There are FTP clients, and then there’s Flow. Ever since Adam Betts wrote about the Flow (may 2007) on his blog, I’ve been captivated by this beautifully crafted FTP client. As a Coda user however, I never really got a chance to use this FTP client, and eventually I forgot about it. A few days ago one of our team members mentioned Flow, and I thought I’d take a look at what it has grown into. 

Turns out my review is just in time, as 1.1.1 has been released just today! I played around with the beta versions for a few days just to see that everything works. With a lot of fixes in its kitty [release notes], Flow 1.1.1 brings enhanced local browsing support, fixes for Amazon S3, WebDAV and MobileMe iDisk. So without further ado, here’s what Flow is all about.

The User Interface

If there’s one thing that sets this app apart, its a well thought out user interface. Helpful Core Animation effects aside, everything is placed just right. At all times, you know exactly where you are, and the path bar can be used to quickly jump to wherever you wish to go.  

Features

If you thought Flow was all about the looks, take a look at the arsenal of features. I honestly didn’t think there’d be so many of them. Besides regular old FTP and SFTP features, Flow comes loaded with some features you might not even need. 

Full Support for Amazon S3, WebDAV, and MobileMe iDisk
Connecting to your MobileMe iDisk is super simple, and requires just your username and password. Once connected, things are at least 2x faster than using plain old finder. All your local files are available in the sidebar (finally!), or you can drag files in from any Finder window. If you want quick file transfers to your iDisk, FTP is the way to go.

I don’t have an Amazon S3 account so I couldn’t test that out, but it looks just as simple.

Editing
Flow features a built in text editor, albeit a basic one. So if you want to just change a few details in your web documents, just double click and you can edit them directly on the server. Of course, editing with your favourite editor is just a right click away. Note that this editor can only be used for the most basic tasks, as it doesn’t have any features that might be required for coding web pages.

QuickLook
Everyone who uses Leopard loves Quick Look (you should try it sometimes!). I was very surprised to find Quick Look support directly in Flow. Hit spacebar and out pops the window. 

Copying URLs
Flow is supposed to be URL smart, being able to copy a URL on your remote server or open it in your browser. This would have been a very handy feature, had it worked. Unfortunately, I tried Flow on two different Macs and three different FTP connections, but in all cases all I saw were greyed out options. Update: Apparently, one needs to set the base url for the copying URLs feature to work. Instructions for that are in this help page. Works very well now, and is awesome! 

I also really like the bookmarks feature, where you can store all your web locations in a convenient sidebar, as well as the stunning transfers view. 

The baddies

Yes, there are some of those as well. I noticed Flow crashes every now and then, with no resume-where-you-left-off support. The new version being in a crash report sending feature, so hopefully they will take care of the bugs. 

The second baddie, is support. Whenever I review an application, I always check out what the support is like. I usually send in a fake support request just to guage the quality of support. Sadly, I didn’t even get a reply to the two support requests I sent in. That is just plain unacceptable.

I then spoke to Brian Amerige, the lead developer of Flow, who admitted that their support system is flawed. He said they are going to bring in a new support system when it’s ready. “We don’t want to rush anything out the door”, he says. Watch out for updates regarding this on the ExtendMac Blog.

In conclusion

Flow is a really sweet FTP client, one that literally stays far ahead of the rest in terms of user interface, simplicity, and features. However, the small time crashes (3 times in 13 days) do bring it down to earth, while the lack of after sales support is a bit disturbing. However, considering that you don’t really need any support since the entire app is so easy to use, I’d leave it aside as something that shouldn’t matter much. 

I personally use Coda for my little FTP needs, while many others use the free Cyberduck (also fully featured) for their FTP purposes. But when it comes to a good mix of features and stunning interface, you can’t go wrong with Flow. At $30 for a single user license, Flow is decently priced. A 15 day trial awaits, but I think if it’s simple and clean FTP you need, Flow will win you over.