USB Disk review

It’s pretty clear that Apple is never going to let us turn our iDevices into mass storage disks for convenient use of their increasingly epic-sized memory. But it has made a small, and mostly unmentioned concession in the shape of a file transfer system built into the latest version of its bloated media-controlling albatross.

Of course, it’s all well and good being able to drag and drop files other than music and video into iTunes, but you need an application on the receiving end to make any use of them. Very few apps have taken advantage of this facility as yet, but USB Disk is one of them.

This small and unobtrusive application aims to provide a system of allowing you to transport your office files through an iPhone or iPod touch (or an iPad, if you opt for the HD version) just as its name suggests. More than just a virtual briefcase, USB Disk also allows you to view those files while on the go, which is quite a step up from your usual eBay flash disk special.

The app supports a lot of different formats, covering the majority of computer files not already covered by the native media applications, namely music and video. This includes most all image files, Microsoft Office documents, iWork files, PDFs, and a variety of text files (such as .html and .txt, for example).

That said, the app doesn’t exclude audio and video, and gives you the additional option of carrying files that aren’t supported by the iPod system, like .wav and .avi.

Staying organised on the device is also very easy, with the option to create and arrange your files into folders, complete with thumbnails. This makes browsing through your stored items very easy, and moving them in and out through the impressively fast USB transfer option is equally simple.

And just in case you’re nowhere near a USB connector, the app allows you to send files off via email. Naturally, this isn’t going to work with a 500MB video, but if you want a way to quickly transfer a Word doc or a few photos to another device or computer, emailing is a quick, easy and effective option.

It’d be nice if you could carry any file format at all, but this is likely a limitation imposed by Apple, rather than USB Disk’s developer. But the basics are well and truly covered, so if you’re looking for a simple repository for your files inside an iPhone, this is a good place to start.