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Daily Mac App: iExplorer
Like most technically-inclined folks, I found myself doing a little family tech support over the holidays. I needed to use an iPod touch as a USB drive to copy files between my Mac and my brother's Windows 7 computer. This isn't something I'll do often so I was looking for something easy and free. I found what I was looking for in iExplorer (formerly "iPhone Explorer") from Macroplant. Let's be clear: iExplorer is a simple application which is designed to do only two things: a) mount your iOS devices like a basic USB "thumb" drive and b) persuade you to consider upgrading to the company's PhoneDisk (US$20) program, which has more features. Some of those features are even shown within the iExplorer UI, and when you click on them, a prompt appears to upgrade. Even if you don't want to upgrade, you'll still run into a mild case of the "nags." While iExplorer is offered for free, the developers ask that you spread the word by posting a message on Twitter or Facebook. Otherwise there's a window that covers up the application each time it launches. For a program that you keep in your "tech support tool belt" for occasional use only, these are minor annoyances. If you do decide to upgrade, I'd suggest checking out PhoneView which does a whole lot more than just mount the iOS device. I have written about PhoneView before, and it continues to be my "go to" app. There is no Windows version, however, so if that's important to you, PhoneDisk might be a better choice. There's not much more to say about iExplorer itself. The app installs simply, and usage is as straightforward as possible. I had a 32 GB USB thumb drive, but it was formatted for Mac OS X and couldn't be read on my brother's Windows 7 machine. A 32 GB iPod touch (or iPad or iPhone) with a lot of free space makes a great method of transportation between Windows and Mac computers. iExplorer filled a gap, and for free.
How to transfer game saves between iOS devices, without iTunes, and without jailbreaking
If you own multiple iOS devices, you may have noticed that syncing game saves between them is nowhere near as easy as syncing other types of data. In fact, most people probably don't even know that it's possible to sync game saves between devices. This isn't a big deal for most casual-type iOS games, but some games, like Infinity Blade or Chaos Rings, provide epic play lengths that represent hours upon hours of time invested. Why should you start over from scratch just because you bought a shiny new iPad 2, but all your game saves are on your iPhone 4? Apple does let you restore backup info from one device to another, but if you'd rather set up your iPad 2 as a new device, there's no Apple-sanctioned means of transferring your save data afterward. Phone Disk comes to the rescue. We covered Phone Disk last November, when it was temporarily available for free, but it now costs US$19.95 for a single-user license. If you want Finder-level access to your iDevice's media files and third-party apps without having to jailbreak, it may well be worth the cost, especially since with a little bit of poking around you'll be able to locate your game saves and transfer them between devices using the Finder in Mac OS X.
Phone Disk: Mounting your iOS device in OS X or Windows for free
How would you like to be able to mount a non-jailbroken iOS device as a disk on your Mac or PC? And what if this capability was (for a limited time) free? My guess is that a lot of you would take someone up on an offer like this. Developer Macroplant has come up with a solution that runs on a Mac with OS X 10.5 or 10.6, or on a PC with Windows XP/Vista/7, that allows you to view the contents of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Phone Disk lets you open, copy and save files directly on the device, and you can mount multiple devices simultaneously. If you're a Mac user, you see the iOS file system in the Finder, while Windows users can view it in Windows Explorer. The app runs in the system tray in Windows or the menu bar in Mac OS X, so it's out of the way, but available when you need it. Note that Phone Disk will not give you "real" root access to your iOS device -- the program allows you to access media files (photos, music, and even apps), but system-level access still requires a jailbreak. Still, this is more access than non-jailbreakers can get otherwise -- if you know where to look, you can even pull soundtrack files out of the apps installed on your iPhone. Through December 1st, 2010, the developer is giving away Phone Disk for free. You just need to download and then unlock the software with the registration code available here. [via Macgasm]
