Most consumers have been under the impression that ever since Apple introduced the AirPrint feature into iOS all problems related to wireless printing may well have been resolved. But, the real story is a little different. This futuristic technology still hasn’t led to the advent of the wireless office and that is backed by a set of reasons.
As an individual user, you wouldn’t notice the shortcomings as a large company or organization would. It’s amusing to know that AirPrint only supports over 200 printers, which is a big drawback. However, the most crucial requirement that is expected out of mobile printing technology is that many organizations require the printer to be instructed from anywhere on the planet.
Recent surveys show that the primary reason why people are not availing the mobile printing option is because they don’t have access to a compatible printer. Despite there being numerous apps, both free and paid, offering solutions, there are still limitations in place that restrict freely available wireless printing.
The Reality of Printing From a Mobile Device
We’ll look into some of the better alternatives to AirPrint later, but many still have the same deficiency: medium/large companies have networks which preclude connectivity.
Out of necessity these networks are tightly locked down, you can’t simply arrive as a guest or even as an employee and gain full network access. If you’re lucky you’ll gain access to a guest network, many of which don’t have printers included on them. The many pitfalls continue even with full network access with firewalls, selected access to printers divided by group access and other network protocols limiting this.
In the quest to mitigate this problem some cloud based offerings have started to make a big impact. Cloud Printing seems to be the way forward, with two particular services standing out: HP’s ePrint and Google’s Cloud Print service. Of these Google’s offering has the edge as it can work any platform and device.
Advantages of Google Cloud Print
- It can work on any device.
- All brands of printers are supported.
- It’s free!
Disadvantages
- A device must be using the Chrome Web Browser and be running Google Docs.
- Print output is hard to control; there are limited ways in which the document can be printed.
- System Administrators can’t change print policies on the documents-such as limiting print runs and color schemes. A potentially expensive downfall.
Apps to Take Advantage of Cloud Print
Android: Cloud Print is a free app that allows printing from any device and even supports text messaging printing. Easy Print is another free Google Play store offering, but as at this time the ad-supported app only supports Google Cloud.
iOS Devices: One of the most reviewed and well regarded printing apps is the paid app: Print Central Pro. Many services are supported including Google Cloud Printing.
Device Agnostic:
- Kodak Email Print-allows remote printing to any Kodak printer.
- Paperless Printer/Cloud Printer: Cloud is one of the better choices for Mac and Paperless Printer is one of the better non-commercial virtual printers.