Transmit 5

Our Mac file-transfer favourite gets in sync with the modern web. US$45 | PANIC.COM

Transmit 5 has been a long time coming, and web services have moved on a lot since its predecessor arrived — although the need for a robust, usable file-transfer tool remains. Fortunately, this release greatly widens the app’s support for cloud storage solutions. It still works with SFTP, Amazon S3 and WebDAV, and adds support for Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, Rackspace Cloud Files and more. You might question the inclusion of Dropbox and its ilk, but their native apps typically require you to sync everything you store there to your Mac. With Transmit, you can grab only you need.

The app’s interface has been spruced up with Panic’s chunky Mac toolbar tabs, and a visual aesthetic echoing Transmit’s iOS incarnation. There are practical tweaks, too: a Places bar for stashing per-server folder shortcuts; an Inspector sidebar to delve into an item’s details; and an Activity window, for peeking at current and recent activity.

The flip side is a peppering of quirks that may grate: the reduced toolbar drag area when you have several tabs open; the Inspector’s inability to automatically preview a selected image (you must use macOS’s Quick Look feature); and the Activity window omitting a full list of pending uploads.

On balance, though, Transmit 5 is a noticeable improvement. It’s faster — fling loads of files at an SFTP server, say, and it blazes through them compared to version 4. And there’s a sense of Panic sweating the details to boost productivity. Real-time sync capabilities include a simulation option, so you can check your settings won’t cause chaos. There’s batch renaming, copy and paste for files, and options to define custom cloud server headers. Also, Panic Sync has arrived on the Mac, so you can share server details with Coda, and Panic’s iOS apps.

There’s no getting away from the fact some of this stuff is Transmit playing catch-up, Panic wrenching its app into the present; Panic Sync’s omission from the Mac version of Transmit has been notably perverse. But minor grumbles aside, there’s no doubting this latest release again propels Transmit to the head of the file-transfer app pack — on any platform.

A solid update to a dependable app, with a smattering of great new features.

Craig Grannell