iDevice-to-iDevise streaming/sharing

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mewa

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Dear all,

Given an iPhone and an iPad (both jailbroken 5.1.1) in near proximity and away from home, is it technically possible to stream, share, or serve/download document and video files from iPhone to iPad via radiowave (i.e. Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) without the presence of a wireless router ?

I am asking because the iPad keep running out of space while the iPhone is empty, and there are some files I just want to access sporadically on iPhone than having to take up precious space on the iPad. Also, in my city/country, there's no "unlimited" 4G and 4G become very expensive very quickly; sometimes this is in a subway system 4G link is unavailable.

I have seen apps that can turn the iPad into a file viewer and the iPhone into a wireless hotspot and a usb disk, but not sure how it will work together. I don't mind to just tap a few buttons and let iPad access some files in iPhone.

Thanks for your advice.
 
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It completely depends on what type of files you are trying to transfer. There are a few applications that you would need to pay for that allow the same type of transferring of files.

USB Disk & File Transfer
 
I went with a 64gb iPad 3 for this reason. Had a 16gb iPad 2 and was always out of space.

My friend bought a flash drive that creates a mobile hot spot so he can have more media available to his iPhone and iPod touch. Looks like a small USB hard drive, has 32gb of space.
I asked him about it last week but he didn't remember the make or what he paid for it.

A media sharing app would be cool though.
 
js1974 said:
It completely depends on what type of files you are trying to transfer. There are a few applications that you would need to pay for that allow the same type of transferring of files.

USB Disk & File Transfer
Click to expand...

Hi js1974,

Two most important types are pdf/excel for meetings, video podcast/MP4 files for public transit. And they all sit in their own folders, pdf in PDF Expert, podcasts in Downcast and MP4 in AVPlayer.

"USB Disk & File Transfer" looks promising, even if it requires me to put files in one general folder for the transfer to work. I just need to monkey around to make it a routine.
 
Zepher said:
I went with a 64gb iPad 3 for this reason. Had a 16gb iPad 2 and was always out of space.

My friend bought a flash drive that creates a mobile hot spot so he can have more media available to his iPhone and iPod touch. Looks like a small USB hard drive, has 32gb of space.
I asked him about it last week but he didn't remember the make or what he paid for it.

A media sharing app would be cool though.
Click to expand...

Hi Zepher,

I thought I was rationale to trade more space for 4G capability on iPad3, but now I think 16GB in a year will barely satisfy the installed apps. Mobile hotspot drive is the ultimate idea, in a way I want my old 3GS 16GB to emulate exactly that, such that I only carry/manage/charge one device, which is the phone I carry anywhere. If this cannot be done through app or Cydia, and my space requirement escalate, I might have to get that. Having it wireless would free me from Apple changing the connector size and me breaking it off the iPad while connected, while a small wireless drive could just be tucked away. Although I read that Apple might make iDevice to talk to each other using Wifi, but I suspect the require both devices to have the hardware to support it and for me that will be the next upgrade cycle.
 
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Globox said:
ah, gotcha.. so more like this?
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qfile/id526330408?mt=8
Click to expand...


I hope I am correct in the following reasoning: This looks like a client interface for a physical NAS server by the QFile cluster array manufacturer. In the mobile setting, I could be setting the old beaten up iPhone as the NAS server and serve content exclusively to my iPad client. Lot's of reasoning why NAS is the best tool for the job. In home entertainment setting, I would probably be setting up my desktop as the NAS and iPad as client. And for both case, I would be using some client such as the QFile viewer, as none of the apps on my iPad can handle NAS configuration, although the AVPlayer handles HTTP/FTP server.

I think the primary frustration come from that Apple disallows SD expansion and charge more for larger memory. The question is, given that constraint, how do I have more space on an iDevice? I have read there are solutions such as Camera kit, FTP/NAS/Web server, Bluetooth, and wireless hotspot drive as per Zepher...so that content on one iDevice could be served to another iDevice or even non-iDevice. The secondary complication is Apple also decided content for each different apps shall be stored in individual folders, not in a general media folder, so all apps can share the same content. It looks like an easy software config so I suppose some iTune/Cydia app would already solved that. I just don't know enough about Apple and it's capabilities to determine the optimal solution.
 
