Airprint Activator, now known as handyPrint, is an app that lets you put Airprint support on older printing devices that do not natively support this protocol. Designed to run on iOS and Mac OS X, handyPrint may be a great solution for those who either have older printers, or find that Airprint support has been lost during an OS upgrade. We couldn’t find handyPrint on the App Store, but there are several sites, including the publisher’s (netputing.com), that offer downloads.
handyPrint installs on your favorite iDevice easily enough. It integrates with the menu bar, adding a new “Open handyPrint” option that pops up a dialog allowing you to control Airprint access through handyPrint or not. It also shows local printers that are discovered on the network, allowing you to support them through Airprint (even if they do not have native Airprint support). For handyPrint to work with a shared networked printer, the printer has to be accessible by a Mac OS or iOS device that is on and can see the printer, acting as a hub for Airprint capabilities. Turn that device off, and Airprint capabilities to that printer is lost (unless you have other devices that have it enabled).
handyPrint is very easy to use. We added several older Canon and HP printers to our iMac hub device and could then use handyPrint to access them from any iOS or MacOS device that was sharing that iMac. In use, handyPrint is transparent and most users won’t worry about Airprint support at all. For those with older printers, handyPrint is a really useful app.