Another Step for MobileMe: File Sharing is Active
One of the things demoed by Phil Schiller when MobileMe was introduced was the ability to easily share files on your iDisk with others. The idea was that you’d select a file on the iDisk, choose to share it, and then add password protection and/or an expiration date for the link.
Then you’d key in the email address(es) of those you want to share the file with, and they’d get an email with a download link.
It all looked pretty slick, but there was just one little thing wrong: When MobileMe went live, this feature was MIA.
Well, not any more.
I tested the feature (with password) and it worked as advertised. One thing you’ll notice is that there’s a new “folder” listed on your iDisk in MobileMe. It’s called Shared Files, and is of course empty at first, but immediately contains a reference to any files you share.
Keep in mind you can only select one file to Share at a time. If you have multiple files you’d like to share, to avoid sending links for each one I suggest the following:
- Select all the files.
- From the Actions menu (Gear icon), select Compress.
- A file called Archive will be created on the iDisk.
- Now just Share the Archive file as usual.
When the user downloads Archive (on the Mac, at least), it’s automatically expanded into the original files.
I think this is a pretty slick solution for sharing a few files with someone as opposed to trying to have them navigate your Public folder. Especially if the intended recipient is not technically savvy. Getting an email with a download link is about as simple as it gets.
Thibaut De Saint Florent on February 13th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Great ! It’s working perfectly thanks for the information !
It’s gonna save me lots of time.
Steven La on February 13th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Man, I wish I had MobileMe.
Fabio Romeo on February 13th, 2009 at 2:52 am
Finally, finally, FINALLY! I was waiting for this since the revamp, and it works great. Goodbye, .Mac Homepages!
David on February 13th, 2009 at 5:17 am
You can only do this from MobileMe online (i.e., me.com) — not from your iDisk from within the Finder?
StyleNation on February 13th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Fantastic! This was one of the biggest reason I got MM from the beginning.
Anthony on February 13th, 2009 at 6:35 am
how do you select multiple files? i’m can’t seem to be able to select more than 1 file at a time, would love some help with this.
Kevin E. McKenna on February 13th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Why does this information NEVER come from Apple. What about all of the people who don’t read this sites for information like this????
Great feature, at last, would be more useful to have available from the desktop iDisk feature as well as online.
Joe on February 13th, 2009 at 8:00 am
@Kevin
Apple has a MobileMe blog. You can find the post about this here:
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/news/2009/02/sharing-large-files-with-idisk.html
Staff Comment Tom Reestman, TheAppleBlog on February 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Anthony,
Just control-click the files to select multiples.
I should also point out that after you create the Archive file, you can of course rename it to something more appropriate before sharing.
Biff on February 14th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Is there a mechanism for incoming sharing?
David Allan Burt on February 15th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Thanks, I was using my Mac web site, but then had to use another service. Your Blog has kept me informed and I am now back with Mac, I am much happier and I am getting what I am paying for.
Patrick Santana on February 15th, 2009 at 7:32 am
What I don’t like is that I have to visit the site to do it. I want to do everything from my mac.
Diana on February 23rd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
It works great but I couldn’t access a Contact Group that I created to share a file a group of people all at once without typing each name. ARGH!
Jason on June 25th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Yes…hopefully this will be added.
Rod on August 13th, 2009 at 2:28 am
If the file is regularly updated how do you setup a sync in either direction?