After viewing my post on the benefits of FileBrowser, one of my Twitter colleagues alerted me to an app I had not heard of with similar functionality – Instashare. After downloading and checking it out, I thought I would do a quick tutorial and review on Mr G Online as I think, with future planned updates, this app will become a useful addition to the educational setting of iPads I blog about most frequently.
In a nutshell, Instashare is both an iOS app and Mac application that uses a very simple drag and drop interface to transfer photos, videos and supported files from one iOS device to another with absolutely no set up required other than downloading the app onto your device. Here is the Product Description straight from the App Store.
SIMPLE FILE SHARING
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to share files.WORKS WITHOUT INTERNET
You don’t need to be connected to internet, just use local wi-fi or Bluetooth to transfer file.SIMPLE TO USE
No need to pair devices or setup transfer. Designed for quick and easy file sharing.NO REGISTRATION
Just open app and start sharing files, no need to enter email or passwords.NO FILE TYPE LIMITS
You can transfer any file type, no restrictions. MP3, images, pdf, presentation and way more.DOWNLOAD FOR FREE!
Mac version available from instashareapp.com
What the app does, it does very well. Here is a short video that shows how it operates ( no commentary included)
I’ll describe here what is happening in the video. Basically, you open the app on your iOS device ( in this case, the iPad) and any device that has the app open ( the app does need to be open – it doesn’t work in the background), will appear on the screen. You then simply select the file to transfer, drag it to the desired device and it will transfer over to that device, be it Mac computer, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad ( from reading Twitter updates, an Android version may have just been released).
What you will notice on the video is that the first transfer I attempted failed. This was because the app on the other device, the first time you use it, brings up a dialog box to accept the file. If this is not allowed, the transfer will not take place. You have the option of Allow or ALWAYS Allow.
On my own devices, I chose ALWAYS Allow so I don’t have to continue to accept the transfer manually, particularly if I am not next to the computer I want to transfer to. Now, when I drag and drop to the my devices, it happens automatically.
On the iPad, there is enough screen space to drag over to the device. On the iPhone, when you drag the file, the screen switches automatically to the target device.
The drag and drop interface is definitely an improvement on the FileBrowser interface and the direct transfer between iOS devices will come in handy when a student wants to submit a file to the teacher if they both have iPads.
From other apps, Instashare is one of the choices in the OPen in Another App… option so you can quickly transfer a Pages document, a file from the DropBox or Google Drive app as an example. Also, it is free, unlike FileBrowser.
Instashare, however, still has some major flaws that will keep me using FileBrowser. Having said that, the developer has informed me that some of these deficiencies have been addressed in an update awaiting review in the App Store.
- At present, you can only drag and drop one file at a time. This is fine if an individual student wants to send a single file to a teacher, but if you want to transfer 30 photos over to your computer, one at a time is not functional. This is apparently addressed in the next update, although I don’t know if there is a limit. FileBrowser has not limit.
- As of publishing this post, the required app needed to be installed on the computer side is Mac only. ( and it won’t work unless you download and install that Mac application, which has to stay open.) There are plans for other systems but at present, with the fast majority of schools being PC, this precludes its use beyond iOS device to iOS device transfer. FileBrowser, on the other hand, can connect to any networked computer and you do not have to install any related software for it to work.
- On the computer side, you have to designate a target folder that all transfers download to. You then have to manually transfer to other folders on the computer. FileBrowser allows you to browse to any folder and also allows you to create new folders direct from the app, meaning you do not have to have any access to the computer at all. You can also rename the file.
- It’s only a one way transfer service – from one device to the other. Yes, you can transfer from Mac to iPad by the simple drag and drop but you have to have access to the computer. With FileBrowser, you have control over both sides directly from the app, again not requiring physical access to the computer.
Despite these criticisms, I really like the app. If the next update brings in multi-file transfer, I’ll find myself using it a lot because of the drag and drop interface and the direct iOS to iOS option. The Bluetooth transfer can bypass issues on days when the school WiFi is in meltdown as well. Until it allows PC access and the ability to browse folders, though, I’ll be sticking with my very reliable and useful FileBrowser app. But with improvements to come in future updates, Instashare will become a serious rival to FileBrowser and other network apps.
