Flow is a new FTP app made by Extendmac. There are many FTP for the Mac out there for example there is Transmit made by Panic which is said to be the best and Cyberduck the free FTP app. Flow has made some ripple in the FTP market. I have previously use Cyberduck as there was nothing that made me really want to move to a payed app. Flow has some really cool features and some other things.

Speed

I did not think that FTP apps could have varying speed that were noticeable and compared to Cyberduck Flow is extremely quick some people have said ti is the fastest FTP app out there, that is a big label to carry and yet it keeps going fast.

Quicklook

The new feature in leopard that allows you to view any file with a tap of the space bar in seconds. Yep that is the one it is in Flow and works great there is a little icon that you look for and then it works as normal. Cyberduck and Transmit do not have the feature but Cyberduck beta 3 does so you might see that soon in Transmit but Flow is the only one to have it now.

Feel

One of the things that make a Mac amazing is how everything looks great and feels it and Flow is not exception it has one of the best UI’s I have seen. With the help of Core-animation There are quick a few effects and transition inside that app that add its slickness.

Path and Tabs

The path is one of those small but yet oh so helpful features. Flow has a path at the bottom of the window so you can just click back and forth really quickly. Tabs again is an amazing feature I makes it so easy to copy things from one folder to another from one server to another.

Editing

Most of us edit our piece of code and then upload it to your sever but when we need to edit again we have to download it then edit it and upload it again. This can be really complicated and long to do. Flow offers the ability to edit with in it and on to the server. You juts click edit and you are off. It also offers a live previews for stuff like HTML so you can view it.

The Downsides

There are really very few downsides to Flow but I have come across one problem. Some of the time when you upload an image it get corrupt and the only way to fix it is to disconnect and reconnect. It does not happen that often but it is very annoying. Another problem I have come across is when you quit the app which out disconnecting it can destroy some files, for example once I lost a whole styles sheet to it but luckily I had a backup.

Conclusion

Flow is a great app for FTP and I reckon in a couple weeks they will have all the kinks out. The is really not that much missing and the whole app could really improve you workflow and the speed you work at. It cost $29 which for an FTP app is about average.