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Zepher said:
My friend bought a flash drive that creates a mobile hot spot so he can have more media available to his iPhone and iPod touch. Looks like a small USB hard drive, has 32gb of space.
I asked him about it last week but he didn't remember the make or what he paid for it.
Click to expand...

Kingston makes one called the Wi-Drive. Link is to Newegg.
 
I appreciate the hardware alternative, but I am leaning toward software solution to link up the 2 i-Devices and share data the easiest way possible.
 
Yes I do this sometimes.

Go in Cydia and install AirServer on the device you want to stream to.

AirServer turns that device into an AirPlay receiver. Then you can AirPlay stream music and videos to that iOS device just like it was an aTV.
 
SirMaster said:
Yes I do this sometimes.

Go in Cydia and install AirServer on the device you want to stream to.

AirServer turns that device into an AirPlay receiver. Then you can AirPlay stream music and videos to that iOS device just like it was an aTV.
Click to expand...

Does this require presence of a local wireless router? AirServer support page said:

"Make sure that both the iOS device(s) and/or the computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network"

But when I am in the subway tunnel, can AirServer still work?

I would definitely use this at home from now, but I am placing order on iPhone 5 soon and want to save money from going higher memory size.
 
mewa said:
Does this require presence of a local wireless router? AirServer support page said:

"Make sure that both the iOS device(s) and/or the computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network"

But when I am in the subway tunnel, can AirServer still work?

I would definitely use this at home from now, but I am placing order on iPhone 5 soon and want to save money from going higher memory size.
Click to expand...

If you set up an adhoc network on either your iPhone or iPad and join the other one then they will be on the same network. Easiest way to do this would be to set up WiFi tethering from the iPhone to the iPad.

AirPlay works as long as the 2 devices are on the same subnet actually.
 
Thanks SirMaster. Just discovered Personal hotspot is not supported on 3GS, not sure if it is a hardware or Apple limitation...
 
So here is what I've found:

I installed "Phone Drive" on iPad, and "iFile" on the 3GS, and all I had to do is to initiate a Bluetooth connection from the source, accept the file sharing on the destination device and file will transfer. I used Bluetooth because 3GS does not support Wifi personal hotspot (at least not officially). I did find all of those Phone Disk type of apps uses identical GUI for file transfer, in other word, this feature could be an iOS feature exposed to the apps, and it does not matter which app you use, they all call the same subroutine.

Now speed, Bluetooth has taken roughly 30min to transfer 100MB. Per Bluetooth 2.1 spec I guess the speed should be capped by the 3GS (not iPad) at 2Mbps. In other words, Bluetooth would be practically useless for video files....Wifi standard should be 50Mbps+ in practice, that is 25 times. 4G LTE at best has pushed as far as 40Mbps, and 4G is expensive for video file at my locale.

Further, there's security and battery life concerns (while not in use). At this point, if you have real use and the cash, I'd suggest buy the disk size you need, especially for iPad. I am going through this because I traded 16GB for 4G LTE on the iPad3...Although 64GB iPad is still too small for some hardcore tablet users.

But at this point, I may be limited to sharing documents via Bluetooth. Is there an app that can transfer files stored across app folders? i.e. pdf files stored under PDF Expert's app folder, or podcasts stored under Downcast app folders?

All of the apps I have tried works from their own folder under root. Given all the time/effort for connecting, accepting and the waiting for the transfer, I would prefer to just go to a certain app's folder and transfer files within seconds.

My problem might be unique, given 3GS does not support hotspotting, and I appreciate those who have advised me on this final question. Thanks again.
 
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mewa said:
So here is what I've found:

My problem might be unique, given 3GS does not support hotspotting, and I appreciate those who have advised me on this final question. Thanks again.
Click to expand...


It's an apple limitation. 3Gs can support hotspotting through third party cydia apps such as MyWi and PDANet to name a couple.

Try PDANet, their free version should do enough to allow AirPlay to work between devices.
 
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