Now and then, we talk about cloud services that allows you store and access your data from anywhere. Certainly I’m not a fan of such services, because there is a much better way to access your files remotely. How about accessing your computer from mobile without storing its data on a Cloud storage? You don’t need to store any files on a cloud storage, but you get an access to those from Android, iOS or Kindle. Polkast, is one such service that provides personal cloud to help you access files stored on your Mac, Linux, Windows or NAS storage device (ZyXel or Synology) from an Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices. All you need is an internet connection. Interesting isn’t? Let me explain after the fold.
The idea behind Polkast is to provide a platform for users to directly access and manage their content across multiple devices, thus by saving your money spent on cloud storage solutions. It seems quite logical, why would you want to store a file on cloud storage, when you can have a direct access to it?
Getting Started
Go to Polkast and download PC application, install it and sign-up with the service. Now jump to your device and install Polkast application. Done? Sign-in with the registered email and password.
You will have to create a ‘Homebase’ on your computer. Polkast allows you create multiple homebases for the pro users and one homebase for a free account. After signing-in, you will get a dashboard where you can manage files and folders. Make use of the sidebar to browse your computer and the shared items.
Configure Homebase
In order to manage the homebase (at your computer; the files you wish to access from mobile), jump to Settings > Manage Access from the app’s menu bar and in the pop up window, add or remove folders. You may also integrate iTunes library for remote access.
Access from Mobile
Homebase is configured? Now you are all set to access the files from mobile. Launch the Polkast app and sign-in to choose the Homebase. You should be able to access the files stored on your computer via internet. If the mobile and computer are in same network, then Polkast suggests to access it over Wi-Fi (in case, if your mobile data sucks!).
Overall, Polkast is an ideal platform for those who want to access their data from anywhere without spending much on Cloud storage solutions.
