FAQ

Getting started with Tonido iOS App

This section provides information on initial setup of the Tonido iOS App to access your files in your computer or in TonidoPlug. The Tonido iOS App is a Universal App.

Basic Installation

Tonido iOS app can be used to access any computer or TonidoPlug device. In order to access your computer, you need to install and run Tonido server.

Tonido is free and is available for a majority of Operating Systems. Click on the following image to download and install the Tonido server.

Once you have installed and started Tonido server,  Download the Tonido iOS App from Apple Appstore.

Star the iOS App and Click on the  icon on the main page of Tonido iOS App to add a new account.

Enter the required credentials

Account URL: http://youraccount.tonidoid.com

Account Name: youraccount

Password: The account password

Remote Answer (Required only if you have set it up): your remote answer

Once the account is authenticated, you will be able to access the files in the computer or Tonido plug by selecting the account you wish to access. 

Account authentication security

The authentication information is saved securely in iOS's security infrastructure and cannot be accessed by any one even if your device is lost.

Furthermore the connection between your iOS device and Tonido server can be secured by using https:// instead of http:// (albeit at a cost of speed) and finally all access to the Tonido server in LAN (where your iOS device and the Tonido server are in the same network) are always direct access (your data is never sent outside the network in those cases).

Password lock for the Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App allows setting a 4 digit access code to allow access to the iOS accounts itself. It is available by clicking on the  icon in the main accounts page.

Is Tonido iOS App compatible with Tonido Cloud?

Yes. Tonido iOS App is fully compatible with all Tonido enabled devices (Tonido on Linux, Mac, Windows, Cloud) and TonidoPlug. However, the Tonido version must be upgraded to the latest Tonido inorder to use this App.

Trouble Shooting

iOS App is unable to access the Tonido account

This can be due to couple of reasons. 

a) Ensure that Tonido server is running in your target computer. You can check that by opening a webbrowser in the computer where

Tonido is running and entering http://127.0.0.1:10001 (Assuming the port is still default) in the webbrowser address. If Tonido is running

the web browser will show the Tonido login page.

b) If Tonido server is running, ensure that your target computer can access the internet. If firewall is running your computer and is preventing

Tonido from accessing the internet, then you need to add rules to your firewall to allow Tonido to access the computer. You can check if 

Tonido can access the internet by entering http://<youraccount>.tonidoid.com in a webbrowser on the same computer where Tonido is running. If

the web page opens and shows Tonido server, then Tonido is running

c) Ensure that your iOS device is connected to the network (Wifi or Cellular network) and can access the internet (Simply open safari and try to access a webpage )

If you need further help, please post in our support forums.

Using Tonido app to access files in Tonido devices or Tonido Cloud

The Tonido IOS App will allow you to access files on any computer running Tonido server or from TonidoPlug device. Refer to "Getting started" section for more information on setting up the account.

Clicking on the file will show a "Preview" panel and provides context based options on the actions that can be performed on the file.

iPad Screenshots

iPhone/iPod Screenshots

Playing Audio Files Using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App provides a rich audio playback experience in the form of a Music Player. Songs can be slected while browsing a folder or by loading a Playlist.

Supported Audio Formats in Tonido iOS App

The following formats are supported for playback in Tonido iOS APP. 

Mp3 and M4A files are supported natively by iOS device and therefore are not automatically transcoded. Transcoding is available if needed (to reduce bandwidth)

All other formats are transcoded for playback.

The following transcoding bitrate can be manually selected in the music player

Playlists in Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS app allows the user to create, load new music playlists. The playlists can be created on the fly by adding music files to the "Music Player" . Songs can be added using "Queue" or "Play" on the individual song's preview pane or using "Play all Songs in Folder" or "Queue all Songs in Folder" options in the Actions menu. You can now save playlist using the following method

Save Playlist

iPad: Select the "save" button on the bottom of the Music Player to create and save songs to a new playlist or replace a playlist.

iPhone/iPod: Open the "playlist panel" by clicking the playlist button and click the "save" button to create or update a playlist.

 Once a playlist is created, it can be accessed from any of the Tonido Clients (Android, iOS, WebUI)

Playing songs in cellular network or low bandwidth network using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App's music player will automatically select the best bitrate depending on the connected network.

While playing audio using the Tonido iOS App, the playback may be interrupted in case of bad network connection or in the case of low bandwidth networks like Cellular networks. If you experience playback interruption, then select the 64Kb/s to minimize the bandwidth requirement but this will reduce the audio quality.

Playing Video Files Using Tonido iOS App

Tonido supports playback of a variety of video files. But this is dependent on the computer from which the video is being played.

Tonido will support playback of  iOS Native formats (MP4 files) including the DRM files (those purchased from iTunes provided the iPad was previously synced with the computer to allow the licenses to transfer) .

Windows Version of Tonido server only (as of v2.61) has the capability to perform "Live Streaming" of incompatible video formats to iOS compatible formats. This requires a sufficiently powerful computer. For all other cases the video files must be converted upfront  for playback (Tonido provides this function as well) . Live transcoding support will be made available for Mac and Linux computer in future.

 Tonido iOS app will automatically select the best method to play the video depending on the Server capabilities.

Supported Video Formats in Tonido iOS App

Tonido will automatically transcode (if possible). At this time of writing (Tonido v2.61), only Windows version supports the 

live transcoding. All other versions of Tonido will require offline transcoding before a video can be played.

