Tired of syncing your iPhone or iPad using wires? .. Well that may be about to change. For the first time in iTunes’ history, a third party application has been created which interfaces with the software and allows a complete device sync of all data, using nothing but your home or work Wi-Fi connection.
Originally discovered by @TechCrunch, Wi-Fi Sync is a little application which has been written by a small indie developer to try and fix the glaring omission of iTunes not being able to sync data between any of Apple’s mobile devices, over the air.
It’s simple. You fire up iTunes on your Mac, install and run the required separate application from Wi-Fi Sync, run the iPhone client, and hey presto! – iTunes recognizes your device, and all your data starts to fly over the air. It’s not exactly a new method of data transfer. Just take a look at the @Microsoft Zune, it’s been doing Wi-Fi syncing for months now. In fact, the TV has been syncing data over the air with iTunes ever since it’s introduction.
So why hasn’t Apple integrated this feature into its other popular mobile devices?
Two reasons:
1. Battery Life – Like any other manufacturer of electronics, Apple is hellbent on trying to optimize the operating system on devices such as the iPod touch and iPhone, in order to ensure you experience the maximum amount of battery life possible. It’s in their interest to this as it instantly becomes another selling point. The better battery life the product has, the more the product sells.
2. The Future – As with all of Apple’s products, if something logical is left out, its generally left out for a reason. TechCrunch speculate Apple may be waiting until they move the entire iTunes store onto “the cloud”.
“When Apple inevitably does move iTunes to the cloud, syncing their devices wirelessly will be pretty much a necessity. Perhaps Apple is just waiting for that and enjoying the big USB bandwidth until then.”
According to the official site, Wi-Fi Sync is expected to be submitted to Apple soon, and the developer claims the software doesn’t break the current iPhone SDK regulations in any way. What’s even more interesting is the software will apparently also work on the iPad, and is confirmed as working on Windows.
This should be very interesting to watch as it plays out. Here’s hoping the app does make it through Apple’s black hole that is – the App Store approval process.
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