FileMagnet

Rating:
MMMM

Unfortunately, there was never an original way to store and browse through files on your iPhone. That is until the App store came along. There are now quite a few ways to store documents and browse through those files and take them on the go. Essentially, a rather fancy jump drive. One useful app is called FileMagnet.

Simply put, FileMagnet is an application which allows you to store miscellaneous files on your iPhone. FileMagnet requires a WiFi connection to wirelessly transfer files to and from your phone. Additionally, to access the files, you have to have the FileMagnet desktop app that is required, which is a free download.

For those of you who are Windows users, you’ll have to try another App (AirSharing) because this app requires Mac. Once you have a Mac, open FileMagnet on both your Mac and iPhone, then drag your files over. Once everything is copied over WiFi, you’re free to close both apps. There doesn’t seem to be a limit as to what you can put on your iPhone like some apps.

You can read a great deal of files directly on your phone as well: iWork and Microsoft Office documents, RTFs, etc. You can also play audio stored on your iPhone as long as it is DRM free. Video files are only played if compatible with the iPhone.

What I thought was rather cool about this particular app is the fact that it can be synced across the desktop app and the iPhone, so if I were to loose a file on my iPhone, when I got back home, I could just sync that file back on my iPhone. It also works the other way around. This is a great feature that I would like to see a little more polished. This’ll do for now, however.

Also, if you want to add some files, and for whatever reason your iPhone is unavailable, you can queue files on the desktop app like a Netflix account. When the phone is available, they are easily tranfered to the iPhone.

FileMagnet is a pretty good App. It does everything it is suppose to do, and does so without any networking knowledge at all. Some apps like this can be hard to get along with, but it is super simple. The fact that you can view or listen to whatever the iPhone can natively view or play is extra nice. As mentioned, it is unfortunate that the app requires Mac, however, there are a good handful of alternatives, but this one sits in the top 10 of its kind.

Price: $4.99
Available in the App Store

Pros:
Can sync between both iPhone and Computer
you can add Safari web archives for offline web viewing
Can view most of your documents, videos, music, and pictures

Cons:
Only for Mac (for now)
Requires desktop app
Can slow down the iPhone