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I'm looking for an app which provides functionality similar to Apple Finder's "SHARED" feature, or Microsoft Windows Explorer's Network Neighborhood. Basically, I should be able to use my iPhone to access shared files on computers that are on my same network. Any suggestions?

Specifications:

  1. Doesn't require software to be downloaded/running on any of your machines. The only piece of software the solution requires is the iPhone App.
  2. You should only be able to access files that are shared on the network.
  3. You should be able to access files on network drives that aren't connected to computers (e.g. NAS).
  4. Doesn't require jailbreaking the phone.

Examples of things I'm not looking for:

  • A screen sharing solution (e.g. remote desktop, logmein, etc.), this violates #1 and #2 above.
  • Far Finder: violates #1 and #2, possibly #3 as well.
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Senseful, can you clarify one thing? I'd like to know if you're trying to browse files on shared drives/folders on another machine on your network. Far Finder (one of the answers below) seems to be directed at browsing local files on one machine, not on network shares. – Ben Wyatt Oct 28 '10 at 14:21
@Ben: I'm talking about being able to access shared files/folders on your network. For example, it should provide the same functionality as Network Neighborhood on Windows. Or the Shared category in Finder on a Mac. Thus, if Far Finder only allows you to view files on one PC, this is not what I'm looking for. – Senseful Oct 29 '10 at 9:22
Thanks for the updates to the problem. Deleted earlier answer since it wouldn't match at all, and included a new one. – jmlumpkin Oct 29 '10 at 17:44
I believe there is no way of doing such an app otherwise it would have been done already. If you remove requirement #4 and allow jailbreak, at other hand, there are plenty options. And I'm not sure what you mean on requirement #3 but if you're ok with browsing files only through a web browser, then you might find few options on apple store. – Cawas Dec 27 '10 at 16:43
@Cawas: see Robert Fisher's answer. It meets all the requirements. – Senseful Dec 27 '10 at 18:23
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3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

I think NetPortal by Stratospherix may do what you want. I use their FileBrowser for iPad, but I haven’t tried NetPortal, which is their iPhone version. They also have a free NetPortalLite version.

(Sorry, I don’t have the rep to include more than one hyperlink.)

share|improve this answer
This does exactly what I want. The only issue is that you have to enter in each computer's address (e.g. IP address, or its name) before you can connect to it. I like how Explorer and Finder show you which computers are available to connect to. – Senseful Oct 29 '10 at 19:12
up vote 3 down vote

You are going to need an AFP or SMB client then - thats what the machines themselves are doing. I don't think there are any AFP or SMB clients in the app store - therefore you may have to jailbreak your phone to use one - and after a few searches, still don't know if there are any available (I do however find a lot of options for mounting your iPhone on your Mac).

share|improve this answer
I don't want to jailbreak my phone. Thanks for the info though. By the way, what do AFP and SMB stand for? – Senseful Oct 29 '10 at 17:30
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AFP = Apple Filing Protocol , and SMB = Server Message Block. AFP is basically the network file sharing built into the Mac OS, while SMB is the similar thing on Windows. The way you see these shares on other machines is done through these protocols. Ive never seen a client similar to this in the App Store. – jmlumpkin Oct 29 '10 at 17:46
up vote 0 down vote

You can try LogMeIn. It's a service for the Mac that sits in your menu bar and an application for the iPhone that gives you VNC/RDC-like access to your Mac. I've had great success with it in the past and the free service is really easy to use.

share|improve this answer
I'm looking for a solution which doesn't use screen sharing (or something similar). I want an interface that is optimized for an iPhone and doesn't require me to login to another PC. – Senseful Oct 28 '10 at 4:12
I'm not sure how you would be able to look at a any PC's files without having to log into it first. – Philip Regan Oct 29 '10 at 9:23
I updated the specs, so you might want to update your answer. – Senseful Oct 29 '10 at 9:23
That's the only answer to this one I have. Sorry. – Philip Regan Oct 29 '10 at 9:24
Well, think about a computer that accesses another computer's files across the network (e.g. via Finder or Explorer). If those files are shared, it won't ask for a username/password. I do this all the time. It stands to reason that an iPhone should be able to do the same thing. – Senseful Oct 29 '10 at 9:28
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