Sending myself a message
December 4, 2012 2:07 AM   Subscribe

I'm trying to send notes from my iDevice to my Mac, and I'm wondering if such software exists. I don't mean 'Note'-notes.

I have a synced note system in place already and I also use Pastebot. These are not the things I'm looking for. Let me describe the situation:

I'm in bed, reading my RSS-feed on my iPhone, as I like to do. Suddenly I see a post about some software or website I'm interested in, like this: http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/11/listening-to-podcasts-piecemeal-huffduffer-instacast.html. Wow, I think to myself, I have to check that out. I have to send myself that link so that I can get to it when I'm behind my main computer. I mustn't forget!

This is where my itch comes in. I can create a todo for myself (too much trouble) or send myself an email (this works best, but I don't like sending myself emails). Ideally what I'd like is to send my Mac a message from my iPhone (or a number of messages), so that it/they sit(s) there waiting for me when I finally get to my workstation.

Synced notes (simplenote/nvalt) are not immediate enough. If I do it that way, I'll find the note at one point, buried between the others, and I'll go 'oh yeah, that's that post I was interested in three months ago'. What I like about the email solution is that it sits there waiting patiently, but that I'm sure to see it when I start my day behind the computer.

So... anyone know of a nice software solution?
posted by Skyanth to Computers & Internet (14 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Pocket
posted by acidic at 2:12 AM on December 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Sorry, I should have mentioned: I also have Instapaper, I'm not looking for a read-later solution. This is just the URL of a post holding a link to some web app, not a longform article or anything.
posted by Skyanth at 2:44 AM on December 4, 2012


What works for me is the "Append to Dropbox" feature of Drafts (for iPhone, iPad). It appends a piece of text to a file called "Journal.txt" (can't change the name unfortunately) in your Dropbox.

If you move the append action to the top in Drafts, set the note to delete immediately after Drafts sent it (so it won't clutter the app), you have the URL ready in a few seconds. When you open your Mac, the file syncs from Dropbox in no time and sits there waiting for you.

I use it all the time for short-lived notes such as a bunch of URLs. Obviously you need Dropbox.
posted by arhammer at 2:54 AM on December 4, 2012


How about Sendtab then?
posted by acidic at 4:22 AM on December 4, 2012


Best answer: I tend to use Instapaper for this too, but since you want another solution - maybe Pinboard would work, and you could tag it in a specific way - then just have your home page be that tags page in Pinboard.

Reason I like that is I can just use a bookmarklet to save the link, rather than having to copy and paste.

You might be able to do something with IFTTT as well - perhaps having it check an email, and convert that to a Dropbox file, and then use something like Hazel and AppleScript to auto load the URL whenever a new text file appears in Dropbox.
posted by backwards guitar at 4:24 AM on December 4, 2012


I actually do use "Notes" for this. I leave a Note window open on my Mac and add things to that Note from my iDevices and it sits waiting for me at my desktop. I also use "Reading Lists" in Safari to capture URLs I want to remember but don't need to address immediately. They get synched everywhere as well.
posted by FreezBoy at 4:31 AM on December 4, 2012


If you use Chrome on your desktop, Chrome for iOS can sync tabs.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:28 AM on December 4, 2012 [2 favorites]


I use Pocket for long-form, but when I want to visit a URL later, I star the post as all my RSS feeds are in Google Reader, and I use a client on my iPad and iPhone, so when I'm on my (or any) computer, I can get to the starred URLs from the web interface of Reader.

Literally a tap is all it takes, and I've used both Reeder and Mr Reader for iPad and Reeder on the iPhone where this is super-simple.
posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 5:31 AM on December 4, 2012


I tend to open a new window on my iPhone and just leave it. I got into the habit of checking my iPhone tabs on my MacBook periodically, before that I would miss stuff.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:24 AM on December 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I'd forgotten about IFTTT. Finally I have some use for it. :) Thanks!
posted by Skyanth at 2:18 AM on December 5, 2012


With iOS6+Moutain Lion you can add an item to the reading list faster than you can send yourself an email. On desktop Safari, have the readinglist sidebar open and it will update with new stuff youve added and be waiting for you.
posted by Good Brain at 12:31 PM on December 5, 2012


If you use Chrome on your desktop, Chrome for iOS can sync tabs.

Safari on Mac OSX and iOS also do this. Plus, there's reading list. I'm probably missing something, but those two built in solutions seem to do exactly what you're asking.
posted by justgary at 1:22 PM on December 5, 2012


Response by poster: Thing is I'm using Safari on the iPhone/iPad and Chrome on my desktop, and not looking to change...
posted by Skyanth at 1:43 AM on December 6, 2012


For what it is worth, I started using Safari again in part because of the integration with Mobile Safari. Now though, I hate using Chrome on the desktop. Not because it is less familiar, but because, in average use, Safari is smoother and less frustrating.
posted by Good Brain at 2:35 PM on December 6, 2012


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