Portal for iOS lets you transfer files from your computer to an iOS device

Portal for iOS lets you transfer files from your computer to an iOS device


 

Created by a company called Pushbullet which makes a namesake cross-platform notification mirroring utility, Portal, an Android app that launched earlier this summer, is now available on your iPhone free of charge in the App Store.

The Portal app for iOS makes it possible for users to instantly transfer files from their computer to iPhone or iPad. The app communicates with the computer wirelessly over the WiFi network, which means the transfers are fast and reliable. Users can transfer many files of different kinds at once as well as transfer files of large sizes by taking advantage of WiFi’s fast speeds. All of this is done in super simple drag and drop fashion. As the transfers are made over the local WiFi network both the computer and the iPhone need to be on the same network.

The app does not limit the size of files you can transfer and you can transfer as many file as you want. You can even transfer whole folders and they will appear on your iPhone in the same way along with all the files contained in them. The app also comes with the ability to automatically transfer any files to device’s gallery.

Users can take advantage of the share extensions, in-app file pickers and ‘Open in’ feature of iOS to open files in their favorite third-party apps. For example, you can open a PDF in Adobe Reader app or a document in Pages app.

You don’t need to install any app on your computer for Portal to work. Simply open portal.pushbullet.com and scan the QR code to begin.

The video below shows Portal by Pushbullet in action. The demo showcaases the Android version, however the iOS app also works in the same way :

Why you should use Portal

Some of the more compelling reasons for using Portal include:

  • It’s cross-platform—Portal is available for iOS and Android and uses a web interface to let you easily transfer files from a computer to your mobile device.
  • Bump is no more—Portal is a bit like Bump, the tremendously popular cross-platform app for sharing content between different platforms. The problem is, Google shut down Bump after acquiring a startup behind it in September 2013.
  • No file size limits—Because there are no restrictions on the file size, Portal can handle multi-gigabyte file transfers with ease.
  • Transfer entire folders at once—Because clicking on a bunch of files gets old fast.
  • No inbox clutter—With Portal, you’ll be no longer emailing huge file attachments back and forth like an animal.
  • Better than AirDrop—AirDrop doesn’t let you get at your files later, unlike Portal.
  • Use your iPhone as a wireless drive—Portal basically allows you to use your iPhone as a wireless thumb drive from any computer or platform.
  • Portal doesn’t use the cloud—Privacy advocates can rest assured that their file transfers remain private because Portal establishes a Wi-Fi Direct peer-to-peer session so files moved with the app aren’t being stored on Pushbullet’s servers.

Portal-1.0-for-iOS-iDevices-iapptweak

How Portal works

It’s pretty straightforward.

Step 1: First, access the Portal web interface at portal.pushbullet.com in Safari, Chrome or other browser on your Mac and scan the code shown on the webpage using Portal for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Step 2: On your computer, select some photos, videos, documents and other files you’d like to transfer over to your iOS device. Just drag and drop files on the browser window to start the file transfer. If you use Google’s Chrome browser, you can even drop entire folders on the Portal window.

Tip: Make sure your iOS device and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network.

Because files are transferred over your Wi-Fi connection, they don’t count toward your mobile data limit and are transferred very quickly. Portal can transfer any number of individual files or entire folders at once.

Files are organized within Portal in the same way as you transferred them, including entire folders, and are browseable just like on a computer. Needless to say, the files are trapped within Portal unless you export them elsewhere.

Portal-for-iOS-iapptweak

And as mentioned before, Portal supports iOS’s “Open In…” feature, has useful Share extensions and allows you to access its files from others apps like Pages with custom file pickers.

Future updates will bring some of the features missing from the initial release, including the ability to transfer files from your mobile device to a computer.

Availability

Portal is available on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

The 6.7-megabyte download requires iOS 8.1 or later and supports native display resolution of the iPhone 5/5s/5c, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

You can download Portal app for free using the link below.

  • Download Portal – WiFi File Transfers

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