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Mac OSX + iOS integration?

ipedro

ipedro

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 30, 2004
6,393
9,032
Toronto, ON
It seems that AirDrop is going to be Apple's solution to iTunes' awkward role as an iOS app file management system.

A document created/edited in an iOS app needs to be sync'd into iTunes and then pulled from there to be edited/displayed on a Mac, and then put back in iTunes and sync'd once again to the iOS device. It's very clumsy. AirDrop will enable a simple AirDrop button in iOS apps to send the file to a Mac with ease.

What other iOS integrations can we expect? Is there any good reason why an Apple device like a Mac can't integrate with another Apple device like an iPhone to make and manage text messages or even phone calls from that Mac in the proximity of said iPhone?
 
Correct. Just speculation but it appears obvious.

AirPlay and AirPrint are iOS features. AirDrop follows the same nomenclature, it's a pretty good guess that iOS 5 will use AirDrop to drop files into Mac's and other iOS devices.
 
Since iOS5 and Lion will most likely be previewed together at WWDC in 2 weeks, I thought I'd reopen this question for discussion.

AirDrop seems like a definite OSX/iOS integration feature. What other hints has the Lion beta given us?

Given that iOS5 appears headed towards a major overhaul, I think that the visual enhancements and changes in Lion will be mirrored on iOS5 bringing them even closer together. A major OS update on both OSX and iOS at the same time is the perfect opportunity for bringing both into uniformity.
 
ipedro said:
Correct. Just speculation but it appears obvious.

AirPlay and AirPrint are iOS features. AirDrop follows the same nomenclature, it's a pretty good guess that iOS 5 will use AirDrop to drop files into Mac's and other iOS devices.
Click to expand...

That has exactly been my guess so far.

AirDrop is going to be the next protocol for file management and transfer b/w iOS and MacOSX.

On another note, this is going to be a pathway for wire-less syncing.

AirDrop will come to iTunes for app specific files.

Just drop the files in a particular app and they sync; be it movies, be it .doc files, or mp3s. They all sync.
iOS 4.x already added support for opening file with extensions, i.e. now the OS knows which app to use for a particular file. This will be bundled into AirDrop located in iTunes or maybe some different application.

I don't know if AirDrop for finder will achieve such flexibility as Apple is not going to relax the file system.
 
In my eyes, it seems to make sense that once an iOS device enters the wireless network of a Mac running Lion, the iOS would show up as a network device capable of Airdrop. Then, in-app, the "send to" button (arrow out of a window) would have the new option of "Airdrop To...", which would then show the network of 'Lions'. If pushing to the iOS, the files would most likely end up in a Library similar to Photos, sporting a fancy Airdrop logo!

All of this will probably be linked to your Apple ID, as I'm guessing more of the Mac OS will be in Lion, so that security is both universal and easy to use. Then again, I don't really want to share my ID with a buddies computer who could've downloaded MacDefender... but maybe I'm wrong and we'll continue to use localized authorization.
 
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