With iOS 11, Apple has radically reduced access to underlying Unix routines that many networking apps rely on. As many of you have already noticed, it is no longer possible to obtain MAC address on iOS 11. Many folks have already detailed the problem in depth (e.g., https://netanalyzer.helpscoutdocs.com/article/119-mac-addresses-arent-available-under-ios-11) so we won’t go into all the ramifications here.

The one silver lining here is that the entire dev community is working with Apple to try to find a solution and as soon as one is found we will update IP Scanner to take advantage of it.

In the interim, we are in the privileged position of being multi-platform and have therefore implemented a way to transfer discovered MAC addresses from the Mac OS version of IP Scanner over to the iOS version, either through a direct data dump, or incrementally using iCloud sync.

To take advantage of this process, you can use any version of IP Scanner for the Mac. Launch the Mac app, then launch the iOS app. Look for the import option in the Scanner Tools.

Thanks to our German friends at Mac & I magazine for highlighting IP Scanner TV in their December issue! The article title “Nützliches auf dem Fernseher” translates roughly to “Useful stuff on the Television”.

If you are running iOS 8 and have DropCopy mobile version 4.94 or later, you can now use our new share extension for DropCopy, which operates from the standard share sheet that is found in many 3rd party apps, as well as from default iOS apps such as Safari.  Whereas before you had to move a file to DropCopy in order to transfer it, you can now transfer URLs, text and other files directly from the host app using this extension; it’s a great new way to transfer files that’s easier than ever.

Here’s how it works:

Look for the ‘share’ button in compatible apps, such as Safari.

By default, all new extensions are disabled.  To enable them, scroll to the ‘More’ button in order to find and enable the DropCopy extension.

Swipe the switch next to DropCopy in order to enable it.

DropCopy should now appear as a valid destination for sharing.

Networks can be amazingly complex; new protocols (and new twists on old ones) appear all the time.  We do our best to accommodate many common situations but sometimes the default configuration of IP Scanner may not be suitable for your network environment.  For example, multicast DNS provides better information with regards to device names, but does not always reflect actual public DNS records for your network segment.

The Debug window, which is accessed from the IP Scanner Help menu, provides a means for power users to tweak IP Scanner’s behaviour.

What are these cryptic options at the bottom?

DNS: enables DNS lookups.  Note: DNS lookups can generate considerable network traffic.
DIG: use DIG for DNS lookups (spawns separate threads) instead of system APIs, DNSServiceQueryRecord(), etc.
LCL: use local multicast DNS queries instead of designated DNS servers

MAC: only display devices that have a valid MAC address
ZZZ: enables support for Bonjour Sleep Proxy detection
NBT: enables scanning for NBT / Windows File Sharing
NDP: enable IPv6 scanning