Macworld today added to its 'how-to' tutorials with this step-by-step post on "How to copy items between your Mac and iPad using AirDrop", emphasis being given to Yosemite, of course.
"With Yosemite, Apple has tried to make it easier for you to move files between devices," writes Macworld. Apparently, (and I use the word because I can't do this on my so-called older iOS devices, even though they're running iOS 8...) you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see an AirDrop entry, by tapping on which you can manage your AirDrops.
On our Macs (hurray, I am able to see this one!) AirDrop is visible in the Finder. By clicking on this, you should be able to see other people who are on your network and who have enabled AirDrop on their iOS devices or Macs.
Transferring files between iOS devices and/or a Mac, should now be quite easy. However, as I mentioned, it is not yet possible for me, may be because my devices are of the older generation.
But Apple's AirDrop Support page states, "In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later." The Mac models work for me, but not the iOS-running devices, even though -- ostensibly -- they meet the criteria defined by Apple -- (to reiterate: "...your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed...")
Something isn't right. Or am I misunderstanding simple English?
But for those of us in a similar "predicament," there is an equally easy and free alternative. I'm talking about Microsoft's OneDrive. (Of course I realise there are other equally attractive options, but this one works for me.) All you need is a free Hotmail (now Outlook) account for OneDrive to work together with -- if you need to access Office files -- the equally free MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint; all downloadable legally from the Apple Store.
OneDrive for me works almost exactly the same way as AirDrop. I create my document (in this case a dummy one), place it in my OneDrive folder on my Mac...
... open it on my iOS device...
... choose to share it, if I wish (I did in this case,) and it works! Between all my devices -- older and newer -- plus a Windows laptop and Ubuntu (although this needs a bit of extra work to view the file. Perhaps I'll write about it in a future post.)
And oh yes. I got the iPad screenshots onto my Mac by using iCloud's photo-sharing option and downloading them from iPhoto.
So there you have it. The older devices too can make use of modern technology ... provided one is prepared to share this technology, be it Windows, Apple or Linux.
Don't despair.
"With Yosemite, Apple has tried to make it easier for you to move files between devices," writes Macworld. Apparently, (and I use the word because I can't do this on my so-called older iOS devices, even though they're running iOS 8...) you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see an AirDrop entry, by tapping on which you can manage your AirDrops.
Transferring files between iOS devices and/or a Mac, should now be quite easy. However, as I mentioned, it is not yet possible for me, may be because my devices are of the older generation.
But Apple's AirDrop Support page states, "In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later." The Mac models work for me, but not the iOS-running devices, even though -- ostensibly -- they meet the criteria defined by Apple -- (to reiterate: "...your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed...")
Something isn't right. Or am I misunderstanding simple English?
OneDrive for me works almost exactly the same way as AirDrop. I create my document (in this case a dummy one), place it in my OneDrive folder on my Mac...
And oh yes. I got the iPad screenshots onto my Mac by using iCloud's photo-sharing option and downloading them from iPhoto.
So there you have it. The older devices too can make use of modern technology ... provided one is prepared to share this technology, be it Windows, Apple or Linux.
Don't despair.
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