That’s what I’m going to do. We just moved in and are also renovating the property, so the computer is in a temporary location. We did have wifi at our last house so we have the equipment, I’ll just have to re-figure out how to use it. I still think it’s crazy that there isn’t an app for this, though. How hard is this jailbreak stuff?
There is an app. You have it. It just doesn’t work the way you want it to.
What version of iOS do you have? If its 6 forget jailbreaking for now, it isn’t possible at present.
You can also tether via USB, but it costs…
Yeah, no way am I paying $50 a month for the privilege of accessing my own files.
Oh, and the phone has prompted me to update to OS 6 but I haven’t done it yet, so I have whatever was before that.
I agree, and I found this very frustrating when I first starting using my iPhone. When I hooked my phone to my Mac for the first time, I expected to see “iPhone” in Finder and I expected to be able to move files back and forth like any other device. But nooooo, Apple doesn’t want you to be able to do that.
Did you jailbreak or did you just switch to android?
If you are on 5.1.1 on the 4S, then you can jailbreak right now. Download Absinthe and be on your merry way. 
I learned to love Big Brother.
Why not? I just don’t get this. It seems like this is one of the most obvious uses of a smart phone. The primary reason I got a smart phone was so that I could copy my work files onto the phone in the morning and work on them while I ride the subway.
It’s not a “superfluous” function at all. It’s a fundamental function of all computing: moving information from one place to another in a simple, easy manner.
Why should iTunes be the arbiter of everything we do? Why does Apple have to make things so difficult?
You can do that by using iCloud or by emailing the documents to yourself.
The reason that Apple don’t allow direct USB transfers is the licences they have with the record companies, when they were introducing digital music downloads the record labels were paranoid that people would just distribute their downloaded music, so Apple don’t give direct access to their iPods/iPhones/iPads via USB.
Now though, you can transfer pretty much whatever you want, using email, iCloud, Dropbox etc., you just don’t get to transfer music or videos that way (although with iTunes in the cloud and iTunes Match you can wirelessly access your music).
As soon as you find a phone operating system that makes it easier than any of the options you were presented, let us know, OK?
Judging by your reluctance to “have to re-figure out how to use” the wifi equipment, jailbreaking is way beyond you capabilities. Don’t waste your time.
I haven’t fully tried the following:
There are some file types that you can drag and drop onto your iPhone via iTunes. You may be able to trick the file system by going into the Terminal. Changing the file type from .ai to .pdf. Dragging the file into iTunes where it will now appear as a “Book”. But I don’t know if you can email a book from the iPhone.
You could also put the file as part of a Note (but I don’t know where Notes are synced on a PC). This will put it into the Notes on your iPhone which you can easily email. I am not 100% sure that Notes aren’t synced across WiFi.
Is all of this stuff also true for the iPad, or is Mac -> iPad file transfer more like many of us think it should be? That is, connect the devices, go into Finder and move the file from one device to the other.
I do have to say that while it would certainly be nice to just be able to drop files on an iPhone without any extra software, you have a very limited case where you don’t have any sort of internet on your home computer. That is very unusual for those who have home computers and a smartphone. In fact, I bet fewer than a half a percent of all iPhone users both have a computer and and iPhone, but don’t have home internet. I know MANY will not have a home computer, but it’s quite unusual to not be physically able to install iTunes because you lack a home internet connection. Especially if you regularly have a need to forward things via e-mail from your home computer.
It applies to all iOS devices for the reasons I gave.
Ok, Android. You just plug in the USB cord, open the directory for your phone and browse files, edit, transfer etc just like the OP needs. You can also transfer over bluetooth or NFC and can set it up to sync files or folders automatically when two devices touch. I have two NFC tags stuck to the top of my computer. When I set my phone on one, all photos are sent to the computer. When sat on the other, a directory from the computer is synced to the phone. No user interaction required. The USB cord is a standard cheap cord, not an iCord and apps on the device can share files too, so there’s two more iLimitations avoided.
As someone who transfers files from a Linux laptop when not near an internet connection, I appreciate the OP’s situation.
I agree whole-heartedly. That’s my complaint about the iPhone, which I otherwise love. It has 64 gig of storage; I should be able to use it as a USB storage device. I’ve tried some work-arounds, but they’ve been awkward and require using a WiFi interface. You should just be able to drag and drop files on or off the phone.
I’m too chicken to jailbreak my current phone.
That’s exactly what I do, too. When I plug the phone into the computer, it appears in Windows just like a USB flash memory drive. Because that’s exactly what it’s reading inside my (Android) phone: a 16GB micro SD flash drive, so I can copy/cut/paste files from one to the other in exactly that way.
Including music and podcasts. In fact, even though I use iTunes for downloading podcasts and playing music on the computer, I DON’T use it to sync files. You can just highlight a file from the iTunes directory and copy/paste it as though the iTunes directory were in a Windows folder.
For smaller files like MS Word and Exel documents, .PDFs, ect., I just right-click on the file in Windows, and then use the “send” function, which transmits the file to my phone via Bluetooth, so I can work on the file while commuting. When I get to work, I use Bluetooth to send the file back to my computer.
No need for the goddamn internet to do such simple and obvious things.
I can transfer files onto my iphone using wifi without using iTunes. iTunes will sync music, podcasts, films and TV over wifi too.
No need for goddamn USB to do such simple and obvious things.
And I get OS upgrades for years, as soon as they’re released by the manufacturer not when my carrier decides I deserve them.
Of course, but which would be simpler for this very basic need of the OP? Installing (and paying for) wifi or using the connection which is already there through the cable which is already connected? I don’t see how wifi is simpler–it’s just one more thing that–in this case–one is forced to depend on that is more likely to have problems than a cable, and it’s not feasibly portable if you want to transfer files from notebook to phone on the road where there’s no internet signal.
I use wireless data transmission all the time for the convenience, but I just don’t want to be forced to depend on it so that I’m helpless when signals go down.