The world is filled with USB drives, from moveable thumbdrives to full exterior SSDs. Fortunately, you’re not closed off from these simply since you use an iPhone or iPad. Connecting to exterior drives has gotten a lot simpler than it was.
And also you’ll have full learn/write entry to all the things on the drive. You received’t even want to put in any software program, because the app you want comes preinstalled in your gadget.
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A lot simpler
A few of you is likely to be confused as a result of iPhones and USB drives couldn’t actually work collectively for a lot too a few years. You may get across the limitation, nevertheless it took effort and cash. That every one modified with iOS 13/iPadOS 13.
And the newest iPhone and iPad fashions adopted USB-C so in some circumstances connecting is as straightforward as plugging within the drive. In different circumstances, an adapter would possibly nonetheless be wanted.
Newer iPhone and iPad customers can merely plug within the drive
Picture: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
After too a few years of placing the proprietary Lightning port in its telephones and tablets, Apple has now switched practically all its merchandise to USB-C. This makes connecting to many exterior drives as straightforward as every other laptop: simply plug the accent in. That extends from thumbdrives all the best way to exterior SSDs.
The iPhone 15 collection, and any iPad Professional, iPad Air and iPad Air made within the final a number of years all use USB-C. Even the newest price range iPad has it, although Apple nonetheless sells one low-cost pill with Lightning.
For the simplest entry, the drive must assist USB-C — the smallest model of the connector. Some thumb drives just like the Kingston DataTraveler Max have the connector in-built. Bigger drives just like the Kingston XS1000 normally join through a cable.
However there are nonetheless loads of legacy drives on the market with bigger USB-A ports. You’ll want a easy adapter to transform USB-A to USB-C, however that is one each Apple person ought to personal anyway. And there are a plethora for just a few {dollars}.
Plus, a iPhone or iPad with a USB-C port can use virtually any accent designed for laptops, and that features multi-port hubs with USB-A ports. Take a easy instance, the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69). Plug this into your telephone or pill after which plug the drive and you may learn the contents of the drive.
However there are extra full-featured choices. The Plugable USBC-4IN1 is cheap and provides a few USB-A ports and extra. Or there’s the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Media Hub, which is designed for iPad however can be utilized together with your iPhone or MacBook.
I’ve examined connecting a USB drive to my iPhone 15 and iPad many instances. I’ve by no means had any issues.
Picture: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Older iPhone and iPad customers want a Lightning-to-USB adapter
After all, not everybody has the newest and biggest mannequin. In case your iPhone or primary iPad has a Lightning port, connecting to a USB drive requires a special kind of adapter. Luckily, Apple makes simply the one you want.
Plug the (poorly named) Lightning to USB 3 Digicam Adapter ($39) into your gadget, then plug the USB drive into the USB-A port. It’s not rocket science.
Many drives take extra energy than your iPhone or iPad alone can present, however Apple’s adapter additionally features a Lighting port. Plug a charging cable into it, and it’ll present energy to the drive. As a bonus, it’ll additionally cost your handset or pill.
I’ve examined Apple’s Lightning/USB adapter with loads of drives. I examined a bunch is thumbdrives from totally different firms and a spread of capacities. And I attempted the adapter with a Samsung T7 stable state drive. It labored completely with all of them.
The Apple Recordsdata app is all you want
Whether or not you may have an iPhone, iPad or iPad Professional, the one software program you’ll must entry the contents of USB drives is Apple’s Recordsdata utility. Plug within the drive (with the suitable adapter) and it’ll seem within the this app, which comes pre-installed on each iOS and iPadOS gadget.
In the event you’ve accessed a drive in your Mac then you have to be aware of this course of. To see the contents of the drive, go to the Browse display within the Recordsdata utility. In a listing of obtainable drives, like your native iPhone or iPad, you’ll see the title of the USB drive you’re making an attempt to entry. Faucet on it and also you’ll open a window with all of the information and folders.
From there, you are able to do no matter you need. Open information. Transfer them round. Put them in your iPhone or iPad. Copy information out of your gadget to the drive. No matter.
How accessing a USB drive with iPhone or iPad is beneficial
Even on the earth with iCloud, there are nonetheless loads of causes to make use of USB drives. If you wish to carry round a few terabytes of images, work information, films, and many others., and make certain you at all times have entry to them, get an exterior dive and join it to your iPad, iPhone or each.
Together with your information saved regionally, you don’t have to fret in regards to the vagaries of web entry. Even on a airplane, you may at all times pop within the drive and entry your information. Plus, a thumbdrive can maintain proprietary information that you just don’t wish to threat sharing with anybody else.
And contemplate detachable reminiscence playing cards. Apple received’t construct SD or microSD card slots into its units, however card readers all use the USB format. In case you have a drone, it in all probability has an SD card filled with photographs. You’ll be able to simply transfer these footage over to your iPhone or iPad.
This text was first printed in August 2020 and up to date with recent data in October 2023.