OK, I hate iTunes and don't want or need to synch my phone to anything. Is there a good file management app that will allow me to simply drag and drop or copy and paste files (photos, movies, pdfs, etc) to and from my XR and PC? It seems the only thing Apple lets you do without iTunes is copy photos FROM the iPhone but nothing else. I had to do this last night with a pdf file and the only way with iTunes seems to be to copy it to the "books" folder then synch to the phone. What an ever lovin' PITA.
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File management
- Thread starter raylo32
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It is Apple plan to make it hard or impossible. I use Dropbox so everything there is available for my iPad.
I had forgotten about this issue since I haven't managed any files beyond attachments on my work iPhone in a long time. If I had remembered it I might have gone back to Android. This is so asinine. Not wanting to use cloud services for PII and forget about movies. Too many GB and again don't want them synched between all my PCs and devices. I just want to be able to take what I want when I want and delete it when done.
I have been begging for this since 2007. This to me is a no-brainer.
Everyone has and uses thumb drives and USB hard drives. Android phones, for a DECADE now, have enjoyed simple USB capability to any computer. Windows, Mac, Linux... Just plug it in and drag and drop whatever files you want back and forth. No iTunes, no app, no weird workarounds.
And the partition containing the Android file system, isn't mounted to be shared, so you can't really mess things up by accidentally deleting system files...
ITunes is an abomination. It's horrible. It is so convoluted to do simple tasks, takes forever, etc...
I wish that Apple would just join the other 86% of the world that doesn't use iPhones and allow simple USB file transfers...
I am a big boy. I bought my phone, and I know how to drag and drop, Apple. Seriously, I got this. Let me just drag over my music and video over to "Music" and "Video" folders on the device... or let me create a folder called "Manuals" where I can just drag over user manuals for my bikes and atvs... or a "work files" folder, etc...
Yes, there is Google Drive and Drop Box and all that... but I don't want to have to wait 10 min and chew up data for that when I can just plug it in and do it in seconds...
Everyone has and uses thumb drives and USB hard drives. Android phones, for a DECADE now, have enjoyed simple USB capability to any computer. Windows, Mac, Linux... Just plug it in and drag and drop whatever files you want back and forth. No iTunes, no app, no weird workarounds.
And the partition containing the Android file system, isn't mounted to be shared, so you can't really mess things up by accidentally deleting system files...
ITunes is an abomination. It's horrible. It is so convoluted to do simple tasks, takes forever, etc...
I wish that Apple would just join the other 86% of the world that doesn't use iPhones and allow simple USB file transfers...
I am a big boy. I bought my phone, and I know how to drag and drop, Apple. Seriously, I got this. Let me just drag over my music and video over to "Music" and "Video" folders on the device... or let me create a folder called "Manuals" where I can just drag over user manuals for my bikes and atvs... or a "work files" folder, etc...
Yes, there is Google Drive and Drop Box and all that... but I don't want to have to wait 10 min and chew up data for that when I can just plug it in and do it in seconds...
I'm wondering if Dropbox or Google Drive would benefit you as far as transferring files.
This is one of many areas where Apple claims they want to "make things simpler for the user" so they lock it down, and the result is that they actually make it more complicated and harder for people who need this functionality...
Just give us a damned app on the device, that creates a share partition, where we can set it to how much space we want to allocate, and then it just acts like a standard USB thumb drive. No need to use wifi and ftp or any dumb crap like that.
The rest of the world has enjoyed this for 10 years. Apple, it's time. LOL
Just give us a damned app on the device, that creates a share partition, where we can set it to how much space we want to allocate, and then it just acts like a standard USB thumb drive. No need to use wifi and ftp or any dumb crap like that.
The rest of the world has enjoyed this for 10 years. Apple, it's time. LOL
This is my pet peeve with Apple. They tell you what you need and don't listen to what you think you need. They tell you how to use your phone and don't ask what you would like to do with your phone. For years it was "you don't need a bigger phone"... until they finally jump onboard and offer things called pluses and maxes. But only after years of denial.
It took me 20 minutes last night to transfer this one file.. because who knew that pdfs could only go into the books "folder"? What's wrong with photos... or just the "files" folder? With normal USB drive functionality this would have taken 30 seconds.
