Even with the release of iPhone 3.0, it lacks some well-expected features. Here is one complaint that I was told by some iPhone users:
How come I can’t save email attachment on iPhone?
On iPhone 3.0, it only allows you to save image in email attachment to photo library. But how about other types of attachment such as PDF, document or excel files? Presently, there is no way to save these kinds of attachment. You can only open the email and view the attachment within the Mail application.
Now, with a jailbroken iPhone, you’ll have the privilege to save email attachment to iPhone’s internal disk. Thanks to the developers of Attachment Saver to make this happen.
Attachment Saver is a hack that tweaks iPhone’s built-in Mail application to allow you to save email attachment. With the hack installed, you’ll see a new option called “Save to Disk” when you tap on the attachment. This option allows you to save the selected attachment to local disk and you can even choose specific folder to save the file.
With multiple email attachment, you can also tap the “Reply arrow” button to save the attachments all at once.
Okay, when you read here, probably you already have a question in your mind. How can you open and read the attachment? When is it saved? iPhone does not come with any file browser to navigate the file system. With jailbroken iPhone, you can install iFile or FileViewer to open the attachment. By default, Attachment Saver saves all your attachment under /private/var/mobile/Library/Attachments. Simply use the file browser application and navigate to the folder. You’ll then find all your email attachments.
Attachment Saver is a paid cydia application and available at Cydia Store for US$1.99. I highly recommend this application if you are in search of the way to save email attachment on iPhone.
Tip: To learn more about how to purchase cydia apps from Cydia Store, check out this walkthrough guide.
Share with Your FriendsWhat's Next?
If you find the post is useful, subscribe to Simon Blog using RSS or Email to get free iPhone updates. Alternatively, you can follow me on Twitter or join us on Facebook.
Related Post you'll like:- View Doc/PDF locally on iPhone
- How to Fix DiskAid or iPhone Browser Issue After Blackra1n Jailbreak
- ContactFlow for iPhone: Navigate Contacts in Cover Flow Style
- EasyWriter – Another iPhone Application for typing Email in landscape orientation
- How To Download File on iPhone using aDownloader
Loading ...
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
is there any known way to change the default place to store the attachments downloaded? thank you very much
/private/var/mobile/Library/Attachments.
Great help , clarified a few things for me. Cheers for sharing the knowledge. Paul
Dear Simon,
your report gives me some hope that a solution is available.
Just to illustrate: As one of the Apple oldies (SE 4/20MB) I waited for the 3GS hoping that the product had matured. Clearly, the iPhone is a nice music/slideshow/video player with added phone functionallity but quite useless for mobile business use.
Here Apple failed shamefully and adds to its long history of believing that they know best of how we should use their products. And unfortunately, their sales success might even confirm their belief.
Harsch words, but unfortunatelly true:
On a trip, I received an excel file as an attachment which needed my urgent input whereafter I needed to send it to someone else. Firstly, I thought I could transfer that attachment to my MacBook Pro (wrong assumption). Thethering was unfortunatley also not available from the network provider.
So the file was somewhere in my iphone, and I was completely taken by surprise and disbelieve that Apple does not allow neither to save the attachment in an accessible location, nor gives me access to the file system nor has any decent offerning in the itunes store.
To solve that, I had to revert to my old Sony Ericsson P1 where I could do all the things I wanted.
My current conclusion if your advise does not help: I will give the iphone to my son to enjoy music and I will buy a decent phone capable of business use.
PS:
If jailbroken, is there a way to access the caller list to account/invoice for the time spend on the phone?
Does this app void the warranty on the iPhone?
@Lisa, to use this app, you will need to jailbreak your iPhone first, that may void the warranty.
Just as Thomas said above, I too had to read a pdf file sent to me on the ipod.
I was amazed at the ipod touch 3 would not allow me to save the attached pdf so as to open it with the app GoodReader.
This app, apparently, opens the pdf in such a way that one needs only scroll vertically. I haven’t been able to verify that myself.
As it is now, to read a pdf file, you need to first find again that old email containing it. Then you will have to be the master of scrolling, both vertically and horizontally to be able to read the pdf document. It should sharpen your psycho-motricity skills. When they tell you the ipod is a game platform…
Hopefully, the some business friendlier Android alternative should come from South Asia in a year or two, just in time for me to replace the ipod.
Hello I already have the Save attachments and I use ifile to browse these files. When i open an excel file it use i think a web viewer or something like that because the letters are very small and I can increase the size.
So all the beatifull of saving an attachment open with a file browser doesn’t work to good if you can’t saw the file.
Any idea???
Ok folks if you want to be able to retrieve files that attachmentsaver doesn’t lock onto such as pdf’s and XML’s etc. there is a very basic way of getting to it.
Whenever you read an email and click on an attachment to view it, what the device does is actually save it temporarily to the local directory : var/mobile/library/mail/attachments
So after finishing reading your email and viewing your PDF or whatever it is you received as an attachment just use Ifile and grab it from this folder.
An important note also is that this saved attachment gets replaced with the next viewed email attachment when loading up a fresh email, so be sure to grab your file and simply transfer it to a different folder of choice before loading up a new emails attachment.
Done.
This is all great but you need to jailbreak your phone – meaning – losing warranty on it. Just got myself a bran-spanking-new iphone 4 and will not risk to do it. Any “legal” ways to achieve the same?
Thanks,
K.
Hi, I have an iphone 4 and this app crashes every time that I tell it to save. I’ve done a hard reboot, and it still does it. Please help. Thanks
I also have an iPhone 4 and I have the same problem
{ 1 trackback }