batguebi01: Exchange Text Between an iPhone and a Mac Without Internet Access

Friday, 6 May 2011

Exchange Text Between an iPhone and a Mac Without Internet Access

I was on a ferry this morning with no WiFi access to the Internet, an iPhone from which I could e-mail via 3G and an e-mail on my Mac I needed to send. With no wireless modem, no tethering plan and no Internet, I didn't think there was anyway I could get the text of the e-mail onto my iPhone without retyping it.

After a little thinking, I came up with the following solution that makes use of iPhone apps with WiFi syncing and the Airport menu's create network command.

First I tried setting up a network with the Mac, but an iPhone won't stay on a WiFi network unless it has an internet connection. So while I could initially find the network from my iPhone, it wouldn't stay connected.

It turns out you can defeat this by turning off 3G and Cellular Data in the Network section of General Settings.

With 3G and Cellular Data switched off, you can open up WiFi settings on your iPhone and select the network you've created with your Mac. In a minute, you ...