NetPortal – Review

Our rating:

By: NetPortal

Version #: 1.1 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)

Date Released: 2009-07-17

Developer: Stratospherix

Price: 4.99

User Rating:

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It’s nice to be able to share files through a network via the iPod Touch or iPhone.  With NetPortal, you can read documents you have stored locally on your device or remotely (it definitely reads the pdf, jpg and doc formats) and copy them from the server to the device (copying the other way is supposed to be available in a future release).

The app does require some knowledge of networking and general setup including the IP addresses or machine names of the servers you will be connecting to.  One drawback of the app is that it requires the user to input a password for whatever ID is being used, even if a password doesn’t exist for that particular ID, it forces you to create the password for the user on that server before you can proceed.

If you have a lot of servers, the app allows you to create shortcuts to certain ones.  Also, if there are documents that you favor more than others, you can bookmark them for later access.

Another suggestion would be the ability to copy photos directly into the Photo Library.  Perhaps in a future version.

Another aspect of the app that was somewhat distracting is that it’s impossible to select a file without opening it.  Also, if you connect to a server, the app can’t browse the possible shared folders on the server.  According to the documentation, shares are supposed to work automatically but I had to manually input the share names.  It could be a bug or it could be something I did wrong.

NetPortal is a good idea that needs work.  I recognize that the target audience is likely tech-savvy, but without even a decent help section it can be difficult to use.  Perhaps the creators could set up step-by-step connection instructions for novices like myself.

Pros: File sharing.  Can read remote files on your device.

Cons: Difficult to use.  Requires admin password.  Can’t copy to Photo Library.  More for the technically sophisticated.