Free utility turns iPhone, iPod into a flash drive

iPhone Explorer provides a familiar drag-and-drop interface for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

(Credit: myPod Apps)

Ever wish you could use your iPhone or iPod Touch as mobile storage? Older iPods let you do exactly that by running in "disk mode," but that option doesn't exist for the new guys.

Enter iPhone Explorer, a free utility that effectively turns your iPhone or Touch into a flash drive--no jailbreaking required.

In other words, it provides a drag-and-drop interface for the contents of your device. And it's available for both Windows and Mac.

Before you download it, a word of warning: This is not a tool for novices. The first time you run iPhone Explorer, a decidedly confusing pop-up asks which root directory you want.

What's more, monkeying with the files and folders on your device could cause unintended problems.

On the other hand, if you're looking for an easy way to copy, say, photos and music from your device to your PC, or you just want to leverage available storage space to transport some files, iPhone Explorer provides exactly the tools you need.

Know of a better solution? Let's hear about it in the comments!