What is Live streaming?

Tonido v2.61 in Windows has the ability to transcode a non compatible video file on the fly to allow playback of the file. This requires a sufficiently powerful computer to allow smooth playback.

Future version of Tonido will support Live streaming on Linux and Mac systems (they should be powerful enough to be able to do transcoding).

How do I Play non Native iOS formats from Non Windows computer or low powered Windows Computer using Tonido iOS App?

Tonido offers support to convert most video formats to iOS compatible format using the the "Optimize for Later Playback" function in the preview window.  This can also be done using the Web interface by selecting the video file and performing the "Create Optimized Video" function. Once the offline transcoding is complete (i.e. Optimized file is created), the file can be played in the iOS device.

Tonido doesnt play some of my video files

Due to the huge variation in the video source files, some video files might not be converted or cannot be played due to variety of issues (High bitrates, Unknown codecs). In those cases, we can help determine the problem if you post a ample of the video file in our support forum.

Playing DRM Videos using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App allows playback of DRM files provided the iOS device is synchronized with computer's iTunes on which the movie was purchased to allow the licenses to transfer. Once that is complete, playing a DRM file will result in Tonido automatically launching mobile safari to play the video.

Viewing Photographs using Tonido iOS App

Tonido supports viewing variety of Photo formats and can display them fullscreen. Furthermore, Tonido also caches photos to allow faster retrieval of Photos after initial access. 

Supported Photo Formats in Tonido iOS App

Tonido has the ability to read and display variety of photo formats including RAW file types. 

Accessing Document using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App will allow opening of common file formats such as txt, doc, pdf, xls, ppt etc. But specialized file formats such as CBZ are not supported. However, if there are other iOS apps that can handle those formats are installed, then the Tonido iOS Apps allows sending those files to the compatible Apps.

Opening document using other installed iOS App

Tonido iOS App allows opening of a file (regardless of its type) using other installed iOS Apps. Select the "open with" function to display the compatible installed applications.

Download files from computer to the iOS (iPad or iPhone) device using Tonido iOS App

Files can be dowloaded directly to the iOS device to allow access when there is no connectivity. Simply tap the "Download" button in the preview pane to download a file . You can also select "Download Folder Files" to download all the files in a given folder. You can continue working while download is in progress. However, the App must be in foreground and you should not switch to a different server until the download is completed. 

The transfer status can be seen by selecting the "Show Transfer Status" option in the "Actions" dropdown menu.

The downloaded files can be accessed by selecting the "This Device" option in the main Accounts page. The downloaded files are automatically placed in one of the following four folders depending on the type of the file being downloaded.

a. Documents

b. Photos

c. Audio

d. Video

Upload files from iOS device to computer using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App allows uploading the following files to Tonido server (provided sufficient privileges are provided in the Tonido server)

a) Photo files in iOS device album 

b) Video files in iOS device album

c) Files in the Tonido iOS App's "This Device" folder (Files that are previously downloaded or imported from other iOS Apps)

To begin upload in the current folder, select the "Upload Files to this Folder" option in drop down menu of the "Actions Button" . In iPhone, you might have to scroll down in the drop down menu .

This will display three options "Upload Photos", "Upload Videos", "Upload Local Files". Select the appropriate option to begin uploading.  The uploading will be done in background.

To check status of upload, you can select the 'Show Transfer Status" menu item in the drop down menu of "Actions" button. You can continue working while upload is in progress. However, the App must be in foreground and you should not switch to a different server until the upload is completed.  

Import a file from other iOS app into Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App can import any file into its local "This Devices" Folder. In order to import a file from a different iOS App into Tonido iOS App, Open the other iOS App and select the file to export and select "Open in" or "Open with" or similar option (this varies in wording).

In the option that is displayed, Tonido will be shown as well. Select Tonido. This will cause the file to be imported into Tonido. Once imported, the file is saved in one of the following four folders depending on the type of the file being imported. 

a. Documents

b. Photos

c. Audio

d. Video

Here is an example where a file is being exported from a different iOS App.

Edit (copy/paste/delete) files on computer using the Tonido iOS App

This function is currently available only when the Tonido iOS App is running in  iPad. Furthermore, the backend server can be configured to prevent file edits/deletes as well.

The edit function allows the user to copy, paste or delete files and folder in the remote computer. Care should be taken when using the delete function as it will result in permanent deletion of the file or folder.

To begin editing, click on the "Edit" button on the bottom of the folder that you want to edit. This will show three buttons (Delete, Copy, Paste). Select file or folder and click on one of the three options.

The Delete button will ask for confirmation before deleting the file or folder  permanently. Selecting copy or move will change the buttons to "Paste" and "Cance". At this point, you can navigate to the target folder and

select 'Paste".

Guest access using Tonido iOS App

Tonido iOS App can log in using guest access credentials. In that case the app will disable functions that are available only for the admin user. All other functions will be available as is.

Share a file or folder

Tonido iOS App allows sharing of files and folder in the following ways

a) Create a direct link to the file or folder. This link can be sent via email to anyone who needs access to that resource

b) Email the file (Only available for files below 25 Mb).

To share a specific file, select the "Share" button in Preview pane  of the file and then select "Create Direct Link" or "Email" 

To share a specific folder, select the "Share" option in the Dropdown menu of the "Actions" button in the folder.