There is a method you can use to make an older Mac compatible with AirDrop and other Bluetooth 4.0 features, which we have shown you in this article. However, this method is not too simple, and if you update your Mac or reinstall the OS, then this workaround becomes obsolete. Thankfully, the free iOS app, Pocket Drive (free with in-app purchases) now provides users like me with what Apple would not. Let’s take a better look at this app and how it works.
Pocket Drive for iOS
The first time you start the app, it asks you to provide your email. This is not necessary for Pocket Drive to work though, so feel free to skip that step. Basically, what Pocket Drive does is to turn your iOS device (an iPad was used for this article, but it works perfectly on iPhones as well) into an external, wireless drive, letting you transfer files between your iOS device and your Mac. The main screen of Pocket Drive shows you all the documents you currently have stored in the app. Credit goes to the app developers in this case, since Pocket Drive supports several of the major file formats. In fact, you can even have a group of MP3 files and play them back from within the app itself. To connect your iOS device to your Mac (Pocket Drive works with Windows PCs as well), make sure both are connected to the same Wi-Fi network and then start Pocket Drive on your iOS device. You will then see a new drive show up on any Finder window on your Mac, that when clicked, will trigger a request for access on your iOS device before being able to transfer files. Once the connection is established, the app works like a charm. Exactly as you would expect any external drive to work. On your iOS device, you can use the tools within the app to create new folders, text files, take photos, videos or crucially, import them from your Library. You can also group and delete files from within the app, and even compress them as a single ZIP file. The app’s Settings provide you with a few options to customize Pocket Drive’s looks via themes, as well as offering added security features, such as passcode authentication or even Touch ID. Both of these features come as in-app purchases though. On top of that, you are also limited by Pocket Drive in how much storage you can use on your iOS device (you are only allowed to use 256 MB). You can fully unlock all of these with a single $1.99 in-app purchase, but it is up to you to decide if those features are worth that amount. All in all, Pocket Drive proved to work just as advertised. And it is not only useful for users whose Macs were left out of the AirDrop party. It also provides a solid alternative for those who prefer a more direct approach to wireless transfers.
