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Hello and welcome to Epic Tutorials. Today we are going to be reviewing one of our most
used iPhone and iPad accessories: The Maxell's Airstash, a wireless flash drive and pocket
media server for iOS and Android, as well as teaching you how to use this device with
our epic Airstash tutorial for iOS.
This device allows you to read and write files wirelessly from your mobile device to an SD
card and is not only great for expanding your devices memory, but can be used to stream
movies to multiple devices at once, import videos, audio and image files, as well as
save documents, images and movies to it from your iOS device.
Now whilst the rrp for the Airstash is $149 US, you can buy it direct from Maxell on Amazon
for $69.99, so don't make the same mistake we did — just check out the link in the
description below. In order to use the Airstash with your iPhone, iPad or Android device you
will need to download the free Airstash app from the App Store and we have that link in
the description as well. If this video helps please thumbs up and subscribe and check the
description for more info. Now let's take a closer look at the Maxell Airstash.
The Airstash is made from rugged high quality plastic, and I have had this device for close
to a year now and its worked flawlessly.
At the top we have a removable plastic cap which shields a USB 2.0 plug. Below that we
have a yellow and green LED status indicator and a power switch which is used to power
the device on and off. At the base of the device we have the SD card slot and the Airstash
supports SD, SDHC and SDXC cards of any size although cards with 32gb or below only support
a maximum single file size of 4gb but cards 64gb and over have no maximum size limit.
To charge the device simply connect it to your computer via the USB plug which will
cause the yellow LED indicator to flash as it charges. This usually takes about 2 hours
for a full charge and will give you about 6-7 hours of continuous use which is impressive.
To copy files to the Airstash from a computer you can either insert an SD card into the
Airstash and connect the that to your computer via USB which will mount like a regular hard
drive, or — if you have an SD card slot you can use that instead. I will say that
SD card that comes with the Airstash is pretty slow and you are probably well advised to
buy it without the SD card and buy a faster SD card if you will be regularly transferring
large files to and from the Airstash.
Once you have some files loaded up, you can turn on the Airstash by holding the power
button down for 2-3 seconds until the LED turns green and it will blink after you release
it.
Next on your iOS device open Settings > Wi-Fi and you will see the Airstash appear. If it
doesn't automatically join, tap it once to connect. By default the air stash is not password
protected but we will show you how to turn on a password later on. Now you can press
the Home button and open the free AirStash app, and there we see our Airstash. Note that
whilst we are using the iPad for demonstration purposes, this works in exactly the same way
on the iPhone.
If you simply tap on the Airstash name you are presented with with all your files and
folders. If you tap the FOLDER ICON in the menu bar at the bottom of the interface you
can chose either LIST or GRID view types as well as SORTING options. Let's choose GRID
and tap SAVE. This view makes it clear which are files and which are folders but it also
doesn't allow us to view the full file name and extension so let's tap the FOLDER again
and choose LIST and tap SAVE again.
Before we look at how to view files, you are probably wondering what file format it supports?
Keep in mind that the Airstash app takes advantage of the iOS supported formats or those of other
apps so if you find an app that supports a certain format, the Airstash should work.
Here are the files types we have successfully used with the Airstash:
As you can see from this list the Airstash is ideal for working with just about any file
type.
To view a file simply tap once on it, but the file format will effect what happens next.
Quicktime files that are designed to play natively on iOS in mp4 or m4v will start streaming
within the Airstash app and depending on the data rate you might get seamless playback
but in the case of HD files, you will experience some stutter and long load times. To return
to our files tap DONE in the upper left. When it comes AVI and MKV video formats which
iOS doesn't natively support, Airstash has built in support for the essential free video
player app VLC which is also free on the app store, and if I tap on an MKV it will automatically
launch VLC and allow me to stream the movie straight from the Airstash.
All other supported files need to be loaded from the Airstash before they are viewable,
and their size will determine exactly how long this takes.
