Command-C: A clever clipboard-sharing tool for your Mac and iOS device
Command-C is a new clipboard utility for the Mac and iOS from Danilo Torrisi that allows you to share text snippets and images between the devices. It uses a local WiFi connection so your data doesn't leave your internal network and leverages iOS 7's background notification system to make the sharing drop-dead easy.
Before you can start sharing content between the devices, you have to connect your Mac and iOS devices. The only requirement is that all the devices have to be on the same WiFi network as the app uses local sharing to shuttle your clipboard contents between the devices. Just open both the Mac app and the iOS app to link the devices. The iOS app steps you through the pairing, and it was extremely easy as the iOS app finds your Mac for you. All you have to do is tap to pair on your iOS device and then accept that connection on your Mac. Once the devices are paired, they remain paired as long as they are on the same network.
Command-C allows you to share text, URLs and images between the two devices. On the Mac side, just copy something to your clipboard and open Command-C in the menu bar. Click your iOS device in the Command-C Mac app, hit enter and the data will be sent to the clipboard on your iOS device. If your iOS device is on, you can use the item sent from your Mac immediately. If your iPhone or iPad is sleeping, you can tap on the notification to transfer the clipboard item from your Mac and use it once you've logged into your iOS device.
Once the item is in your iOS clipboard, you can paste text into your favorite text editor or paste an image into a photo-editing app or an email. URLs can be pasted into mobile Safari, and there's even an option to open a URL automatically upon transfer, if you prefer.
It's a similar process on the iOS side. Just copy the item you want to send to your Mac by tapping and holding the item on your iPhone or iPad. Once the item is copied to your clipboard, fire up the Command-C iOS app and select your Mac from the list of devices. The clipboard item then will be sent to your Mac, along with an alert. To use the item on your Mac, just hit Command-V to paste it into any document. Though text and URLs stay the same, you should be aware that images sent to the Mac are converted to TIFF.
Command-C is an extremely easy way to send snippets between iOS and OS X devices that reside on the same WiFi network. Performance was very good -- sharing was almost immediate and the connection between the two devices was almost always on. I say "almost" as a few times I did have to restart the iOS app when an item from my Mac wouldn't show up on my iPhone. I assume this had to do with the background notifications on iOS.
The app supports the most common items you would want to share -- text, URLs and images. Power users will appreciate the ability to share URL Schemes and Bookmarklets, which will automate Command-C and connect it to other apps. Torrisi has a set of tutorials that'll walk you through using URL schemes and Bookmarklets with his app.
Overall, Command-C is a great utility for folks who want to share quick text snippets, URLS and images across devices. It's an excellent, more modern replacement for Pastebot. You can download the Command-C app from the iOS App Store for US$3.99. The OS X version is available from the Mac App Store for free.