It took me 20 minutes last night to transfer this one file.. because who knew that pdfs could only go into the books "folder"? What's wrong with photos... or just the "files" folder? With normal USB drive functionality this would have taken 30 seconds.
I went through this a couple years ago with my iPad Pro... I wanted a large PDF, a shop manual for one of my ATVs on the device...
I couldn't just copy it over like I could on my Android device... On my Note, it was plug it in, drag it over, drop it, unplug it. 20 seconds. And to open it, Android has a file manager app, just like your PC or Macbook does, click the file, it opens it. Couldn't be any simpler...
And then there is the Apple way of doing it. Downloading and installing an app, and then fiddling with iTunes to copy it over. 15 minutes. And you are right, I could only transfer it to the Books app.
Then to use is, I would have to use the app that I copied it with, find it, click on it, and it would try to open it with the default PDF viewer app, it wouldn't give me a choice. And at the time, that app could only read files up to 50mb, which this was well over. So I had to go find the PDF, load it with the default app, it would fail and allow me to select another app to open it with, and then and only then could I open it.
The kicker then became, when I wanted to open it again at some point. There was no ability to set my preferred app, so I would have to open the first app, find it again, tell it to open it with the wrong app, wait for it to fail and then give me the option to use the app I wanted to use in the first place, etc... You had to do that EVERY TIME you wanted to open a stupid PDF.
What you could do, was import the app to my preferred viewer, but because of how Apple puts a wall around every app, you now have TWO COPIES of the PDF taking up space on your device.
It is the most archaic, insane and wasteful and counter-intuitive way to do things, IMHO. There is nothing user friendly or "it just works" about it. If it takes me this much hassle to copy and open a stupid PDF on the device, imagine me trying to explain this to my mom over the phone. LOL
Apple claims to be so easy to use, but they aren't. I think that people have been so firmly entrenched in the Apple world that they don't know what they don't know. They just chalk it up to "this is how things work" and they have no idea that the rest of the Phone/tablet world cracked this nut 10 years ago... haha
I would like to mention that you have two choices:
You can sit in anger and rage against something that you're not going to change at this time.
OR
You can make changes to your work habits to implement practices that will get the job done.
One of those choices will benefit you while the other will do no more than waste your resources.
Yes, this is insane. Luckily my mom doesn't really understand files or need to handle any beyond what she processes on her PC. And the thing is I bet 90% of iPhone users are the same. They just chat, do e-mail and Facebook.
He's still right to be annoyed though. This is Apple's way. A usually broken way. They have self imposed limitations and options, and they force users to jump through hoops or simply do without industry standard functionality. You have to change and mold your usage habits around their limitations and deficits, rather than the device conforming to you and how you like or need to work.
But your point is valid in that Apple doesn't care. They never have. Until the pain gets to the point of hurting sales, Apple won't address it...their loyal fans will follow them straight off a cliff, smiling while they do it.
I play on both sides of the fence, Apple and Android, and have since the iPhone 3G. But people who only play on the Apple side, often don't know what they are missing... or they don't see the benefit of the Android side because they have simply never had those features as options... They don't see what they have as "broken", and from their perspective, it isn't. They molded their usage around those limitations.
But in that sense, the post office isn't "broken". It works the same today as it did 50 or 100 years ago.
But we still have better options with the internet, email, global satcom, etc...
But if all you ever used and knew was the post office mail, you probably wouldn't understand the benefit of the other options...
LOL... I paid my $799 for the XR, I will complain if I want to.
[doublepost=1542812492][/doublepost]Exactly, I play on both sides, too... I loved my old Galaxy S3 and if I had thought about this more I may have deferred my purchase to see what the Galaxy S10 looks like next year. But I needed a phone. The iPhones do "just work" for the operating system and basic functionality, which is really nice. But this other stuff? Sheesh. Why Apple won't give you the option to do things you want that don't detract from their product and ecosystem is beyond me.
Yes, you paid good money for the iPhone. You didn't, however, pay for the operating system running on that iPhone. As you can see from the license agreement that you had to click through when you set up the system, Apple owns the OS.. you have a license to use the OS. Perhaps your complaint stems in part from the misunderstanding that you bought and own the operating system that you're so determined to complain about?
