iTunes is the 800 pound gorilla that won’t stop showing up at your door in the middle of the night. Thankfully, in the world of internet media consumption and apps, I hardly find the need to sync my iPhone/iPad with iTunes (unless I’m making a full backup before updating to a new iOS release).

iTunes also serves as a wall between the data that lives on the PC and your iPhone. How many times have you wanted to transfer a file/video from your friend’s computer only to give up because he didn’t have iTunes installed or you forgot the lightning cable?

Today we’ll put an end to that problem. From now on, all you’ll need to copy a file from another Mac/PC is connection to the same Wi-Fi network as the computer and a free app.

How To Use the WifiTransfer App

WifiTransfer is a universal iPhone/iPad app. As I said, the iPhone/iPad will need to be on the same network as your computer for this to work. You’ll also need a modern browser like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Safari installed on your Mac/PC.

Open the WifiTransfer app and in the bottom left corner you’ll see a switch. Tap on it and you’ll see a web address show up. Now go to the PC, open the browser and put in this address. This will bring up WifiTransfer’s dashboard for sending files to the iOS device.

Cool Tip: WiFiTransfer has an optional Chrome extension that allows you to connect to the PC/Mac by scanning a QR code instead of manually entering the address.

How To Transfer Files To iPhone/iPad From The Browser

You’ll see a generic file picker. Click on the Choose file button and from the file browser, choose any type of file (document, media, pdf) you want to transfer to the iPhone. Click the Upload button to start syncing.

Once the file is synced over Wi-Fi, it will show up on the web page as a completed transfer and in the app.

Using The WifiTransfer App

The WifiTransfer app sorts synced files by file types and there’s also an All Files folder. Tap on any file to open or preview it in the app itself.

But more often than not you’ll want to send the file to another app. You want to read a book in iBooks and watch a TV show in a media player app, not in WifiTransfer.

To do this, tap the Share icon in the bottom left corner and select the app of your choosing.

How To Avoid File Transfer Failure With WifiTransfer

Due to limitations in iOS, the app doesn’t show a progress bar for file transfer. The only way you’ll know if the transfer is done is when the app tells you. The lack of a progress bar can seem discouraging and generally makes you think something is wrong. But rest assured, the transfer is taking palace.

Another thing you need to know is that while you’re transferring a file you’ll need to keep the WifiTransfer app open and active. You can’t switch to another app or put your phone to sleep because that will instantly stop the transfer.

The app says that it can gain transfer speeds upto 10 Mbps but that’s not really accurate. Syncing a 70 MB video took the app a good 2-3 minutes. If you’re planning on streaming a movie file, be prepared to wait a while.

WifiTransfer Pro: The free WifiTransfer app is ad supported. You’ll see banner ads in the file list and I even saw a couple of full screen ads. If this is too annoying for you, consider upgrading to the Pro version for $1.99.

Is This What You’ve Been Looking For?

WifiTransfer app has solved a personal problem of mine. Is WifiTransfer just what you’ve been looking for or do you have a better solution? Let us know in the comments below.

Top image via Arkangel