No-brainer setup
I’ve just installed iOS 4.2 on my iPhone 4 and iPad. For me, AirPrint was the one and only missing feature of iOS 4 that was a ‘must have’. Since I watch MacRumors.com, I knew that Apple had recently scaled back support of shared printers leaving just a few special HP printers with built in AirPrint capability. I haven’t even bothered to look for the supported printer list since I know my 3 year old HP LaserJet 2605 is unlikely to be on it. Apple’s press release on today’s update had a brief note about AirPrint:
AirPrint is a next-generation Wi-Fi print architecture that dramatically simplifies printing by completely eliminating printer drivers. A selection of AirPrint enabled printers including the HP Photosmart, HP LaserJet Pro and HP Officejet will be the first to support printing direct from iOS devices. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to any printer that supports AirPrint.
It’s doubtful that most of us will run out to buy yet another printer just for this feature. I don’t have the desk space for another printer even if I was so inclined. Anyway, I knew it was time to find a good third party solution and Printopia (based on the buzz) seemed to fit the bill.
After visiting ecamm.com and downloading the 7 day free trial, I was up and running (i.e. printing) in under two minutes. The control panel installs in the ‘Other’ section of your Mac’s System Preferences. You then select which printer(s) you wish to make available to AirPrint and the software does the rest – it even picked up that my HP has duplex (double-sided) capabilities and displayed the option. Simple is an understatement. I immediately tested Pages on the iPad and what, for me, is the holy grail of iPad printing – email! So many more trees are going down with the power I now have. The green part of me, a part buried deep within the recesses of my mind, was also pleasantly surprised to see DropBox support – ok, so I don’t have to print everything. A quick visit to my iPad photo gallery confirmed that it was dead simple to send something to DropBox. Awesome! Of course, there is a DropBox app. that does the same thing but now I can stay in Mail or Safari and send it along.
Printopia is $9.95 and works with all AirPrint supported apps. It’s important to note that this program only runs on your Mac – nothing is installed on your iPhone or iPad. Until Apple comes up with their own solution, Printopia certainly fills the gap. One wonders why Apple themselves didn’t try to do the same.
[ UPDATE 12/10/2010 ]
HP had released firmware updates for 6 additional printers to enable AirPrint support. See the complete list here: AirPrint Support Schedule 2010
