[wmyeoh]

How-To: Use iPhone as USB Mass Storage & File Viewer

Many people have commented on a number of features that are lacking on the iPhone - be in crippled bluetooth, MMS, copy/paste... the list goes on. One of the main things that I was disappointed about is the inability to transfer documents onto the iPhone, to move them from one computer to another, but also to be able to view them on the fly. Often, for work, it is handy to be able to view PDFs while on the road.

I came across a solution which doesn't involve jailbreaking, using two apps that are 100% free - so I thought others might find this useful.

There are a number of apps available on the app store that can be used to transfer files across from your computer to the iPhone, but they all involve having a wireless connection, which is not always possible, and can be quite slow transferring large files.

I've used a couple of these - Airsharing and Discover, and have found them to be pretty clunky and have had issues with stalling while copying large files across.

What I really wanted was to be able to plug my iPhone in with USB, move files across, view them, and then plug them into another computer and pull them off or put other stuff on. My crappy $100 iPhone knock off from China could do this - how come my (considerably more expensive) genuine iPhone couldn't?

What you need to download
After a bit of Googling, I stumbled across a free desktop application called DiskAid, which allows files to be transferred over USB.

There's a Mac version here: DiskAid 1.5 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker

And a Windows version here: DiskAid - Download

Buuuutttt...this was only half the solution, because I still couldn't view these files on the iPhone, as there was no iPhone app that I could use to view them.

This bugged me for a while, but after a bit of playing around, I found the solution. While going back to Discover, I stumbled across a directory that linked into the files that I had transferred during DiskAid.

You can get Discover here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...292416855&mt=8

Step by step guide for dummies
So, enough waffling! This is how to add files that can be viewed to your iPhone:

1) Download Discover to your iPhone and DiskAid to your Mac/PC
2) Plug in your iPhone to your computer through USB
3) At this stage, you don't need to have wireless turned on in either your computer or iPhone. Open up both applications. In Discover, you will get a warning pop up that explaining that you can't transfer files because Wi-fi is not available. Ignore it.



4) Go to DiskAid on your computer. It will pull up a list of directories on the left hand side. Navigate through DCIM -> DiskAid -> Start Here.



Click the button at the top: "Copy to Device". Select the file that you want to copy and click OK. The one that I have selected is called "File for viewing.jpg". Very imaginative I know.
You will now have that file pop up in the "Start Here" folder.



5) Now, back in Discover on the iPhone, you will be greeted with this screen.



All you have to do now is navigate to the same folder, in this case, through Photos -> DiskAid -> Start Here, and voila - the file is in this folder. You can now view this file on your iPhone!



Hope this works for everyone else too!

[ikonology]

Thanks

[iRobbie]

Great guide... works a treat.

[kantush]

Nice...will give it a try.

[tomricci]

Thank you very much

[scokim]

Unless you like to carry the USB cable with you, why wouldn't you use wi-fi for file sharing/sync using Soonr or Air Sharing ?

[wmyeoh]

Originally Posted by scokim

Unless you like to carry the USB cable with you, why wouldn't you use wi-fi for file sharing/sync using Soonr or Air Sharing ?

There isn't always a wireless connection around. I do have wireless at home, but don't at work for example.

There probably is a way of setting up an ad-hoc wireless connection between iPhone and computer to achieve this aim, but it would involve jailbreaking and would be at least a little bit complicated.

I've also had problems transferring large files across with AirSharing (never used Soonr). Plus it can be slow.

[Beau]

Digg - How to: iPhone as a USB flash drive without jailbreaking

[wmyeoh]

Cheers for that Beau.

Glad to hear all that effort is having an effect on some people going by the lone comment on that page!

[aafuss]

Thanks for the article.

Guess I'll give it a go (on a touch).

[mcargy08]

Cool. Nice article

[gothicus]

i am wondering if i can use this in this proposed manner.
I normally use a USB stick to store a downloaded avi or divx and plug it into me DVD player.

will i be able to find this file on the iphone if i plug it into the DVD player.
normally i would need to put movies thru visualhub if i want to put it on the ipod & this format is no good for the DVD player.

[kyncaid]

Thank you so much, you just made my 16GB that much more usefull

[Edd]

I read about DiskAid ages ago. One problem though, while it is a nice guide: doesn't this mean you will need to carry a flash drive or cd anyway to put DiskAid on for the computer you want to use this on? (At uni library, or work for example?)

[wmyeoh]

Originally Posted by gothicus

i am wondering if i can use this in this proposed manner.
I normally use a USB stick to store a downloaded avi or divx and plug it into me DVD player.

will i be able to find this file on the iphone if i plug it into the DVD player.
normally i would need to put movies thru visualhub if i want to put it on the ipod & this format is no good for the DVD player.

Sorry don't know about that - maybe there is a solution with jailbreaking?

Originally Posted by Edd

I read about DiskAid ages ago. One problem though, while it is a nice guide: doesn't this mean you will need to carry a flash drive or cd anyway to put DiskAid on for the computer you want to use this on? (At uni library, or work for example?)

Surely you could just download DiskAid through the interwebs onto the computer you are using. It's not that big a file.

[Edd]

Yeah, but this was when I was in year 12 last year and wanted to use my iPhone as a flash drive. DET censored the net, while my high school banned ALL downloads.

To use my iPhone as a flash drive, I would have needed to bring DiskAid on a flash drive as well, in which case I just used the flash drive as a flash drive.

Great guide you have here though, and should work in all but the most illogically gimped situations.

[wmyeoh]

Originally Posted by Edd

Yeah, but this was when I was in year 12 last year and wanted to use my iPhone as a flash drive. DET censored the net, while my high school banned ALL downloads.

To use my iPhone as a flash drive, I would have needed to bring DiskAid on a flash drive as well, in which case I just used the flash drive as a flash drive.

Great guide you have here though, and should work in all but the most illogically gimped situations.

I see your point. I guess this application would work best when you are transferring stuff between two computers that you use regularly.

[Linux_insidev2]

Transferring files over Wifi is not USB Mass Storage.

[Edd]

Yes but transferring over USB is.

[gothicus]

i was disappointed today when i wanted to transfer a file from my iphone to a friends computer, plugged the iphone in & the only way to access the file was to put diskaid on their computer. Apple, there must be a better solution.