Why bother carrying around extra hardware to store your files when your iPhone already makes the perfect storage advice? Think about it: your phone is always with you, and with an app called GoodReader, you can easily and effortlessly share files via Wi-Fi. Read on to find out how to set up your iOS device to enable this nifty feature.

What You’ll Need:

>> GoodReader for iPhone or iPad
>> Wi-Fi network (or create your own)

1. Connect Your Device to a Network

The first step to using GoodReader is to connect the Mac (or a Windows machine) and iOS devices to the same Wi-Fi network. GoodReader creates a virtual web server that enables you to access it through a web browser on the machine you're transfering files with.

2. Open GoodReader and Enable Sharing

Launch GoodReader on your iOS device and tap on the small Wi-Fi transfer icon in the toolbar.

A new window will pop up with connection instructions. Follow them, and leave this screen open while you're transferring files.

3. Open Your Web Browser and Navigate to Address

To load the file sharing screen for GoodReader, navigate to the IP Address listed in the Wi-Fi transfer screen on your iPhone by typing it into the address field in your web browser.

After doing this, you will be presented with a window that contains the directory listing of the files in the GoodReader application. By clicking on any of the files, you can download them to your Mac or Windows machine.

If you wish to upload files to the iPhone application for storage, just click on the Choose File button, select your files, and then click the “Upload selected file” button. Unfortunately, this is limited to one file upload at a time, but you can compress multiple files and then extract them within the GoodReader application.

Other Sharing Applications

GoodReader is not the only wireless file sharing application available on the App Store. The iTunes App Store is filled with other great alternatives, including:

- AirDisk (iPhone + iPad; $1.99)
- Air Sharing (iPhone; $2.99)
- DropCopy (iPhone + iPad; $4.99)

Do you use your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad as a sharing device? Let us know the application you use in the comments below.

Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.