Tag: Sync »

Yesterday we mentioned that Space Hulk had received an update that added a new cross-platform co-op mode. Well we've also just figured out (thanks to the questions posed by 148Apps commenter Delnit) that it also supports cross-platform game saves. This means that you can carry over your campaign and multiplayer progress from your Mac/PC to your iPad and vice-versa, ensuring that you'll always be ready to sacrifice a squad of genetically engineered supersoldiers in the name of The Emperor.

Here's how you do it:

iTunes 11, just released at the end of November 2012 by Apple, represents probably the biggest changes to the way iOS devices sync up with computers in quite a while. In particular, apps synchronization has changed quite a bit.

In order to access your device settings, click on the button that either shows the name of your iOS device or the number of devices you have connected.

First off, all purchases are automatically transferred from a device to the computer when syncing, even if they are not set to specifically synchronize. There’s still the option to transfer purchases without doing a full synchronization, by going to File -> Devices -> Transfer Purchases.

Second, app synchronization is now automatically enabled. If you are setting up a new device, or syncing with iTunes for the first time, then iTunes, as is its wont, will try to sync a lot of apps to the device. The only real solution is to just go through and click “remove” on any app in the list that is unwanted. This cannot be disabled, and the Automatically sync new apps checkbox will only disable syncing apps that are new to the library to the device. However, devices that have synced with iTunes before will not suddenly find themselves buried in apps that iTunes tries to install, as it will leave the current settings alone.

However, the biggest and most convenient change is that it is now possible to manually install apps without neeeding to synchronize. Just select an app from the list, and click Install, and the app will be installed on the device on the next sync. Clicking Remove will set it to be uninstalled on the next sync. Clicking Will Remove or Will Install will set the app back to its previous installed or uninstalled state.

Wi-fi synchronization can be set up from the Summary page, scrolling down to Options and choosing Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi.

This new method of syncing apps makes it easy to download an app while from the computer, and send it to a device without needing to have automatic downloads enabled. This also makes installing previously-purchased apps much easier than on the device itself, as huge libraries of previously purchased apps don’t even load in iOS 6!

While those buying new devices and syncing them up the first time will find a lot of clicking to be necessary beforehand, this does make syncing apps with iTunes an infinitely better process.

SugarSync has been allowing users to sync all sorts of media across computers and mobile devices for over a year now. With so many people getting their first taste of cloud computing and storage thanks to this past year's holiday gifts, SugarSync has decided to give them proper welcome. A new update has hit the service adding a host of new features.

Together, these new features streamline and speed up the media management process. Users can now upload multiple files at once instead of one at a time. Files will also now sync in the background allowing users to enjoy their devices while they update.

When syncing photos, users can choose to load low quality versions at a faster rate, higher quality versions at a slower rate or a compromise between the two. The photo tab has also been redesigned making it much easier and quicker to view and share albums.

SugarSync is available for free on pretty much any Mac, PC and mobile device out there.

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Many people, myself included, have gone almost completely mobile with their data syncing. There’s nothing wrong with syncing your iPhone to your computer to get info, but something about plugging my phone in seems very “last generation.” Through various apps, you can access just about any form of data right off your computer; no wires attached.

Since its launch, SugarSync has been one of the leaders in accessing data remotely. With the app (and the downloadable SugarSync Manager for Mac or PC), you can have complete access of your computer's files, photos, movies, and music with little to no lag or usability drawbacks. Keeping music on your phone for everyday listening is almost silly with an app like this because you can now have your entire music library with you, whether you are at the office or taking a morning jog.

The only downfall, up until now, is that when you are out of a service location or are forced to turn off data (like in an airplane), you're left with an empty iPhone, devoid of the media that makes it great. SugarSync version 2.1 remedies this by letting you sync files and folders directly to your device, enabling you to use the selected files for offline viewing. There are obvious space limitations, but having the ability to sync up a movie or two before a long flight is an invaluable resource for some.

Other features of the update include improved performance of photo uploads and file downloads, as well as the ability to lock the app with a PIN code in case your iPhone gets lost or stolen.

SugarSync 2.1 is out now and can be downloaded for free in the App Store. In fact, the entire app is free, so even if you don’t have it yet, it can be had for nothing. Happy streaming!

A lot of excitement was generated by a new App Store submission a while back that promised the ability to sync your iPhone with your computer using Wi-Fi, doing away with the need for a physical connection via USB.

Greg Hughes’ aptly named Wi-Fi Sync app has now been rejected by Apple for security reasons as well as that fact that it encroaches on “what they can and cannot allow” on the App Store, according to the developer who explained the rejection to Engadget.

With new file sharing features available for the iPad, another reason for Apple to reject this application could be that it's planning a similar feature in future versions of iTunes.

Greg notes that the app will be available on the unofficial Cydia app store for iPhone users who have jailbroken their device, however interested iPad users may have to wait a little longer. Writing on his homepage, Greg says that the app isn’t officially supported on the iPad, but he is “working on this”.

[ via Engadget ]

Sunday here in the US and what pops into the App Store? Documents To Go from Dataviz. Documents To Go is a document syncing, storage, viewing, and editing app with some very interesting and unique features. This app has been hotly anticipated as a top quality business app and a great way to edit documents while you only have access via your phone.

Dataviz has had a long history in the Mac world. They started out doing document conversion software for early Macs -- remember when Macintosh software couldn't read Windows files? Of late they have focused in on providing syncing and editing software for mobile devices. Their Documents To Go application has been available on many other mobile platforms, Palm, Windows, Blackberry. This release on the iPhone brings them back to the Apple world.

This initial release comes on two forms, the main Documents To Go and an Exchange Attachments edition. Both versions consist of both a desktop application (Windows or Mac), and an iPhone OS application. The desktop application allows you to choose which files you want to sync to the mobile device -- either individual files or folders. If you choose a folder, any new files in that folder will be automatically synced. We should point out that this is true 2-way syncing. Changes either on the desktop or the iPhone are synced automatically when the devices next connect. Much better than many file storage and viewing apps that only do one way transfer and fail to sync any changes.

The document types that you can sync and view include all of the usual Microsoft Office and iWork '08 formats. Also supported are all of the basic text files and image formats that the iPhone can display.

Beyond the normal file viewing, this initial release also allows you to edit Microsoft Word documents (.doc and .docx formats). The Word file editor is pretty robust and feature rich and seems to do a really good job maintaining the document formatting. Dataviz have promised a free upgrade to Documents To Go with Microsoft Excel editing as well though that's not currently available.

Documents To Go's major competitor on the iPhone is QuickOffice which we previously reviewed and found to be pretty solid. QuickOffice does offer one feature that Documents To Go has yet to implement, Microsoft Excel editing. We'll take a full look at Documents To Go in the coming days.

Documents To Go is available now at an introductory price of just $4.99 (for 2 weeks).

The second version of Documents To Go released today, the Exchange Attachment edition, does all of the above plus gives you direct access to your Microsoft Exchange server email attachments.

Appearing as a new folder on your documents list, this support allows you to download, view, and even edit and forward documents attached to your email messages. You are presented with all of your email messages that have attachments and can view the messages and the attachments in a more file focused view, with the attachments at the top of the message. From there you can save the attachments locally, forward them, or edit them.

In addition to getting access to your attachments stored on the Exchange server, you can forward any attachment you have stored locally in an email via your Exchange server.

This extra support for remote attachments storage should be a great extra feature for those people that use Exchange.

The Exchange Attachment edition is available now at an introductory price of $9.99 (for 2 weeks).

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