MacMost Now 400: iPad File Sharing

The iPad has many apps that can be used to create and view documents. Getting those documents to and from the iPad can be done using several different methods. You can do it using iTunes and special features built into some apps.

You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary on episode 400 of MacMost Now lets take a look at file sharing with the iPad.
So, I've been asked this a few times over the last few weeks. How do you share files with the iPad? After all with appliations like Pages and Numbers how do you create files on the iPad and then get them to your Mac or vice versa? Well, there's two different ways to do that. One of them involves using a new feature of iTunes. Let's take a look.
So, here I've sync'd my iPad with my Mac, now I have sync apps turned off because this isn't the account that I usually use to sync with my iPad but that doesn't matter because if I go to the apps tab anyway with my iPad selected I can scroll to the bottom of the apps tab and there's file sharing here at the bottom. Now, file sharing has a list of all the apps that have files to share and you can select one. So, for instance if I select Pages I can see all the Pages documents that I have on my iPad. And this is the equivalent of if I looked inside of Pages and scrolled through all the documents there. Now I can drag and drop these to the finder - so I can just drag them to the desktop right here and it will transfer immediately. So, there it is. There's no need to re-sync or do anything, it does the transfer right there. I can also transfer documents into the iPad. So, lets for instance select Numbers and I can drag this numbers document from my desktop up here into this area and it will transfer immediately to the iPad.
Now, that's not the only way to transfer files, some applications have come up with all sorts of different ways. For instance lets take a look at GoodReader which is a document viewer. And here you can have all sorts of documents stored inside GoodReader and the way you get them there is either using the technique I showed before through iTunes or doing it all sorts of different ways. For instance you can use web downloads and you can browse the web so if you have a web server you can put documents there and then you could find them here and download them into GoodReader. Another way it does it is using this connect to servers function and you can add different types of servers. So for instance you could add some mail servers, MobileMe's iDisk. You can add Google Doc's, Dropbox, Box.net, lots of different services like that or even just a standard FTP server. You could also use a WIFI feature, and here it gives you the ability basically, to enter in this IP address in file sharing in your Mac and then you'll be able to see GoodReader running on your iPad on your Mac basically as a shared drive connected over WIFI. Then you can transfer documents to and from that folder. So you can do file sharing completely wirelessly this way. 
So, when GoodReader or one of these other networked applications wants you to establish a connection with it, what you need to do on your Mac is go to go connect to server in the finder and then type the IP address that it shows you in the iPad app. Tap connect, and then it will connect to the iPad over your WIFI. Here, I'm going to log in as a guest since there is no password option. There's no need for one since it's on my local network. And then it will bring up a finder window that will show me all of the files there that GoodReader has on the iPad. So I'm actually looking at the GoodReader directory on the iPad. I can drag files out of this and I can also drag files into it and it will be added to GoodReader and this is done completely wirelessly. Here, I've got my iPad and its just doing the sync right now live
So there are three primary ways to transfer files back and forth between your iPad. First, just use iTunes, the second is to use some sort of built in functionality in the specific app to connect with something like Dropbox, MobileMe or an FTP server, and the third is to use WIFI sharing if the app supports it and apps like AirSharing and GoodReader do.
So, now that we've reached 400 episodes I want to take a moment to thank everybody who has supported the show. Thanks so much, I've got some great things in store for you, more videos of course. There's another book coming out about the iPad shortly and all sorts of new ideas and things that I've got for MacMost.com.
Thanks for watching. 'Til next time this is Gary Rosenzweig with MacMost Now.

Comments: 12 Responses to “MacMost Now 400: iPad File Sharing”

Tom moore

15 years ago

Clever how your advert cannot be dismissed on an iPad, so as to see your article about iPad.

Gary Rosenzweig

What advert? Why can't it be dismissed? Can you give more details.

Jerry

Me too. A pop-up ad took many clicks on x to dismiss.

What did the ad say?

Left Elm

Congrats on 400! I find myself more and more watching your videos. Nice little bite-sized lessons. To the point and useful.

As far as sharing is concerned on the iPad: What I miss is the ability to simply open a document (in Pages, e.g.) in a network-shared Mac folder as I could on a networked Macbook (and then save back to the Mac after editing). The current schemes have an awkward philosophy, it seems to me. You have to think way too far ahead to figure out what you'll need.

But the methods you outline work great, as far as they go. You could also mention that Air Sharing can read attachments from an email server. So I find that I use Air Sharing to first get a file I need on the Mac, use "Open In" Pages to edit it, then email to myself when I'm done (so that I can keep the final documents in Air Sharing; there is no way to save docs from Pages to Air Sharing in the iPad). Pretty strange doings and not for the faint-hearted..

Roy & Ren

Congrats of 400 episodes Gary!
We always enjoy your videos and are glad you have been doing lots of iPad related ones too, as we have new iPads that we totally enjoy so much! This one was great - setting up GoodReader to access more files right now! Until now we were only email files to ourselves!
We are actually planning some video podcasts for our website, Twosquirts.com soon. We have been inspired by yours! (Even though our content is on a different subject - restaurants!)
Thanks again!
Roy & Ren

GREGORY MASSEY

Congrats.....YOur videos very helpful.
Thanks !!!

Ann

14 years ago

Thanks, Gary. Your episodes are very informative. Keep up the good work. This was helpful to me; I didn't realize that about Good Reader.

Roger Steele

I made the mistake of downloading some audio books and music directly from my iPad, now cannot get them to my iTunes library to install them on my iPod. Are you able to offer any suggestions?
Is there a method to reload them from iTunes store to iTunes on my pc so they can be shared to my iPod?

Have you tried, in iTunes, Store, Check for Available Downloads?

Tom Bonanno

Gary:
I'm a huge fan of yours and in the short 2 1/2 years I've converted to the Mac from PC I have learned a lot,however your video # 400 I have not been able to transfer the files for Pages or Numbers the way you have shown same. in my I tunes I have in the "documents section two commands one that says "Save to" & one for ""transfer"., and I cannot see the files in ITunes that are in the IPad. Help? Thank you

Have you exported the files from Pages and Numbers on your iPad? You have to go into those apps first, then hit the export/save button for the document you want to transfer. Then select iTunes as your method of transfer. This sets up the file to be ready to be transferred this way.

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MacMost Now 400: iPad File Sharing

Comments: 12 Responses to “MacMost Now 400: iPad File Sharing”

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