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AirDrop is really nice!

I really hope Mavericks lets you airdrop from OS X to iOS. It is super annoying that if I create some kind of file on iOS I have to use a service like dropbox to transfer it to my Mac which is sitting on the desk next to me.

I assume Apple will unite them, otherwise they would have used a different name for the iOS version.
 
Black Magic said:
So I just played with AirDrop back and forth with my iPhone and iPad Mini and let me tell you it is awesome! Apple hit the ball out of the park with this one. What the hell was Samsung thinking tapping phones when this is so much more easier and user friendly?

I can see this feature getting some serious use!
Click to expand...

Sounds great. I'm seeing the Air Drop option in the control center on my iPad Mini but not in the control center panel on my iPhone 4s. Not worried too much about it, though since I plan on getting a 5s tomorrow. If the problem persists on the 5s I'll try to resolve it then. In the interim if anyone has any suggestions I welcome them with open arms ☺
 
AJsAWiz said:
Sounds great. I'm seeing the Air Drop option in the control center on my iPad Mini but not in the control center panel on my iPhone 4s. Not worried too much about it, though since I plan on getting a 5s tomorrow. If the problem persists on the 5s I'll try to resolve it then. In the interim if anyone has any suggestions I welcome them with open arms ☺
Click to expand...

Airdrop is only supported on 5 or higher phones. iPads have a similar limitation.

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doasis23 said:
I understand Wi Fi needs to be turned on but do you need to be connected to a router for it to work?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so but I would defer to others that know more about it.
 
Black Magic said:
So I just played with AirDrop back and forth with my iPhone and iPad Mini and let me tell you it is awesome! Apple hit the ball out of the park with this one. What the hell was Samsung thinking tapping phones when this is so much more easier and user friendly?

I can see this feature getting some serious use!
Click to expand...

The really amazing part about it is that it's a secure, local, Wifi transfer with no wifi connection needed. It's device to device. So you get the speed of Wifi without the need of a local wifi network. So you can exchange contact info, or photos without knowing the other persons info, or being connected to a network.

I think Mavericks adds Airdrop to iPhone support. Once that works it will be a perfect option for sharing!
 
chrf097 said:
Except the thing is with share sheets, you're sharing one of 5 things:

Photos
Videos
iWork documents
Links
Text
Click to expand...

Audio and other office type apps. If you use a drawing program, that probably works as well.

Beyond that, what other kinds of things are you doing on your device?

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doasis23 said:
I understand Wi Fi needs to be turned on but do you need to be connected to a router for it to work?
Click to expand...

No. Basically what happens is that your phone creates a local wifi network that the recipient automatically joins. The transfer happens over that, and since its a second network it doesn't affect your regular data connection. So you can keep surfing the web while this happens in the background.
 
I use Dropbox as it goes across all platforms. Maybe I'll give this new thing a whirl
 
Sorry if this has been answered, but do you need to be connected on the same WiFi network to AirDrop, or does it do it via Bluetooth/own network/magic little fairies that carry the data over byte by byte?

Thanks ;)
 
I've used AirDrop between my girlfriend's phone and mine sitting right next to each other, and 3 of the 5 times we tried it, it caused her phone to reboot after she accepted it. Weird.

Also how long is it taking for you guys to discover the other device? It's taking 10-15 seconds if we're not on WiFi. Meaning, she doesn't show up in the share sheet for 10-15 seconds.
 
I agree, this feature is huge! There is some notable latency in finding other iDevices; my first time using it, it took ~5-10 seconds to find the other person. The main use case I'm excited for is to share files from my iPhone (on a grandfathered unlimited data plan from ATT) to my wifi-only iPad. If there's a pdf I really want to see on a bigger screen, I have an easy way now to transfer it over. Compared to 3rd party file-sharing apps, the airdrop interface is much more integrated to the OS (since one of the big trade-offs with iOS is that there's no notion of a directory structure so 3rd party apps can't transfer a pdf into another 3rd party app). I also am not sure how it chooses the username to show. I wish I had more control over the username it chooses to use for airdrop.
 
I had to switch over to allow everyone instead of just contacts in order to try it. The other person is in my contact list but would not show.

How far apart can you be and still have the air drop work?
 
There's already an AirDrop function on Mountain Lion, iOS7 AirDrop doesn't work with it?


Also what kinds of files are you able to transfer? Photos, videos, music?
 
s it Ad Hoc WiFi or Ad Hoc Bluetooth? It seems when I turn AirDrop on, it turns my BT radio on. If I turn the BT radio off, AirDrop is unavailable.

I'm a little confused on this one.
 
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