Let's tap on a small PDF file which opens almost instantly. Next let's tap on a large
8MB TIFF image and this takes a little longer to open, approximately 8 seconds which amounts
to about 1MB per second.
Audio files in any format should stream seamlessly.
Now if you want to open anyone of these files in another app, or just get more info about
the file itself such as it's size and date created, you can TAP HOLD on any file, for
example this TIFF image. From here I can tap SEND TO APP and this will start to download
the file in full and give me access to all the photo editing apps that currently support
the 'Open In' functionality like Filterstorm Neue or Photoshop Touch.
Let's do the same with a .WAV uncompressed audio file. TAP and HOLD and we get a few more options like
Play with VLC and it's DRM status down the bottom here. Let's choose SEND TO APP, it
downloads the file from the Airstash first and then gives us a list of compatible apps.
For example I can add this to an iMovie project and this is a great way to import audio recorded
using an external field recorder like the Zoom H4N, as you could take the SD card straight
out of the Zoom, and import your audio into iMovie for syncing with video.
Now let's learn how to import images and videos located on our Airstash directly into your
iPhone or iPads Camera Roll. Let's start by going to the top level of our Airstash and
from here I will open a folder full of RAW images but you will notice that many of them
are missing a preview. Let's quickly fix this by TAP HOLDING on a photo with no preview,
then tapping REGENERATE THUMBNAIL.
Down the bottom of interface on the menu bar, tap the CAMERA ICON. This gives you the option
to either IMPORT FROM AIRSTASH or EXPORT TO AIRSTASH. Let's start by importing a photo
by tapping IMPORT. We can select to import multiple images at once by tapping on each
photo to add a tick. Down in the lower left you can see we can filter by PHOTOS or VIDEOS,
so if you are looking for a video in a certain folder and it's not showing, make sure you
have the VIDEOS icon selected. When you are ready tap the SHARING icon in the upper right
and this will launch the IMPORT SCREEN. You will notice that the Airstash app gives us
some really useful features like the ability to reduce to screen size, convert to a JPEG
as well as DELETE AFTER IMPORT which will remove the image from the SD card in your
Airstash. As iOS does not support RAW, let's turn on CONVERT TO JPEG and then Tap START
to begin importing.
Now if we press the HOME button and launch our PHOTOS APP, we can now open the image
we just imported and the Airstash export to JPEG does preserve your metadata and original
resolution.
Now let's open the Airstash app again and this time let's tap the CAMERA ICON down the
bottom and choose to EXPORT TO AIRSTASH. Here we can navigate our CAMERA ROLL, select the
images or videos we want to export to the AIRSTASH, and then tap the SHARE icon in the
upper right and then tap START. This will start writing the selected file to your currently
open directory, and now we can view them in the Airstash app. What's amazing about this
feature is multiple devices can connect to the Airstash and write files simultaneously
making this perfect for an environment like a classroom where you want to backup student
work.
Another great feature of the Airstash is that it allows you to access it via any web browser.
Just open a browser on your iOS device or computer and type in airstash.net and your
files will appear listed alphabetically. Clicking on a audio, video or image file will load it
in your browser. If you want to download any of these formats directly to your computer
instead of loading them in the browser, you can hold down the option key on your keyboard
and click on a file name, or you can right click and choose > Download Linked File.
All other document types will be downloaded as soon as they are clicked. The web interface
also allows you to name and set a password for the Airstash. Just click the Cog icon
in the upper right. Enter a new name [demo], change security from Open to WPA2 [demo] and
set a password [demo]. Then click SAVE. You will be asked to open SYSTEM PREFERENCES,
click on NETWORK > Turn off WiFi then click ADVANCED, locate the Airstash listed here
and click on it, then click the - button and turn of the Airstash by holding the power button down for 3 seconds.
Now when you turn it on again, if you click your Wi-Fi icon and choose TURN WIFI ON you
will see it available it's new name and be asked to enter a password.
You can also do this using the Airstash app on your device. Simply launch the app then
tap the blue INFO ICON next to your Airstash. Then tap GENERAL and here you can adjust the
Name, Security Settings, Password as well as the power save timer.
