FileSync

With all the games and entertainment apps in the iTunes App Store it’s easy to forget that the iPhone is equipped to double as a hardcore productivity tool. I know, it’s way more fun to play solitaire and google yourself than to try and do actual work, but occasionally you might find yourself in a situation where your iPhone could save your ass… and your job!… if only you had certain tools to get things done.

You might not even need to be in a crisis to use FileSync; maybe you just find that it’s easier to function day-to-day with direct access to an FTP directory. Maybe your whole damn team of execs or sales people (or whoever) could get more done with a file-sharing method that’s iPhone friendly.

Jeff-Net has put together a simple way of keeping your iPhone “in sync” with an online file directory that should be easy to set up if you know what FTP is. If this concept is totally foreign to you, just have your resident IT nerd clue you in on the details.

Once you’ve filled in the Settings screen with your FTP info and a specified directory that you want FileSync to work with, the rest is pretty automatic. Anything you put into the directory will be downloaded to your iPhone by simply tapping the Sync button. Add or delete items in the directory, and the same happens on your iPhone during the next sync. The only catch is that FileSync isn’t for uploading – it’s for downloading only. Uploading files to the directory has to be done by some other means like an actual FTP client on your computer.

FileSync also lets you email links to files which is what the “Mail File Forwarding” section is for under Settings. Just put in your FileSync folder URL in that space (ie: http://www.yoursite.com/filesync/) and you’ll be able to email working links to the people who need them. Otherwise the email will just have a filename in it which is pretty useless on its own.

The one feature in this app that I don’t entirely understand is the bookmarking function. Obviously I know what bookmarking is, but the way it works in FileSync seems a little counter-intuitive since the bookmarking feature can only be accessed when you’re looking at an individual file. If I need to find the file to access the bookmark, what good is it?

I’m a lazy bastard so I haven’t bothered to investigate this, but if you buy the app and are equally vexed by the bookmarking thing, Jeff-Net provides a support link within the app and I’m sure they’ll be glad to help you get it figured out.

Since this is clearly a business-oriented app it shouldn’t be too hard to get your company to pay for it, so I say pay the $4.99 and sneak it into your next expense report. As long as your coworkers aren’t crowding your FileSync directory with fart jokes and pictures of boobies it can only help in the productivity department.