Review: Enable “Disk Mode” on your iPhone with iPhoneDrive
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
One of the most glaring omissions on the iPhone’s feature list is the ability to use its extra disk space to move files and folders from computer to computer. This “Disk Mode” has been a feature of the iPod for years, and many (including us) were upset to see the iPhone did not share this feature.
Well, thankfully the interest in hacking the iPhone is strong, and Ecamm Networks has come to the rescue with their iPhoneDrive software. iPhoneDrive lets you add most of the standard Disk Mode functionality to your iPhone, and in our tests, it worked as advertised.
There are some limitations/differences between the way iPhoneDrive and the iPod’s Disk Mode work. First, the software needs to be installed on every machine you hope to connect your iPhone to, however, you may install that one license on more than 1 computer. Second, while you can “drag and drop” items from the Finder onto your iPhone, you cannot drag them around once they are on the iPhone. For instance, if you have added 6 files to your iPhone, and then wish to make a new folder to organize them, you cannot drag those 6 files into the folder. Instead, you must navigate into that folder before “uploading” them to your iPhone.
All file management duties are handled inside iPhoneDrive’s interface. The workflow is reminiscent of the way many FTP programs work. You are given options to “Copy to iPhone”, “Copy from iPhone”, “Make a New Folder”, and “Delete File”. Also, iPhoneDisk does not allow you access to your iPhone’s file system, so don’t expect to pull off ringtones, notes, pictures, or music from your iPhone. It is designed to mimic the iPod’s Disk Mode, which also does not allow your to browse file contents.
Still, it is not a big deal, and this is a great little app that is proving to be a lifesaver here. The lack of a disk mode ranked high on our iPhone feature request list, and we’re glad to see its arrival, even though it is from a 3rd party.
iPhoneDrive is Mac only at the moment, and costs $9.95. There is a fully functional free 7-day demo on Ecamm Networks’ site.
Price: $9.95 (free 7-day demo)
Pros: Adds support for most Disk Mode functions to the iPhone, reasonably cheap
Cons: Software must be installed on any machine you wish to view your files, Hopefully Apple will add this functionality in the short term
Looks like crappy version of Nokia PC Suite – which BTW comes witout charge with all Nokia handsets. That is, that if your PC detects your Nokian around, it will be seen as HD/memory stick in PC by default. With the latest Nokia PC Suite creating playlists and moving/syncing my MP3/MP4 tracks between the devices is, to my surprise, really easy.
I have wondered, why there is so many iPhone applications, that will crash (google “68 iPhone problems”) and why lot of multitasking is disabled – like playing tracks with music player when browsing (e.g. Nokia N95 and Nokia E90 do have Safari, too). That is a great user experience, I say. Thank you for good hint, Apple fanboys 😉