Save and view certain files on the iPhone using data URLs
Jul 27, '07 07:30:01AM • Contributed by: jamiew
Jul 27, '07 07:30:01AM • Contributed by: jamiew
Its hard to get arbitrary files onto the iPhone. No disk mode, iPhoto scales down big images, and forwarding yourself files and trying to read PDFs or word docs in iPhone's Mail app is a pain.
The freeware Filemark Maker is a small droplet app that aids in encoding data URLs, aka filemarks, which store the actual bytestream of the file inside a bookmark -- meaning you can sync your favorite eBooks or hi-res photos (like subway maps) to your shiny new iPhone and read them in style, even offline. Simply drop a file on Filemark Maker, bookmark the generated link, and then sync it to your phone.
Caveats:
[robg adds: By way of full disclosure, jamiew is one of the Filemark Maker coauthors. However, given that it's a free open-source app, and it seems to work really well, I felt it worth sharing. Note that if you want to store files on your iPhone, you might want to try iPhoneDrive, which lets your iPhone work in a sort of "disk mode" like that of the iPod. I haven't tested the app myself yet.]
The freeware Filemark Maker is a small droplet app that aids in encoding data URLs, aka filemarks, which store the actual bytestream of the file inside a bookmark -- meaning you can sync your favorite eBooks or hi-res photos (like subway maps) to your shiny new iPhone and read them in style, even offline. Simply drop a file on Filemark Maker, bookmark the generated link, and then sync it to your phone.
Caveats:
- One needs to sync the bookmarks to the phone, as trying to bookmark the filemark links on the phone crashes it.
- Don't try images much bigger than about 1500x1500, which can crash Safari on the iPhone.
- Huge PDFs of text work fine, but something fancy like the NYC MTA map brings it to crawl (but it works).
[robg adds: By way of full disclosure, jamiew is one of the Filemark Maker coauthors. However, given that it's a free open-source app, and it seems to work really well, I felt it worth sharing. Note that if you want to store files on your iPhone, you might want to try iPhoneDrive, which lets your iPhone work in a sort of "disk mode" like that of the iPod. I haven't tested the app myself yet.]
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