With the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, Apple mobile devices received many interesting and useful innovations, thanks to which even the capabilities of these gadgets were rethought. For example, the Files app on iPhone and iPad now fully supports external drives. Now you can even connect the most standard USB flash drive to your iPhone and work with it without any restrictions. It is worth using this solution and feeling all the benefits from it.
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Connecting a flash drive to an iPhone or iPad is an inexpensive way to expand memory
It used to be that everything related to Apple products - accessories and functionality expansion options - was necessarily expensive. Connecting an external drive can also be an expensive task at first glance. But don’t be afraid - you won’t have to buy an expensive branded Lightning / USB adapter to connect a camera from Apple for 3 thousand rubles. The adapter can be any high-quality analogue.
You can find a similar adapter in any store with various types of cables or even on Aliexpress, which supplies all these products to our market. And the adapter from Lightning to USB will cost much less than the branded one.
So, you have an adapter on hand, and iOS 13 (or later) is installed on your iPhone or iPad. Now use it to connect a regular flash drive to your smartphone. The connected drive must be identified in the Locations section of the Browse tab of the standard iOS Files application.
The adapter itself looks very simple - at one end there is a female connector for connecting USB devices, and at the other there is a Lightning connector for connecting to an iPhone. The differences from the branded adapter lie only in the build quality. Nevertheless, the Apple product stands out for its pleasant-to-touch material; the plastic is solid and does not creak.
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Popular apps
Modern developers offer flash drives that can connect to a computer and mobile device. Among the most popular are the following:
- Greendisk;
- SanDisk iXpand;
- KINGSTON DataTraveler Bolt Duo.
In order to use the flash drive program for iPhone, you do not need any special skills. All you need to do is record documents, movies or music on a removable drive and insert it into your mobile device. You can also copy the necessary information into the application, which will allow you to save the data of interest.
Possibility of working with a flash drive on an iPhone or iPad
So, we have already found out that connecting a flash drive to an iPhone or iPad can be simple and really inexpensive. Now let's look at the possibilities of working together between Apple devices, Lightning / USB adapter + USB flash drive. You can copy various types of files to a flash drive, and then open them on your smartphone or tablet.
1. Video. The size of modern smartphones already makes it quite comfortable to watch movies and TV series on them. It’s just that the storage capacity is constantly not enough. Connecting a flash drive solves this problem. You no longer have to download gigabytes of video to your iPhone or iPad for later viewing while traveling. You can simply write files to a flash drive, and then open them in the Files application and then view them using the built-in player. Of course, this application cannot be called flexible and functional, but for simple viewing it is quite enough.
2. Music. A similar approach applies to the music library. True, more and more often users do not bother to download tracks directly into the memory of the iPhone or iPad - the Apple Music solution makes such a task meaningless.
3. Migration of photos and videos. The flash drive allows you to upload any photo or video from your smartphone to it. To do this, the file must first be transferred from the “Photo” storage, where it is originally located, to “Files”. Of course, this solution looks like a kind of “crutch”, however, the final goal is achieved - multimedia in its original resolution ends up on a flash drive. And then you can do whatever you want with it - give it to friends or transfer it to your computer.
4. Documents. Using a flash drive to work with documents on an iPhone is very convenient. For example, you can copy files in PDF or DOC format to the drive, and then open it in “Files”. At the same time, it is advisable to install a high-quality file manager on the device, for example, Documents from Readdle, which allows you to comfortably work with documents. It is quite possible that “Files” will not even support the format of the existing file, but it is possible to work with it in an application that supports it.
Bonus. Thanks to the Lightning / USB adapter, you can also connect a wired gamepad to your iPhone or iPad.
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How does a flash drive for iPhone work?
The functionality of removable drives is almost identical, so all flash drives have access to content through a special application. FileBrowser is a convenient application that allows you to view and organize files on mobile devices. Thanks to the latest updates, the program has received full support for the iOS 11 file manager. Therefore, users can independently manage all documents from the Files application.
