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iCloud Drive stop-gap

kronusdark

kronusdark

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 21, 2013
83
45
Southern Indiana
I was quite annoyed that Apple seems to have forgotten the obvious with iCloud Drive. So I whipped up an app that will allow you to open files from iCloud.

You "Grab" a file from iCloud Drive (PDF, JPG, MOV... whatever) then "Use" it in another app (VLC, iBooks, Dropbox, etc...).

its $0.99 and I would love to get some feedback.

Hopefully some of you will find this useful while waiting for a "Real" solution from Apple.

http://alloc-init.com/cloudgrabapp

Please excuse the self-promotion

screen568x568.jpeg


App is pretty simple, it uses the default iCloud Drive picker and only allows you to open files from your iCloud Drive at the moment.

I will work on updates if there is more demand for it.

Feature Requests:

- Progress bar for large downloads (This is our first priority for 1.0.1)
- Dedicated Cloud Grab folder for editing documents (We will have to explore how this will work with the flow)
- Simple File Management (I don't want this to become too complicated, but I might look into creating folders, moving files and deleting items, there may be an API limitation to accessing files outside of the apps sandbox though)

Update:

I found a bug where sometimes it won't open a file, looks like it may be a bug with iCloud Drive, but I am going to see if I can get a workaround implemented.
 
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I'd love to review it. Can you possibly provide some download codes? I also cannot find it from my iPhone at all when searching the app store.
 
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I guess I'll wait for users to review then decide if it's worth while. Thanks.
 
kronusdark said:
I was quite annoyed that Apple seems to have forgotten the obvious with iCloud Drive. So I whipped up an app that will allow you to open files from iCloud.

its $0.99 and I would love to get some feedback.

Hopefully some of you will find this useful while waiting for a "Real" solution from Apple.

http://alloc-init.com/cloudgrabapp

Please excuse the self-promotion
Click to expand...

Can you provide some screenshots? Didn't see any on the App Store and just curious what it looks like before I buy. Is this like a file manager type of app where I can see all my folders/files in icloud? Can I create new folders and move files etc etc? Not exactly sure what it does
 
Unfortunately the iCloud Drive API that I am using will only let you pick files to open.

I am looking to make management an option as soon as I can.
 
tigres said:
Guys. It's .99 for crying out loud, don't be a bunch of cheapskates.
Pay the man for his efforts.
Click to expand...

Exactly. It's 69p and some people are still asking for codes to get it for free? Some people have no shame.

The concept sounds great, have just bought it to give it a try.
 
I have bought it, but find after clicking Grab and getting the app picker window, all the apps are greyed out. Do I need to do something else?
 
I think the way icloud drive works is that if you create a folder yourself and put stuff in it (ie on your Mac), that is accessible from any app.

If however if it's a folder that's been created by another app, that folder is ring fenced / sandboxed and can only be opened by that app.

I think.
 
shotts56 said:
I think the way icloud drive works is that if you create a folder yourself and put stuff in it (ie on your Mac), that is accessible from any app.

If however if it's a folder that's been created by another app, that folder is ring fenced / sandboxed and can only be opened by that app.

I think.
Click to expand...

Thanks that takes me a step further, but not sure I am using it right.

I created a folder called TEST in my iCloud Drive, on my mac, and put a Pages and a Numbers Document in it.

Opened Grab, got the picker screen, and the TEST and the files inside are not greyed out.

I click "use" and am offered apps to open the doc. I chose Numbers and it puts a copy in the Numbers folder on my iCloud Drive, where I can open and view it.

The means every time I decide to view this document another copy is created, there are now four of the same document in my Numbers folder.

Not sure this goes as far as Readdles Documents 5 or PDF Expert 5, which create their own dedicated folder on iCloud Drive, which can have different files types, and PDF Expert can open any of these, by converting them to PDFs.

Grab looks nice and simple so would like it work for me.
 
Mike Boreham said:
Thanks that takes me a step further, but not sure I am using it right.

