Print & Share Lets me Print! (and share)

The name says it all, folks. Print & Share by EuroSmartz creates a lot of nice work-arounds for problems that iPhone users have been complaining about since the inception of the device.

You couldn’t print from the phone, and you couldn’t save files to the device (other than movie and audio files synced through iTunes). This was especially annoying when you wanted to print emails or contact lists. Print & Share really solves all these problems.

To be honest, this review is going to be less of a review than it is going to be an exploration of features. In general, the only issues I have with this application are issues that are inherent to the shortcomings of the iPhone itself or the restrictions iTunes places on app developers.

The overview of the app is simple. Install a small program called WePrint Server on your laptop, Mac or PC, and the app creates a server that allows you to print out documents to any printer connected to the computer. It also lets you store files on the phone through this server, a handy feature that gives Air Sharing a run for its money. The limitations, however, are that you must be connected to a wifi network that your computer is also connected to. No printing things from edge or 3G, but I hope this will be improved sometime in the future. After all, if I’m on the same network, why not just head to the computer to print an email? That’s the app’s one big logic flaw, but saving a few moments by going straight through the phone is nice, and the file sharing makes this one worthwhile.

When you launch the app, you see a simple menu list of things you can do. The simplest ones are “images” and “camera.” These options let you choose a picture from your photo library (or take one on the spot) and print it to a printer on your wifi network immediately. You can select different sizes like “full page” and “3×5,” which is a really nice feature.

Also, type in your email information and you can then print emails. The website points out that Apple does not let app developers have access directly to Apple’s Mail application (for obvious reasons), so this is a manual sync and setup. But once that leg work is out of the way, you can print immedately…emails and email attachments.

You can also select a list of contacts from your address book and print those, or you can type in a website and print it out. The website feature is a little lacking, though, and it’s usually faster just to take a snapshot of a site with the still capture feature and print it as an image.

The last option on the main menu is “files,” and this is where we get into the “share” capacity of the app. (NOTE: The developer has an app called just “Print” that lacks this feature but costs less) Using the WePrint server app on your computer, you can select a file folder to be shared with your phone. Once you add documents to that folder, they automatically show up on the phone. Then you can both view them and print them. This is a nice way to share and store files to your iPhone, so some might say this is worth the price of the app in and of itself.

And there is a considerable price tag of $6.99 attached to this. Is it worth it? Depends on what you want to use it for. I won’t speculate on your home or office setup or how you use your iPhone, but the two best uses for this are printing new pictures straight from the phone and storing files from your computer. If you do those things often, this app is for you. If you don’t, you can probably get by without it.

Overall, though, great design, simple interface, and a lot of great features that people have been clamoring for. Great work, Print & Share!

You can buy Print & Share HERE.

Like It, Share It: