One of the best features of the iPhone is the built-in camera, which allows you to capture photos or shoot videos quickly and conveniently. However, once you’re ready to import your photos and videos to your computer, you’ll find that the process isn’t quite as convenient. Sure, you can upload files to Dropbox or another cloud storage service, but wouldn’t it just be easier to transfer them wirelessly to your computer?
If you answered “no” to the previous question, this article may not hold much interest for you. For those that answered with an resounding “yes,” look no further than PhotoSync. PhotoSync allows you to easily transfer photos and videos wirelessly in multiple methods, which will be discussed after the jump.
Getting Started
When you fire up PhotoSync for the first time, you’ll be greeted with four pages of instructions that give you a brief overview about how the app works. Once you tap the Finish button on the last page, a grid view of your Camera Roll will appear on the screen. By default, the app will always open the Camera Roll, which can be turned off in the settings menu.
The introductory pages will provide a basic overview of the features PhotoSync offers.
The grid display should be familiar to anyone that’s used the built in Photo app, as photos and videos are displayed exactly the same (with the exception of the white background that’s been swapped out for a dark grey background).
The grid view should be familiar to anyone that's used the built in Photos app.
Transfer From iPhone to Computer/iOS Device
Before you begin transferring photos to your computer, you’ll need to download a companion application from the PhotoSync website, which is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. Once you’ve finished downloading and installing the app, you’re ready to begin transferring your photos and videos. It’s important to note that both the iPhone and computer must be connected to the same WiFi network for the transfer to work.
The Mac OS X PhotoSync companion app can be downloaded from the Mac App Store.
PhotoSync offers multiple transferring options, which are accessed by tapping the red Transfer icon in the top right corner. A new menu will pop-up, prompting you to select an action, which includes the following choices:
- Sync New: Syncs any photos or videos that were not present in your Camera Roll from the last time you used the app.
- Sync Selected: Syncs any photos or videos you’ve selected by tapping on the desired thumbnails.
- Sync All: Syncs all photos or videos in your album.
- Mark all as synced: Marks all photos and videos as having been synced previously (unsynced photos and videos are marked by a blue-green outline around the thumbnail).
- Receive Photos/Videos: Brings up a new screen that gives you instructions on how to receive photos and videos from a computer or other iOS device.
PhotoSync offers methods of syncing photos and videos.
Tapping one of the first three options will bring of a second menu, which lists two options — Computer and iPhone-iPod-iPad. That’s right, you not only can transfer to a computer, but also between iOS devices (as long as the PhotoSync app is installed on both devices), which can be done via WiFi and Bluetooth®. Tapping a device will bring up a third menu, which lists all available transferring devices. Select a device and the file transfer process will begin. Once it’s finished, a folder will open automatically on your computer, containing the newly transferred files.
Once you've selected which files to sync, you'll need to perform two additional steps to finish the transfer process.
Transfer From Computer to iPhone
Transferring from an iPhone to a computer is great, but the ability to flip it around and transfer from a computer to an iPhone is one of the best features PhotoSync offers. To transfer from a Mac OS X computer to an iPhone, select the photos or videos you want to transfer and drag the files to the PhotoSync icon in the dock. Once you release the mouse button, a window will open prompting you to select which device you’d like to transfer your files to.
Transferring photos and videos from your Mac OS X computer to your iPhone is as simple as dragging your selected files to the PhotoSync icon in the dock.
To transfer from a Windows computer to an iPhone, select the photos and videos you want to transfer and drag the files to the PhotoSync drag and drop area in the bottom right corner of your screen.
If the drag and drop menu is not present on your desktop, right-click the PhotoSync icon in the Notification Area and click Show Drag & Drop Area.
Transfer & Upload From Web Browser
If you don’t have the ability to download the companion app, you can still upload and download photos and videos via your preferred web browser. To do so, tap the red Transfer icon and then tap Receive Photos/Videos. In the top box you’ll be provided with a web address to enter into your browser. Once you’ve entered the web address, a menu with your photo albums will appear in your browser.
Tapping the Receive Photos/Videos button in the Actions menu will take you to a screen that will provide you with a web address.
While in an album, you can upload photos and videos by clicking the Upload button in the top navigation bar and following the on-screen prompts. To download photos and videos, click the Select button and click on the photos you wish to download (you also have the option to download all your photos and videos). Once you’ve selected your desired file, click the Download button.
If you don't have the ability to install the companion app, you still have the ability to download and upload files from your web browser.
Transfer Targets
PhotoSync offers the ability to send files to popular services such as Dropbox, Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, FTP and SmugMug. To set-up these options, tap the Settings icon in the bottom right corner, and then tap the Configure button. Tapping on any of the options will take you to an authorization screen, which will prompt you to enter the necessary information. The next time you go through the transfer process, your configured services will be included in the list of transfer options.
Along with syncing to a computer and other iOS devices, you have the ability to sync photos and videos to various popular web services.
Quick Transfer
A very convenient feature that PhotoSync offer is Quick Transfer, which allows you to bypass the three-menu transfer process in favor of longpressing the red Transfer icon. Doing so will quickly transfer selected photos and videos to the designated Quick Transfer device.
Setting up Quick Transfer mode is highly recommended, as it shortens the normal three-step transfer passes into one easy step.
To set up your desired Quick Transfer device, head to the Settings menu and tap Quick Transfer. A familiar instructional screen will appear, prompting you to tap the Configure button.
From the Target menu, you’ll need to choose if you want to set up a transfer option for a computer or an iOS device. Tapping either option will take you to a secondary menu that lists available devices.
Quicklook Mode
One final feature worth mentioning is Quicklook Mode, which allows you to view photos and videos in the same manner as the Photos app. To use Quicklook Mode, tap the Eye icon in the bottom left corner of the screen; the screen will flip and look pretty much the same as before. If you tap on a thumbnail, the screen will transition into a full-size view of the thumbnail you selected.
Similar to the built-in Photos app, you can view photos and video individually in Quicklook Mode.
Conclusion
When it comes to transferring photos and videos to and from an iPhone, PhotoSync is unmatched in terms of usability and functionality. If the option to delete photos and videos from the Camera Roll is added, it would be without a doubt my one stop shop for photo and video management. For the low price of $1.99, PhotoSync is a must download for anyone that enjoys snapping photos or shooting video with their iPhone.