by Hands up those of you who can remember the old classic file browser, back in the days of DOS, called Norton Commander? Norton made working with DOS as pleasurable as it could ever have been by not only offering a better way to copy a new files but also allowing you to work with multiple file formats within one application.
Granted it might be somewhat of an old analogy that no one will remember but it’s very similar to what iFile browser for iOS does in this modern era. IFile browser brings a classic desktop styles file management system right to your iOS device.
Being a file manager all of the basics which you would expect are there, you can move, edit, copy and duplicate files to your hearts content but you can also edit and open a vast array of document types right from within iFile browser and not having to spawn out to a different application.
iFIle Browser real-world usage?
You can create basic document types right from when in iFile browser but the magic starts to happen when you use the built-in browser, or install the bookmarklet for Safari, and start working with downloads.
The most basic example is that you can download an MP3 from Safari play and play it right there and then without the need for opening iTunes. Want to quickly copy some text from a word document you find online? You can do that as well and you aren’t just limited to PDF, Microsoft Office documents etc.
Granted you aren’t going to be getting the extensive editing features of the native apps but you do get enough of basic, rudimentary features to get you going. Taking my workflow as an example. When I’m working on a new documents I will get the basics jotted down on my iPhone, work with it’s on my desktop to fully fledged out the details, and then work on the minor edits back on my iPhone.
Remeber .wmv files (not many people do or should) that’s supported along with iWork, Pages, Jpeg, .png the list goes on and all but best of all Zip file support. You can decompress zip, rar and tar files right on your iOS devices.
Due to Apple sandboxing restrictions, iFile browser cannot access any files stored on your device other than your photo library. However you can connect up a dropbox account or transfer files files directly from your desktop right to your iOS device using the companion application.
just remember that if you are importing photos from your camera roll you will be doubling up on the amount of storage used on your device.
Overall
Being able to download and work with documents right from one interface takes some getting used to, in the start. Once you’re used to seamlessly downloading and working with file you’ll see productivity shoot up.
iFile Browser is available for iPhone and iPad from the App Store.
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