The FileBrowser program freely interacts with third-party flash drives. The user just needs to insert the flash drive into the device, and the gadget will automatically detect it and open the main menu. You can download any document from the drive or upload the necessary information to it.
Xpand Sync app
The SanDisk iXpand size is 239.6 MB. The program simplifies file transfer and increases the memory capacity of the iPhone. This application allows you to clear your memory of new pictures, protect videos and photos with a password, listen to music directly from the disk and watch movies on the screen of your mobile device.
For correct operation, you need to download the program for opening a flash drive on an iPhone, Xpand Sync. This application can be installed from the AppStore. After launching the program, a file manager with media content loaded onto the disk will appear on the screen. The application has a simple and user-friendly interface, as well as many useful functions.
USB Disk Program
Using the USB Disk program, you can use your iPhone as a regular removable storage device. Users can freely move files from different gadgets to a mobile device, laptop or player. This application has an intuitive interface, so it is not difficult for users to understand it.
The main field of the application contains a directory with files. They can be copied, rearranged, shuffled, or forwarded. A special utility allows you to connect several devices of the same type and transfer files. The main advantage of this program is the convenient principle of operation itself. The application does not affect processor performance, so the owner can use the device without any problems. The program is provided absolutely free and allows you to get the most out of it.
User reviews
To form an objective opinion about the flash drive program for iPhone, you can study reviews from real users. Some indicate that instead of special applications, you can use cloud storage. Other users claim that the iPhone flash drive program does not show track names when playing music.
Some comments contain information that a removable drive can help out on long trips when you want to listen to music, read a book or watch a movie. Programs for connecting a flash drive to an iPhone are widely popular among users because they allow you to perform many useful operations.
Greendisk application
The manufacturer of flash drives UGREEN is especially popular. To use the gadget correctly, users will need to download the Greendisk application. Then we connect the flash drive to the iPhone and download the Greendisk application. After launching this program, the user will see the contents of the flash drive. In the presented menu, you can open access to shooting photos, videos and other data.
You can perform various actions with files: move, copy and delete. The program allows you to open documents and watch movies without converting files. The user can copy files from the flash drive to the iPhone and view them later. To copy, just click on the “Change” button and select the appropriate files. Greendisk is a convenient program for reading flash drives on iPhone, which is completely translated into Russian.
Benefits of PhotoFast
Now a little about why PhotoFast is recommended to be used when working with Apple products. What advantages does it have?
This application, as already mentioned, does not stand out with its interface. It can be called boring and simple. But at the same time, the functionality of the program does not leave you indifferent.
Firstly, using PhotoFast you can save messages and receive letters from external mail. Secondly, it is universal. The program works with almost any format. Thirdly, data from mail can be downloaded directly into the phone’s memory or directly onto the card.
Another advantage of “PhotoFast” is that this application works with .zip and .rar formats. Archives are recognized without much difficulty. Accordingly, PhotoFast makes the iPhone a universal phone.
Additional storage options
If you don't have enough storage on your device, although most iPhones usually have plenty of storage, you can remove a lot of unnecessary apps, games, videos and other media from your phone. Also, some useless apps have a tendency to update themselves automatically.
Alternatively, it will be very convenient to move most photos, videos or audio recordings to cloud storage so that they do not take up a huge amount of phone memory. This way, there will be more space, the need for an additional memory card will disappear, and your personal data will be stored on secure servers, and you can view them at any time.
Suitable cards
First of all, let's look at which MicroSD memory cards are suitable for an iPhone. No SD card directly fits the device. Manufacturers of Apple equipment do not provide microSD slots in their phones. It is simply impossible to insert a memory card into an iPhone. However, on Chinese fake iOS devices you can see a port for external storage. But it is important to know that this is not the case with original products. Still, despite this, advanced users have found a way to solve this problem.
