Sharing Data

So one of the most difficult thinks to achieve on an iPad (and iPhone) is the sharing of data between your laptop and iPad. The recommended way is to use iTunes to Drag and Drop files into the application.

This is not very helpful unless you carry your laptop with you whenever you need to access a document. I don't travel with a laptop anymore so this option becomes very limiting.

There is another option called DropBox. This is a Cloud Based Storage where you can save your documents in the Cloud and then have access to them from you laptop, iPad, iPhone or a simple Internet connection on any PC. You can click on this link to get a free account from DropBox. You can also download the DropBox app  from the App Store. So now you can store all your documents in the Cloud and access them from anywhere in the world. DropBox will synchronise the files to your Laptop/PC and they are available even if you don't have an Internet connection. Changes files will be automatically synchronised when you reconnect your Laptop to the Internet. This is also a useful tool to share your files between multiple home computers, it synchronises on the LAN.

Another useful function of DropBox is the ability to share documents with people in the Cloud. It is a very simple method of sharing information. I have a folder with MTB GPS Tracks that I share, as well a a Maps folder with 1:50000 maps. You can select who can share the folders.

So now you have DropBox loaded on your iPad and your files are saved in the dropBox cloud. You can now open DropBox on the iPad and select the file you want to open, you then select the app that you want to open the document in, e.g. Pages. You can now make the changes you require and save the document to the iPad or email it to yourself. This is not particularly useful as you need co then save the email from your Laptop back to DropBox.


Not to worry, there is another option, the iPad supports WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning). Unfortunately DropBox doesn't support 'WebDAV at this stage, so we need to add another piece in this jigsaw puzzle. There is a product called SMEStorage which bridges this gap. You can create an account at SMEStorage and install the app iSMEStorage on your iPad. You now add DropBox to the cloud provider in SMEStorage.

Now you can save documents from your iPad back to DropBox. It is not a particularly elegant solution but it works. I am sure DropBox will provide direct WebDAV connectivity in the future, but until then this works.

Let me know if you found this useful or know of another method.