Until Airdrop arrives with the update to Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and hopefully what will be an update to iOS 5 for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, there is no simple way of wirelessly transferring files between one Apple device and another. Enter Mover.
Whilst it comes under different names, the application works in tandem between your Mac and iOS devices, with dedicated apps for OS X, iPad and iPhone helping to organise and synchronise your files.
Of course, with the iOS edition comes a neater, more touch friendly user interface, but the premise of the app is still the same, and works perfectly in almost all cases.
To use Mover you must be running the corresponding application on both the sending machine and the recipient, and once you’re doing so, and both are connected to the same local network, you will find that your device will appear automatically. Setup really is as simple as that, which is a little disconcerting due to no authentication requirements, but its highly coincidental if more someone unauthorised happens to be on your network running mover simultaneously.
Mac OS X
The Mac edition of Mover is actually called Mover Connect, and you can find it on the Mac App Store in both full and ‘lite’ versions. The interface is simple and it’s one real feature is extremely easy to use.
As you can see, as it detects devices on the network they appear in a columnar list with clear labels as to which device is which.
To send files to the device, you can select ‘send files’ from the menu bar, or instead use the ?O keyboard shortcut and bring up a finder window, from which you select your file(s) and finally choose the device. Providing the network is stable, it’ll then send the files over to the selected device and they’ll appear there. Job done. Simple.
When files are received they are by default saved into a ‘Mover Items’ folder on your Mac, and named sequentially from ‘From your iPad [1]’ upwards or iPod or iPhone. Again, simple as you like, but extremely helpful.
iOS
The iOS version of the app is identical on both the iPad and iPhone, with a ‘table’ style layout, with each of up to three devices listed on an edge of the screen. To send either a contact or a photo file, which is all that’s possible with Mover+ for iOS, simply tap the + at the bottom of the display and navigate the typically styled tabs and menus to intuitively find the files that you want to send. Once they’ve appeared on the ‘table’, you can simply swipe them across in the direction of the recipient device, and a progress bar will appear, before the file arrives on the other device.
Received files are automatically placed as you would expect, with photos heading to your photo library, and contacts to your address book. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing complicated, and everything just works.
You can also pass around the files in one session, having received a file from say, your iPhone, you can then swipe it over to your Mac without having to re-load the file, which just helps smooth the process along.
Summary
One of the main uses I use for Mover is to transfer new wallpapers that I have on my desktop onto my mobile devices so I can keep them all up to date with my latest background. You may have your own uses for it, but with iTunes already taking care of my photo and contact synchronisation every now and again, it’s not exactly necessary for a whole lot more.
Considering you don’t have to pay for any of the apps if you don’t want to, there’s nothing to be lost by downloading it, and such a simple app won’t cause you any trouble, and keep your iDevices in-sync until Lion finally arrives.
