Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use AirDrop? (short
version)
How
do I use AirDrop? (long version)
Once
I send an AirDrop, how do I get it at the other end?
I am
not able to send an Invite. What do I do?
BlackBerry
only: How do I test that my Internet is working within apps?
What
platforms is AirDrop available on?
What
other apps does your company make besides AirDrop?
We’ll give you the short version here. If you are interested in more details, see the Long Version below
There are two devices involved in an AirDrop:
· The Sender: which is usually your own computer but could also be a handheld device or a friend’s computer. The Sender is the AirDropper.
· The Recipient: this is your phone, the one on which the AirDrop app is installed. The Recipient is the AirDropee.
The Sender and Recipient don’t have to be in the same room, network, or for that matter, time zone or continent. They both just need an internet connection. The Recipient (that’s you) doesn’t need to be connected AT THE MOMENT the AirDrop is sent. You will get the AirDrop the next time your phone has Internet connectivity.
The steps involved in sending an AirDrop are:
1. You, the Recipient, Send an Invite by email from the app to the Sender.
2. The Sender receives the email Invite, clicks on the URL in it, and enters the supplied PIN.
3. Sender sends one or more AirDrops by dragging & dropping stuff onto the web page and pressing Send AirDrop.
4. You “Get the AirDrop” automatically or manually depending on the type of device you have.
Once you have the AirDrop, you can view it, edit it, save it, click on it, add it to your contacts, etc depending on what kind of AirDrop it is.
Again, for more details, please read the Long Version below.
The steps involved in sending an AirDrop are:
1. You, the Recipient, Send an Invite by email from this app to the Sender. You do this by clicking on “Send an Invite”. The Sender’s email address is often your own email address if you intend to send AirDrops from your computer to your phone.
a. On iPhones, this will open an email in which you enter the email address of the Sender, and then Send.
b. On Android and BlackBerry phones, you enter the email address, BEFORE pressing the Invite button, and email is then sent automatically
2. The Sender receives the email, clicks on the URL in it, and enters the supplied PIN. The email contains a web URL link and a PIN. The Sender (who is the AirDropper and often you if you are sending yourself stuff) opens the web page, which asks for a PIN, and copies and pastes the PIN found in the email, and presses Login. This logs the Sender into the online AirDrop site.
3. Sender sends one or more AirDrops. Now the sender can drag and drop whatever s/he wants to send to your phone, on to this web page, and press Send. If it s a contact, the Sender will an opportunity to make sure that Contact was understood correctly by the web site. Note, that at this time we do not use SSL security which means that if someone is snooping on your network they can see what you are sending – so don’t send any state secrets using AirDrop unless you know what you’re doing.
4. Get the AirDrop. This is part where you actually receive the AirDrop on to your phone. This can be automatic on most phones and manual on others:
a. On pre-3.0 iPhones: This is a manual process, meaning, you press “Get an AirDrop” to receive the AirDrop (if any)
b. On 3.0 & later iPhones: You will receive the AirDrop automatically provided you have enabled Push Notification. You also have the option of pressing “Get an AirDrop” to get it immediately.
c. On all Android and BlackBerry phones: You can decide whether you want to receive AirDrops automatically or manually. To receive them only manually, on the Settings page, set “Check for AirDrops:” to “Only when I want”. To receive them automatically as well, choose one of the other options, such as “Once a minute” etc. Note that the automatic option may slow down your phone or use more battery power.
Always by pressing Get an AirDrop, but you can also get it automatically without having to do anything on many phone:
a. On pre-3.0 iPhones: This is a manual process, meaning, you press “Get an AirDrop” to receive the AirDrop (if any)
b. On 3.0 & later iPhones: You will receive the AirDrop automatically provided you have enabled Push Notification. You also have the option of pressing “Get an AirDrop” to get it immediately.
c. On all Android and BlackBerry phones: You can decide whether you want to receive AirDrops automatically or manually. To receive them only manually, on the Settings page, set “Check for AirDrops:” to “Only when I want”. To receive them automatically as well, choose one of the other options, such as “Once a minute” etc. Note that the automatic option may slow down your phone or use more battery power.
1. On BlackBerry & Android: When you press the “Generate and Send Invite” button, you should see messages like “Sending” and “Sent”, etc.
2. On BlackBerry, if it is an issue of the button press not taking somehow, please note that there is also a menu item on that page to try as an alternative. Press the menu key to use this option.
3. Do Email and Internet access work on your phone ok? Both are needed for Invites to be sent, and Internet is also needed for AirDrops to be received. Sometimes Inernet may be working on your mobile browser but not from within apps like ours. To test that Internet is working from within apps on your BlackBerry, see “How do I test that my Internet is working within apps” below?
4. If all diagnostic tests are successful, then if you provide us your IMEI/UDID number, then we can check our servers to see if your phone communicated with our servers or not as part of the Invite generation process. To find your IMEI number:
a. On BlackBerry: Go to phone menu>>Options>>Status>>IMEI
b. On Android: Settings>>About phone>>IMEI
c. On iPhone: Just plug it into your computer and wait until iTunes recognizes it. Select your phone from the Devices list in iTunes and click the "Summary" tab. To see your UDID/IMEI, click on the word "Serial Number" beside the picture of the iPhone (on the label, not the value). You should see the word "Identifier" and an alphanumeric string. This is your UDID. To copy it, just press command + C on your Mac's keyboard (or control + C in Windows) while the UDID is being displayed.
RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, provide a Diagnostic Tool specifically for this purpose. This tool will let you determine if Internet from within your apps will work or not.
You can download it:
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Directly
over-the-air to your device |
To
your computer * |
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For BlackBerry OS 4.6 and greater |
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For BlackBerry OS 4.5 |
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For BlackBerry OS 4.2 thru 4.4 |
Coming soon |
Coming soon |
*If you download to your computer, Unzip the zip file, then point Desktop Manager’s Application Loader to the alx file that came from the zip.
Once you have the Diagnostic Tool installed:
1. Open it. You will see an Advanced and a Run button.
2. Press Run, and wait about 30 seconds.
3. After some seconds, it will finish its tests.
4. Then press Details next to “Direct TCP (HTTP):” and “Direct TCP (Socket):”
5. At least one of these two (ideally both) must show a “Result: Pass” and “Response: 200”.
6. If both say “Fail”, then you have an issue with Internet access on your device. You need to contact your data service provider and tell them that the RIM BlackBerry Diagnostic Tool is reporting access failure.
iPhone,
iPod Touch, BlackBerry OS 4.2 and above (which includes all Storm, Bold, Pearl,
Curve, Tour models and more), and all Android phones
You
can see AND BUY all the cool apps we make on our home page at http://www.appmaniax.com . There are more
coming.
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