I miss Mobile Me’s easy sharing. I wish WD’s My Cloud could provide an easier way to share. The attraction of having the shared files in just one place and not on a public server is very appealing.
However, tying access to devices via the authentication codes pretty much makes it too complex to use for other than a few people willing to spend the time to set it up. That involes a lot of work on my part to create users with the right access, then a flurry of emails they have to deal with to register, then possibly download apps for each of their devices, possibly jump the Java hurdle, then finally get access to the files. That’s a lot of work for a lot of different people.
As I add new folders to share, I have to add access for each user and perhaps add new users. If I have 10 friends and 20 folders I would end up with a 10x20 matrix of which user can see which folder. You’d think that a remotely accessed Media Server would know a better way. I just want to send an email for each new folder to some of my friends giving them an easy way to access that folder.
I can almost do what I want as follows:
- Make the Public shares private and use explicit access lists
- Create a private share with Media Serving turned on
- Create a Guest user with an email address I control, probably turn off the password
- Allow Guest access only to the newly created private share
Then I can put folders and files there and send my friends the email address to allow them to access them. Well, almost. They can’t access anything since each friend needs an authentication code for each device they use. Bummer.
Perhaps there could be an authorization code tied to the folder or file and independent of the accessing device that I could send, perhaps encapsulated or time limited somehow. Even having them supply a password with the code would be simple enough.
Here’s hoping for an easier way to share files with friends.
pdj
