Viewing Videos and Data in Offline Mode with iPhone and iPad

Anthony Kirkpatrick, MD, PhD

January 27, 2013

These instructions provide two methods to view the videos and data on your mobile devices (iPhone, iPad) without the need for an internet connection.

METHOD #1: USE DROPBOX APP FOR IPHONE

1. Installing and running Dropbox app is just like other iPhone apps. Once you run it, you will see a welcome message with two options to select:

SHARING FILES:

To upload photos or video clips to your Dropbox space, you need to first create a shared folder by accessing your dropbox on your computer, which can be easily created through the web interface. To get more info on this, check the official help. You can select only the persons you wish to share the folder.

If you want to automatically upload photos and videos from your iPhone to your Dropbox, then open the iPhone app and go to "Settings". Then select "Camera Upload" and the switch from "Off" to "On".

DELETING FILES

There are times that you will need to remove a file from your Dropbox repository (folder). Swipe your finger left-to-right over any file in the files list, and a "Delete" button will appear. Tap the "Delete" button to remove the file from your Dropbox account.

VIEWING VIDEOS AND FILES OFFLINE

To access files in the offline mode, when you don’t have access to Internet, you need to mark them as a ‘Favorite’.

Simply tap on the "star" button in the menu bar when a file is opened and Dropbox will store a local copy of the file in your iPhone. (See red arrow pointing to "star" in image below).

Note that the local space is limited to 2GB and the app won’t allow you to download a file when you have insufficient free space on your device. This is a limit made by Apple for any iPhone app, so you don't inadvertently wipe out the storage space on your iPhone!

Once a file is marked as "favorite" it will be listed in the Favorites tab for quick access:

The Favorites Window

You can remove a file from Favorites tab anytime by swiping you finger left-to-right on an item and tapping "Remove". The file will be removed from the Favorites list as well as the iPhone local storage drive, but it will still remain intact in your Dropbox account.

Settings

There is not much to say about settings because fortunately there isn’t anything to configure. But you can still open the Settings tab and update your login information, check the available space in your Dropbox account, or unlink the app from your account (for security reasons).

Conclusion

The Dropbox iPhone app takes both cloud storage and the iPhone storage to the next level. Not only do you have access to your online file storage in your pocket all the time, but also you are extending the storage capabilities of your iPhone.

It’s a really impressive application, and well worth downloading if you’re an existing Dropbox user!

METHOD #2: USE YOUR OWN PORTABLE WiFi DEVICE

A device called AirStach can wireless stream up to 3 devices simultaneously without a router or internet connection.

Conclusion

Dr. Kirkpatrick has been using a 32 GB AirStach for 6 months and found that the device plays videos flawlessly.

3-Minute Video Presentation on AirStach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR7Op9P0MWw

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

If you have questions or difficulty applying either of the above methods, take a screen shot of the problem on your Apple device and send to Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick:

ANTHONY F KIRKPATRICK MD PhD

akirkpat@tampabay.rr.com

To take a screen shot from an apple device:

Press the home button (the circular button on the bottom face of your iPhone) and the sleep button (the button on the top edge of your iPhone) at the same time. You only have to hold them down for a second - too much longer will reboot the phone. You will see your screen flash.

To locate the photo of the screenshot, go to the "Camera Roll" in camera application.

You can see more detailed instructions with pictures on how to locate the correct buttons here:

http://m.digitaltrends.com/how-to/how-to-take-a-screenshot-on-an-iphone-or-ipod-touch/