of any other unusual uses for Dropbox? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime, enjoy the free, legal music downloads from SXSW!
Notational Velocity, Simplenote, and Dropbox bring child-like wonder
The phrase "game changer" is no doubt cliché and overused, but every now and again it just fits. I had heard about Notational Velocity when Merlin Mann posted about it on 43Folders. It changed how I use my iMac, MacBookPro, and iPhone, bringing them all together in a very cool way. The app has been around for awhile (we talked about it five years ago!) but some new features and new technologies make it well worth another look. It took me a minute to understand why I'd want Notational Velocity, it because it sounded like yet another "everything box" like Yojimbo, which I was already using. Notational Velocity does save notes, either in ASCII, RTF, or HTML, but with the latest version, Notational Velocity syncs with Simplenote or WriteRoom for iPhone. It also easily syncs via Dropbox if you follow the important configuration notes here. Imagine if Apple had created an over-the-air method of syncing Notes and it all Just Worked. That's what Notational Velocity has achieved. Notes on my iPhone, my iMac and my MacBook Pro. Edit a note anywhere, and the changes are synced nearly instantly and appear everywhere. It's fast, it's seamless. Thinking about getting an iPad? That's only going to make this setup even sweeter.
Macworld 2010: Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite demonstration
If you've ever had a need to create or edit Microsoft Office documents on your iPhone or any other mobile device, you're probably familiar with Quickoffice. It's a solid app that provides a way to transfer documents to your iPhone, open them, make changes, and then save them back to the device. At Macworld 2010, Quickoffice announced some changes to their iPhone product line. The app now comes in two flavors -- Quickoffice Connect [Free, iTunes Link], which is a document viewer, and the full Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite [US$9.99 sale price]. Both apps now have a feature that should make almost everyone happy -- integrated access to multiple cloud services including MobileMe, Dropbox, Box.net, and Google Docs. TUAW editor Steve Sande visited the Quickoffice booth at Macworld Expo 2010 yesterday and was treated to a full demo of the the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite. We've got video, so see how Quickoffice can help you keep those docs in order by clicking the Read More link below.
TUAW Review and Giveaway: Here, File File!
Back in December we got an early look at an app that allowed you to view and share your Mac's files while on the go. Put simply, Here, File File! [iTunes link] aimed to be the cure to what ailed the file-forgetters among us. Yesterday, the crew behind the very promising preview video announced that HFF was officially available from the App Store. Read on for our full review of Here, File File!, and be sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post for news of a Valentine's Day special (because we just love files that much) as well as your chance to win one of five copies of the app for your very own. %Gallery-85170%
Some thoughts on using the iPad as an IT support tool
I make part of my living as an Apple consultant, so one of the first thoughts that went through my mind on Wednesday when I first saw the iPad was "would I be able to use that to help support my clients?" After a bit of thought yesterday while waiting for files to be loaded onto a new server I was installing, I think the answer is a resounding yes. Usually when I'm visiting my clients, I lug along a computer bag filled with various tools along with my MacBook Air. The rest of the time, I'm either in my office with my iMac, or away from a Mac enjoying myself. Unfortunately, Mac issues tend to arise at the worst possible times, and so there are many situations where I only have my iPhone available for support. One of my tricks of the trade is to talk with clients while looking at their Mac screens using a remote support tool, and the iPhone screen has always been too small to be useful. When you're trying to control someone's computer through Jaadu VNC or some other remote control software, screen real estate is very helpful. I can see using the iPad for remote support in many situations where an iPhone just won't work.
The 12-hour iPhone app
Gizmodo has an interesting story from David Quinlan, a coder who decided to sit down over a weekend with a few friends to crank out an iPhone app. It's an excellent read, not only for the little quirks and tips about organizing a collaborative project very quickly (they sketch out features and then prioritize them, and use Dropbox to keep all the files in the right places), but for the sheer push of how you actually go from idea to concept to code and finally to released iPhone app. I won't say it sounds easy -- these guys had a good amount of experience at development and releasing software even before they started work on this app, and if you sit down with Erica's book [Amazon link to the 2nd edition, PDF downloadable version] and hope to release your very first piece of code after just a weekend of solo work, it's not going to happen. But it definitely sounds possible -- the iPhone's development platform is relatively easy to pick up (especially if you're already experienced with coding in other languages), and Apple's release process is open to anyone willing to spend the $100 to become an official developer.
Ask TUAW: Syncing photos, compressing and transferring large files, virtual printers, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about syncing photo libraries, compressing and transferring large files, creating a virtual PDF printer, increasing screen readability, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify).
