Every since Apple introduced the AirPort wireless base station, more and more Apple technologies have taken on the “Air” moniker. I’ll go over a few of them here, leaving out some obvious choices like the MacBook Air and the iPad Air. I’m writing this issue of Kibbles using my favorite email client, AirMail, but that’s not an Apple product… 🙂
AirPrint
In the past, it was relatively easy to set up a wireless printer if you had a AirPort base station and connected it via USB cable. But seldom was it convenient to place the base station in the same location as the printer until Apple came up with AirPrint. Now, with just about every new printer supporting AirPrint, you can place your printer wherever you want as long as it can see your wireless signal. All you have to do is set up the AirPrint compatible printer on your wireless network and print. Not only can you print from your Mac but with AirPrint you can print from your iPhone or iPad, too!
To use your AirPrint printer with Wi-Fi, the printer must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your iOS device or Mac, either through bridging, or a direct connection to your Wi-Fi network. You cannot both connect that printer via USB and AirPrint, that won’t work, so forget the wires and print wireless!
Learn more about AirPrint…
AirPlay
You use AirPlay to stream music, pictures and video wirelessly to an Apple TV or other AirPlay-enabled device. I saw a bunch of AirPlay compatible speakers when I was at CES so, while AirPlay has not been universally adopted the way that AirPrint has, it is gaining some ground. As with AirPrint, you must be on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. You can also use AirPlay from iTunes on your Mac.
Using it is easy: On your iOS device you scroll up from the bottom to access the Control Center and simply tap on AirPlay and choose the device you wish to use for the content. Later iOS devices can use “peer-to-peer” AirPlay that allows you to use AirPlay without being on the same network. In this case, you need both Wi-fi and Bluetooth active.
If you have an Apple TV you can also use AirPlay mirroring to mirror whatever you have on your iPhone, IPad or iPod touch to your HDTV.
Learn more about AirPlay…
AirDrop
With AirDrop you can share photos, web sites, your location and more with people that are nearby with an Apple device. In order to use AirDrop, both people will need to have an iOS device running iOS 7 or later or a Mac running Yosemite. iOS devices that work with AirDrop are iPhone 5 or later, iPad (4th generation or later), iPad mini or iPod touch (5th generation or later).
For AirDrop to work you need to have both WiFi and Bluetooth active and I would recommend that you sign into your iCloud account to share with your contacts. On the iOS devices, turning on AirDrop is simple. Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get to your Control Center and tap AirDrop. You will have three choices: Off, Contacts only (only people in your Contacts will see you) or Everyone, where all nearby iOS devices using AirDrop can see you. From there using AirDrop is simply a matter of choosing the content you wish to share, i.e. photo, video, or contact, and choose the Share icon and you will see nearby users available to AirDrop the content to. Your selected user will receive an alert and can accept or decline the content.
On your Mac it is a little different. AirDrop is available from the Finder, the Share menu, and in Open and Save windows. When you choose AirDrop in Yosemite your Mac will look for any nearby devices that are AirDrop ready. This includes other Macs or iOs devices. In the Finder, if you select AirDrop from the Favorites list on the left Finder window, you will see any nearby AirDrop ready devices or Macs. To transfer a file you simply drag that file over the icon of the recipient and they will be notified of the file transfer. From other Apps you can use the Share button and simply select the recipient from the Share sheet that appears.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind. First of all, you have to be close. AirDrop is designed to work with nearby devices and 30 feet seems to be the limit but I have noticed that it is best if you are about 10 feet or less apart. Make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on and if you are using a firewall you won’t be able to receive files if “block all incoming connections” is checked.
Learn more about AirDrop…