I created a folder called TEST in my iCloud Drive, on my mac, and put a Pages and a Numbers Document in it.

Opened Grab, got the picker screen, and the TEST and the files inside are not greyed out.

I click "use" and am offered apps to open the doc. I chose Numbers and it puts a copy in the Numbers folder on my iCloud Drive, where I can open and view it.

The means every time I decide to view this document another copy is created, there are now four of the same document in my Numbers folder.

Not sure this goes as far as Readdles Documents 5 or PDF Expert 5, which create their own dedicated folder on iCloud Drive, which can have different files types, and PDF Expert can open any of these, by converting them to PDFs.

Grab looks nice and simple so would like it work for me.
Click to expand...

I have considered creating a Cloud Grab folder, that would expose documents to iCloud Drive, I wasn't sure if this would be the use case.

Personally, I use it to open PDF's and ePUB's, and those don't really get edited.

in-short, I will explore what you are asking. :D
 
Mike Boreham said:
I click "use" and am offered apps to open the doc. I chose Numbers and it puts a copy in the Numbers folder on my iCloud Drive, where I can open and view it.
Click to expand...

A better option than choosing Numbers is to chose PDF Expert. The document then opens and does not create a duplicate anywhere.

This means that my TEST folder can have multiple file types, which can be instantly viewed without creating duplicate files.

I can use Grab to access my TEST, but I could just as easily create TEST in the PDF Expert folder on my iCloud Drive, and do the same by launching PDF Expert, not using Grab at all. Accessing TEST is quicker if all done in PDF Expert.

EDIT. Of course what I describe above only allows for read only access to the files in TEST. To have read and write synchronised across all devices only seems possible by putting the documents in the folder associated with each app....and then all my documents on the same subject are scattered across different folders.
 
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From what I can tell Panic's Transmit for iOS can do this. It's $9.99, but it's a rock solid app from a trusted company. Has lots of other features to connect to a variety of servers and services. I downloaded it last night but haven't yet used it with iCloud Drive because I haven't converted my account to iCloud Drive yet (still using Mavericks and don't want to mess it up).
 
kronusdark said:
I have considered creating a Cloud Grab folder, that would expose documents to iCloud Drive, I wasn't sure if this would be the use case.

Personally, I use it to open PDF's and ePUB's, and those don't really get edited.

in-short, I will explore what you are asking. :D
Click to expand...

Have you had a look at Readdles PDF Expert?

I think this is a fast moving scene as third party developers (such as you) try to force iCloud Drive to be what people really want....an equivalent of Dropbox!

Happy to try any developments you make to Grab....you are definitely better than Readdle on price!
 
macduke said:
From what I can tell Panic's Transmit for iOS can do this. It's $9.99, but it's a rock solid app from a trusted company. Has lots of other features to connect to a variety of servers and services. I downloaded it last night but haven't yet used it with iCloud Drive because I haven't converted my account to iCloud Drive yet (still using Mavericks and don't want to mess it up).
Click to expand...

I love Panic, but it doesn't appear that Transmit supports iCloud Drive yet. It seems to only support FTP-like services.

Dropbox is being dumb and not letting me upload a screenshot :(

Here is Panic's list:

FTP
FTP with TLS/SSL
FTP with implicit TLS/SSL
SFTP
WebDAV
WebDAV HTTPS
Amazon S3
DreamObjects

Please correct me if I am wrong though.
 
kronusdark said:
I love Panic, but it doesn't appear that Transmit supports iCloud Drive yet. It seems to only support FTP-like services.

Dropbox is being dumb and not letting me upload a screenshot :(

Here is Panic's list:

FTP
FTP with TLS/SSL
FTP with implicit TLS/SSL
SFTP
WebDAV
WebDAV HTTPS
Amazon S3
DreamObjects

Please correct me if I am wrong though.
Click to expand...

What's New in Version 1.0.1

• Added the ability to create and expand ZIP archives
• Added the ability to save and upload files from iCloud Drive
• Added previewing of RAW images
 
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