Or you could make a new note in Mail.app and just sync your notes to your phone, no network changes needed

And how would you do this without a network connection?

The point of the hint is that there is no wifi connection and the mac has no tethering capability.

you can sync your notes with iTunes...tho, I'm assuming if you have your laptop with you, you are also carrying a sync cable

Using 3G?

Didn't this used to be possible via Bluetooth? I remember I used to send text files to my old SonyEricsson phones from my Mac by selecting the file in Finder and pressing Apple-B. I think I was also able to highlight text in an app and send the text only via a "Send to Bluetooth..." option in the Services menu.

(Sorry, not near my Mac or phone right now to test this out.)

Many bluetooth phones let you browse portions of the filesystem over bluetooth. I had two Sony Ericsson phones that would let me do this, the T68i and the T610. There are many bluetooth features that have been left out of the iPhone.

Are there any other iOS & Mac apps that can do this? And what about exchanging other formats, such as the full HTML source of a web page or a .docx file? At the very least, if the length of the text isn't limited, this could be a great (albeit somewhat of a PITA) alternative to paying for tethering.

http://tapbots.com/software/pastebot/

kinda does what you want. if you can copy it, you can paste it mac to phone and vice versa.

works beautifully (but only over wifi)

My favorite App for this is "Good Reader". It allows me to exchange any files (full resolution photos, RTF, docx etc.) via Wifi und send them direct out of the app. No format or size limitations.

There are apps like Air Sharing (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-sharing/id289943355?mt=8 paid but free alternatives exist) that actually host a web server (and other protocols) on your phone where you can upload files (once you've created the network like the hint describes). The same kind of apps also allow you to use the new file transfer options in iTunes, under the Applications tab when you select your phone, you should be able to drag any file type.

I would not recommend it for internet access without tethering. It'd be extremely complicated. Maybe the browser/RSS apps that can cache webpages are a good alternative.

Bluetooth won't work - for general use the iPhone BT only supports select audio profiles, but not any file transfers. Actually tried (just in case) & got "macbook not supported" when trying to pair.

However you should be able to set up an "ad hoc" WiFi network on the Mac and configure the iPhone to connect with the selected SSID & password.
Then you would be able to use any app that allows file transfers & browsing (there are many - some I use: ezShare, FileApp, Flash Drive).

"Things" is a task management app by Cultured Code. The website is here: http://culturedcode.com/things/.

"[...] an iPhone won't stay on a WiFi network unless it has an internet connection"

This is incorrect. With all internet features turned off, I can connect my iPhone to my MacBook's wifi. While my MacBook is not connected to the internet, I can put files into my MacBook's sites folder and access these files through Safari on my iPhone. This way, I can play QT movies and sounds, open text files in the browser and test any web sites and web apps I'm currently working on, without an internet connection. I did this several times while abroad.

Best,

Mark

Good idea. How do you determine the URL with which Safari can find the Sites folder on your Mac?

After connecting to your wifi, you can use the IP address that Airport has assigned to itself. You will find this IP address by going to the Network preferences panel and selected your active Airport connection in the left column. Suppose that your IP address is something like 169.10.10.1 and your user name is John, then you migh try a URL of the form http://169.10.10.1/john/dir/file.php.

Slight variant but this is exactly how I transfer information almost instantly between my MBP and iPad using an app called ShoveBox (the iPhone version at x2 on my iPad) running on both platforms.

I start on the MBP by creating a WiFi network which is password protected (default 40-bit WEP) which then appears in the available WiFi networks on the iPad's WiFi settings so I select it and insert the password to connect.

It is effectively a private WiFi bubble between the two.

Fire up ShoveBox on the iPad and it syncs within seconds.

Question I have is: how can I monitor this bubble to ensure it has not hacked into it? Are there any tools for the Mac to monitor user created WiFi networks?

Question I have is: how can I monitor this bubble to ensure it has not hacked into it? Are there any tools for the Mac to monitor user created WiFi networks?

Turn on Internet Sharing on the Mac. Then your Mac will supply the iPhone with an IP address.

It's true. The iPhone hates staying connected to a WiFi network that has no internet access. I make local networks regularly for reasons you state here plus control of devices, etc. and I often switch in to airplane mode and then turn WiFi back on. I hadn't thought of turning off cellular data (which leaves phone calls intact while forcing data to WiFi). Thanks for the hint.