How to use a USB drive with iPhone or iPad

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How to use a USB drive with iPhone or iPad

How to use a USB drive with iPhone or iPad

A surprising and useful feature of iOS 13 and iPad iOS 13 is also nearly invisible and requires a special adapter for most uses. The Files app can now “see” external storage devices thanks to this functionality.

That’s huge: generic flash drives, SD card readers, and even powered USB hard drives can now transfer data to and from an iPhone or iPad. It’s also a great way to play videos and other files that won’t fit in your device’s free room. (You’ll also need an app on your iOS computer to open the files—try VLC for Mobile for videos.)

Any unencrypted file system supported by the Mac’s Disk Utility should be readable by iOS, including the PC-focused MS-DOS (FAT) and exFAT, as well as the Apple-focused MacOS Extended (HFS+) and APFS. If you want to share a drive with a PC, use exFAT; if you want to use it within the Apple ecosystem, use Mac OS Extended.

After connecting external devices or servers to your iPhone, such as USB drives and SD cards, file servers, and other cloud storage services like Box and Dropbox, you can use the Files app to access files stored on them.

Connect a USB drive or an SD card

In the charging port on iPhone, plug in a Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, or Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader (all sold separately).

A USB power adapter can be used to power the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. This enables you to attach iPhone to USB devices that need more power, such as external hard drives.

Choose one of the following options:

  • Attach a USB drive: To connect a USB drive to the camera adapter, use the USB cable that came with the device.
  • Place an SD memory card in the card reader as follows: Don’t push the card into the reader’s slot; it only fits one way.

To see the contents of the computer, go to the bottom of the screen and tap Browse, then tap the device’s name under Locations. If you don’t see Locations, go back to the bottom of the page and tap Browse again.

Simply remove the gadget from the iPhone’s connector to disconnect it.

Connect to a computer or file server

  • At the top of the Browse tab, tap the More button.
  • If the More button isn’t available, tap Browse again.
  • Connect to the server by tapping it.
  • Tap Connect after entering a local hostname or a network address.
  • Choose how you’d like to connect:
  • Guest: If the shared machine allows it, you can interact as a guest user.
  • If you choose a Registered Account, you must enter your user’s name and password.
  • In the Browse screen, tap Next, then pick the server volume or shared folder
  • Tap the Eject button next to the server in the Browse screen to disconnect from the file server.
  • See Set up file sharing on Mac in the macOS User Guide for instructions on how to set up your Mac to share files.

iPad Pro users need a USB-C-to-USB adapter

If you rent an iPad Pro and need to connect existing devices such as external displays or i/o accessories a USB adapter by apple is essential. You can rent adapters as well as the iPad. You can get a drive that uses the same format as this computer’s USB-C port. This includes everything from portable hard drives to external SSDs. However, this isn’t a solution for legacy drives with wider USB-A ports. An adapter is needed.

There are a lot of them, fortunately. Almost any USB-C accessory designed for notebooks, including multi-port hubs with USB-A ports, can be used with the iPad Pro. Take the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69) as an example. You can read the contents of the drive-by plugging this into your iPad and then plugging in the drive.

However, there are several other choices. Sanho’s HyperDrive iPad Pro ($89.99) is one of my favorites, but the Satechi Slim Aluminum Type-C Multi-Port Adapter V2 ($69.99 USD / £50 GBP) can also be used for iPad Pro and MacBook.

A very wide range of ipad accessories are available on rental for b2b requirements. If you wish to rent iPad or rent any iPad accessory bundled for your business or event need please get in touch with one of our rental experts.