While the holy grail for grabbing files on the iPhone would probably still be Apple-made iDisk support (as rumored), there are other options out there. Microsoft’s Live Mesh is supposedly going to be the very definition of cross-platform once they mange to get all of their clients done — but file access for the iPhone is pretty much limited to the browser right now.
Add one more “Securely sync your files to a 3rd party server and then get them on your iPhone” option to the mix: Sugarsync. They have clients for Mac, PC, Windows Mobile (though that one isn’t great), Symbian, and now: a Sugarsync client for the iPhone (App store link).
Although Sugarsync would like to say that their iPhone client supports pushing files to the iPhone, that’s not quite the case. Your files are pushed from sync’ed folders to Sugarsync’s cloud, waiting for you when you want to access them from your iPhone. Good enough, we say, since local file system access on the iPhone is still not really available.
Basically the only limitation here is the iPhone: it can view but not edit and it can only view a relatively small set of files, but that whole local file system bit. One nice bit: you can share any file on your Sugarsync cloud.
The service is $25 a year for 10 gigs, so it might be a viable option for those of you rocking a few computers and an iPhone yet hate MobileMe. For those of us who are shelling out for MobileMe already, it would be nice to think iPhone iDisk access won’t be too long in coming.
We always see (almost entirely incorrect) ‘outlines’ of keynotes in the runup to any Apple event, now we’re getting them before the runup starts. It’s a pretty safe be that Apple will be doing something in late September or October, they always try to have new iPod announcements before the holiday season. So go grab your salt shaker, pour out a few grains (actually, you might want to use them all), and take a gander at what Anonymous has told to expect in a “late September event,” after the break.
Our take on the list you’re about to read: real iPhone file access would be a godsend and it’s a natural next step for the platform. iTunes Unlimited Music Subscriptions have been oft-rumored but given how strident Jobs has been about people wanting to own music instead of subscribe to it, we’re still doubters. Then again, he did say the same thing about mobile video right before the iPod got video support. Basically, there’s nothing there that we really think is a lock.
Here’s a better question: what do you think Apple has in store for us this coming holiday season?
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Do you use Apple’s .Mac Services? I do. I like the synchronization between my Macs; it really makes life easy. With the iPhone, I really get a lot of benefit. I can add a website, Calendar appointments, Address Book entry, etc on my iPhone and it gets synced across multiple machines.
So why can’t I access my iDisk on my iPhone? I realize actually creating documents might be a stretch, but at least an adherence to Apple’s own Human Interface Guidelines for iDisk on the iPhone via Safari should not be too hard. But why stop there. Why not an optimized view of my web-based .Mac Mail? Or Address Book?
I think it would be an awesome value for .Mac subscribers to get an optimized array of Apple’s services to the iPhone. They could start with their own Web App Gallery. What do you think? Would a tighter integration of Apple’s services with the iPhone make it that much more desirable?