You are, of course, free to believe what you want. But, knowing the truth does alleviate a lot of frustration
Or, perhaps this is a very common request from a lot of Apple owners over the past 10 years.
It really is an industry standard feature, and it is annoying that Apple won't allow us to have it.
And as paying customers, perhaps this annoys us. There is no reason for us NOT to have this.
This is yet another example of how Apple thinks that its users are too stupid to know what they want, or that they can't be trusted with basic functions that the 86% of the world smartphone market, that isn't Apple based, already has and enjoys.
I understand differentiation... But being different in a limiting way, doesn't seem like a selling point. I mean, selling a car with square tires would certainly set you apart in the marketplace... haha
It really is an industry standard feature, and it is annoying that Apple won't allow us to have it.
And as paying customers, perhaps this annoys us. There is no reason for us NOT to have this.
This is yet another example of how Apple thinks that its users are too stupid to know what they want, or that they can't be trusted with basic functions that the 86% of the world smartphone market, that isn't Apple based, already has and enjoys.
I understand differentiation... But being different in a limiting way, doesn't seem like a selling point. I mean, selling a car with square tires would certainly set you apart in the marketplace... haha
That's a workaround, but it would still be nice to just have a simple USB file transfer protocol... I mean how long have thumb drives and stuff been around? 20 years?
It's time. LOL
It's time. LOL
Oh, I agree, it is annoying.. I won't discount that. I just feel that time is better spent finding a solution rather than complaining about something that I cannot change right now. I'll deal with "annoying" later, if it's worth my time.
Fair enough, but on the flip side, if enough people demand it, Apple might listen...
At one time, Apple wouldn't let you send pics via text... they decided that the "proper way" was via email, despite every other smartphone, and even flip phones, supported MMS.
At one time Apple felt that we didn't need to be able to copy and paste from one app to another. I mean, why would you want to copy something from an email and drop it into a text or document? Crazy, right? But Apple knew best...
At one time Apple scoffed at and made fun of screens larger than a postage stamp, until the Note started dominating sales...
At one time Apple said we didn't need wireless charging...
I could go on, and on, and on...
I am hoping that as Android keeps dominating the market, that Apple continues to adopt these common, basic features that people have been clamoring for... If we just sit as loyal sheep, eating whatever outdated crap they feed us, then they have no incentive to change and be more competitive...
And you are welcome to go comment in a thread where someone might give a shirt about your opinion.
You are, of course, free to believe what you want. But, knowing the truth does alleviate a lot of frustration
Yeah, I'm sorry I had to post that, but the one thing that bothers me more than Apple's cavalier attitude towards users is other users who mindlessly defend them. It is quite the hive mentality.
Good to read your posts and I am glad to know I am not the only one that wishes Apple would step up their game and listen to us a little more.
And in terms of file management I'd also love to see a SD card slot... but baby steps... baby steps.
Good to read your posts and I am glad to know I am not the only one that wishes Apple would step up their game and listen to us a little more.
And in terms of file management I'd also love to see a SD card slot... but baby steps... baby steps.
I think that is probably what bothers me most about diehard apple fanboys. Lets be honest, both sides have them...
Apple fans try to defend 4 year old tech and pretend it is innovative and that the lack of common everyday features is somehow a good thing...
And Android fans fail to realize that despite that, if the Apple fans are happy with what they have, to just leave them alone and not try to convert them...
I have always used both. Apple has the best tablets and watch, while Android clearly has the edge on phones.
If Android had a watch that was truly comparable to the Apple Watch, I would have stayed with Android for the phone, and keep using my iPad Pro for my tablet... BUt Android doesn't have a watch that good... so my decision was to get another iPhone.
My logic is that while it does lack things, it is "good enough", and allows me to have the better watch.
True fanboys, I don't think see things that way... they are all about MY TEAM and they won't even consider the facts...
Yeah, both sides. I've been an Android user since day one, owning a lot of devices, many of which I rooted and installed custom ROMs on. The Air 2 was my first iOS device, followed by my current 10.5 I still have an Android phone but I don't see ever getting another Android tablet (I still have my 8" Galaxy Tab S2 which I rarely use). The iOS shortcomings discussed here initially drove me nuts but I've learned to live with them, using uSD & SD card readers, SMB connections, and wireless FileHubs. I'd like to see Apple open things up but I frankly don't see that happening.