Connect Mac or PC to iPhone

With a PC to iPhone connection, it is possible to achieve one of the most desired functions in a portable device. It is the ability to use it as an external hard drive to store data and have full access to the file system which allows you to transfer files from and to your PC or Mac.

To achieve some of those functions you will have to jailbreak your iPhone. Officially, there is only one method of connecting your iPhone to your computer which is through iTunes. However, with many software available to both Mac and PC, it is indeed very simple to connect an iPhone to computer and transfer files without using iTunes.

Sync iPhone with iTunes

Normally, you connect your iPhone to your computer through USB by using iTunes which should be installed on your PC or Mac. With iTunes you can do a complete iPhone backup. You can also transfer music, video, and photos from PC to iPhone or vice versa.

Additionally, with iTunes you can restore your iPhone from the last iPhone backup. iTunes is the official and the only supported method by Apple to transfer files between your Computer and your iPhone.

Disadvantage of connecting computer to iTunes

You can't transfer files such as word documents or other generic file formats with iTunes. Suppose you have a directory on your computer that is full of different types of data that you want to transfer from your PC to iPhone. It is simply not possible with iTunes to make this kind of PC to iPhone transfer.

Gain full or partial access to iPhone file System

There are many iPhone file browsers for both Mac and PC's . They allow PC to iPhone and iPhone to PC transfer of any file or directory.

Depending on the level of required access to the iPhone file system, it might be very simple or it might require an iPhone Jailbreak. For example, if you want to access the "root" iPhone directory, then you have to jailbreak iPhone.

If you simply want to use your iPhone as an external storage device, and don't care about "root" access, then those USB applications for both Mac and PC allow that function with no need to jailbreak.

Most iPhone file browsers are simple with drag and drop interface. You can use them to make an iPhone backup of your important files or simply use your iPhone as a external hard drive. With iPhones storage at 32GB and going up, those might be very useful applications to have on your Mac or PC.

Suppose you are traveling and want to have some data with you. Simply connect your iPhone to a USB port on your computer and transfer the data from PC to iPhone. Then when you arrive to your destination, install the same Mac or PC application on that computer and connect your iPhone to access the stored data. Then copy them over to the new computer.

iPhone Explorer is a free application for both Mac and PC that allow file transfer from PC to iPhone. Once you connect the iPhone to PC or Mac with a USB cable you get immediate access to the Media directory which should be sufficient for data storage purpose.

If you try to go backward to a previous iPhone directory, you will get a warning.

Click the "Change Root" button and you will get a list of allowed directories to access. The first directory which is Root is for advanced users and requires jailbreaking, which will reveal all files on the iPhone.

iFunBox is a free PC application that allow iPhone to PC transfer. For just storage purpose, there is no Jailbreak required. Once you connect the iPhone through a USB port, the iPhone files will show up. Select "General Storage", and then right click to create a new folder, or just drag and drop files for storage.

You can access ringtones, wallpapers, or full file system which requires jailbreaking of course.

iPhoneBrowser is another free PC to iPhone file browser. The user interface is not as simple as iFunBox, but it does the job.

DiskAid is available for both a Mac and PC and it allows file transfer from iPhone to computer or vice versa. It costs $9.99 and it does exactly the same as the pervious free applications.

When you connect your iPhone, based on the state of your iPhone (jailbrocken or not), you can choose your level of iPhone directory access. Select Media folder for non-jailbrocken iPhones.

If you try to access Root, a warning will come up asking you if you know what you are doing? If the iPhone is jailbrocken, you will have full access to the iPhone file system once you press Go Ahead.

Transfer Files Between Mac and iPhone Using Finder

If you are a Mac user, you have another option to connect your iPhone to your Mac. This method requires jailbreaking and installing an application called NetaTalk from Cydia.

Once this little iPhone hack is installed, then you can connect your computer to iPhone, and access your iPhone directories and files from Finder.

Your iPhone will show up in your list of available drives as a shared drive from the list of available drives. It is like connecting any external USB hard drive or other network drives to your Mac .

When you click the iPhone directory to open it, you will see a "Connect As" button in the window. When you click it, you will be asked to enter a login and a password.

In order to establish a connection, you have to log in as "root" or "mobile" and enter the password "alpine" which is the default password for those accounts from Apple.

Once your iPhone to computer connection is established with this method, you will access all your iPhone directories and files using the familiar Mac Finder interface.

Just drag and drop files to or from your iPhone to computer to backup or transfer files. This method is only for Mac users and only for Jailbrocken iPhones.

Connect PC to iPhone Over wifi

iPhone network over wifi or 3G is another method of connecting PC to iPhone through SFTP or Secured FTP which requires jailbreaking. It requires you to install OpenSSH, which is something like an FTP server for the iPhone and is available from Cydia.

Once OpenSSH is installed on your iPhone, you will be able to login to your iPhone with any SFTP client installed on your Mac or PC, and perform PC to iPhone transfer just as using any FTP client.

Find your iPhone IP address on your local network, and open a new session on any SFTP client. Make sure it is SFTP not FTP. Then enter the information required to start an iPhone to PC connection. You will need the iPhone IP address and login as root or mobile, then enter the password alpine.

This connection is a little slower than the other USB methods and requires iPhone jailbreak, but it requires no cables.

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