Another great feature of the Airstash is it's support for WebDAV file sharing protocol which
allows compatible apps like Apple's iWork apps including Pages, Keynote and Numbers
to import documents directly from the Airstash and save and export them back to the device.
This is really useful if you want to collect student work for example and have 20 students
export their document straight to your Airstash.
With your iOS device connected to your Airstash, simply launch an iWork app, I will choose
Keynote for this example. Tap the plus icon in the upper left and ten tap Copy from WebDAV
and for the server address, simply type airstash.net which is the same URL we used to access it
via our web browser earlier. As you can see it loads all our files but everything except
Keynote files are greyed out. Tap on a Keynote to import it and we can open it, add a new
slide and add some text, tap PRESENTATIONS and to save this back to the Airstash tap
the SHARE ICON, select SEND A COPY, tap the presentation we want to share and we can then
select WebDAV, select a format and save it back to the Airstash. It's really that simple.
Now something you are probably wondering is can you access the internet while your connected
to the Airstash? Well the answer is YES! There are two ways to do it. If you tap the INFO
ICON in the Airstash App, then tap CONNECTIVITY, you will see that the first is called Home
Network Connection. If you tap on this it will scan for available WI-FI networks and
allow you join the Airstash to a new wireless network, and then it in effect acts as a network
storage volume which will allow you to browse the internet after joining the same network.
So I will select my home network, and enter the wi-fi password to join. Once the Airstash
has joined it prompts you to change your device to the same network. We can do this my pressing
the HOME BUTTON, opening SETTINGS and then tapping WIFI and choosing our home or work
WI-FI network.
Now if we go back to the Airstash app, you can see it still finds the Airstash as it
did before, how something has changed. If I open Safari on try to go to Airstash.net
like we did before, it's no longer accessible at that URL because of cause we are not connected
directly to the device as before. If I open Keynote again and try to access it as a WebDAV
server, that won't work either. The reason is the URL as has changed. To find the correct
URL whilst using the HOME NETWORK CONNECTION, simply open the Airstash app and tap the INFO
icon next to your Airstash. Then under the COPY URL section it shows us the URL under
which it is currently accessible. To copy this URL to the pasteboard simple tap COPY
URL. Now if we open SAFARI and paste the URL it allow us to navigate the Airstash again.
Same goes for Keynote or Pages. Simple tap the + icon and first we need to tap SIGN OUT
to clear our previous settings. then paste the URL in the SERVER ADDRESS field, but this
time we have to enter "owner" for the username when prompted and we can leave the PASSWORD
field blank, and it will connect.
The second method which is much more useful if you don't have a WI-FI network available
is to use your phone's Mobile or Cellular Data plan to access the internet. In the Airstash
app tap the INFO icon next to your Airstash, then CONNECTIVITY and enable KEEP CELLULAR
CONNECTION which will allow to access the web whilst being connected directly to the
Airstash.
Lastly, let's learn how to do a HARD RESET of your Airstash device, which will reset
it to factory defaults and this is useful if you happen to have forgotten a password
you set, as it will remove the WPA2 security, or maybe for troubleshooting reasons. Just
know it will not delete any files on your SD, just reset the Airstash. To do this simply
hold the power button on the Airstash down for 15 seconds then the LED will flash green
and yellow twice and it will be turned on and will have the default network name specific
to your device with no password.
As firmware updates become available they will be included in Airstash app updates and
when you launch it, it will ask if you want to copy to your device and provide on screen
instructions, but as we already have the latest firmware we can't show you this here, but
just know it's a very simple process and has worked flawlessly for us every time.
Alright there we have it, the Maxell Airstash — an absolutely essential addition to any
power iOS users accessory box. It's been faultless for us over the year we have been using it
and for the money it's incredible. Thanks for watching, we hope you have learnt something
new and if you did subscribe for more epic tutorials and check out our website at epictutorials.com
- I've been Eliot Fitzroy and until text time take it easy.