Files app should be able to access everything on your device

[Mascots]

"On my iPad" works for me.

It is simply a container for files offline for local use... In mine I have a "Keynote" and "Pages" app folders which can have documents moved into them. At the moment, though, those files are not accessible by Pages or Keynote directly since "On my iPad" is not listed in the "Locations" section within the apps, yet.

Apple was never going to open up the iPad's file system, but they're willing to expand their sandbox.

 

[Rogifan]

/thread

I don’t have installed ON MY iPHONE. I’m running it right now on my 12.9 iPad.
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I wouldn’t consider those files either. Since you did put them through iTunes, I would imagine them only being used within their respectable media apps (Photos, Music, and TV) unless otherwise accessible through API for obvious reasons.
You can put those videos in iCloud Drive or I’m guessing just save them in the ‘On My iPad’ section (which as of now isn’t functional yet) to be able to open them in different apps (also something that isn’t possible yet).
We really don’t know the extent of how integrated the Files app will be but I can certainly tell you that anything that will ‘puncture’ the sandbox will not possible due to privacy, security, DRM, etc.

So basically a gimped file system due to sandboxing.
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I still doubt TV and Music will expose their contents though.

Hence why an iPad could never be a complete replacement for my aging laptop. I’ve heard though that iOS 11 will/does support FLAC. How is Apple going to handle that since iTunes doesn’t support FLAC? One can hope for a major rethink of iTunes but I think hell will freeze over before we ever see that.
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Apple was never going to open up the iPad's file system, but they're willing to expand their sandbox.

If only they could expand it to the Music and TV app. But the library portion of the TV app doesn’t event have a share sheet so I’m guessing fat chance of that.

 

[Shirasaki]

Which makes me wonder then if iOS 11 supports FLAC how do you get that media on to your device and what app would you use to play that media?

Many third party apps support FLAC or even higher bitrate or sample rate music/video. One of such apps is nPlayer.

 

[lyngo]

For me, I can’t do anything on the Google Drive portion of the Files app. I can only access it and a small window comes up otherwise. I can’t seem to download and keep anything locally on my device from it nor can I add anything to the google drive part. I can see the files, preview, and open them within the files app or the small window. Is this normal at this point? I’m not complaining, I only want to know if this is what to expect at this point.

Also, how do you add different drives to it? Different access points?

 

[DNichter]

I don't think they should give users access to everything on their device. They really just need a download manager and a place to access downloaded files.

 

[Rogifan]

I don't think they should give users access to everything on their device. They really just need a download manager and a place to access downloaded files.

Well I certainly think they should provide access to anything a user loads on to their device.

I rip videos from YouTube quite a bit. Especially if it’s something there’s a good chance YouTube will remove. It would be really great to be able do that directly on my iPad vs having to do it on a laptop and then transfer the video to my iPad via iTunes.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Yes it’s gimped. I have 45GB worth of video locally stored on my iPad (shows up under the TV app in settings) that is not accessible or searchable via the files app.

Wouldn't happen to be DRM files would they?

 

[zaapx]

Well I certainly think they should provide access to anything a user loads on to their device.

I rip videos from YouTube quite a bit. Especially if it’s something there’s a good chance YouTube will remove. It would be really great to be able do that directly on my iPad vs having to do it on a laptop and then transfer the video to my iPad via iTunes.

I think apple ecosystem is not for you then.

 

[digitalexplr]

It is still beta. Not all features are fully developed. Got a ways to go!

 

[christogold1]

Any update on whether it can see memory cards connected via lighting SD card readers?

 

[italodance]

It must support Lightning to Camera Adapter (USB 3) and runs all Flash Drives. Hope Apple fix this in final update of iOS 11.

 

[Rogifan]

Wouldn't happen to be DRM files would they?

Mostly live music video ripped from YouTube.

 

[millydog]

Well I certainly think they should provide access to anything a user loads on to their device.

I rip videos from YouTube quite a bit. Especially if it’s something there’s a good chance YouTube will remove. It would be really great to be able do that directly on my iPad vs having to do it on a laptop and then transfer the video to my iPad via iTunes.

Goodreader & Safari let you do this on an iPad. I do it in iOS 10.3.2.
In Goodreader, go to Settings, General, then click the "Bookmark for video" button. Then open Safari, go to YouTube.com, create a bookmark. I call mine "Save to Goodreader". Then go to bookmarks and edit your new bookmark & paste in the link that you got from pressing the "Bookmark for video" button in Goodreader.
From now on, you can use YouTube.com in Safari (I need to go there twice because it wants to open the app the first time)....and let the first second of a video load, then you can click the "Save to Goodreader" bookmark in your toolbar, Goodreader will open and the YouTube video will download. I then rename the video because it gets a generic name by Goodreader.
These instructions are from memory and setting up my kids iPads, so if something isn't quite right, you can find the instructions in the Goodreader app. After this initial setup, it's quite easy to use and all from your iPad, no laptop or iTunes required.

 

[profets]

Mostly live music video ripped from YouTube.

Just to get a better understanding, where did the video ripped from YouTube originate? Was it ripped on the iPad via an app? Or was it from a computer and synced using iTunes? Just from playing around, on my Mac I dragged some video files into iCloud Drive, and then they are visible in the Files app and you can play them from within there without jumping into another app.

I do think there's still a lot of work / changes coming to the Files app during the beta process (seems evident at least given how 3rd party cloud providers aren't yet fully functional).

The purpose though, of the Files app, seems to be a central location to manage files across any cloud services, plus having a local repository. The local "on my iPad" doesn't seem to be functional yet (beyond dragging files into the Pages/Numbers/Keynote folders that are there).

 

[stulaw11]

So wait, we're still debating/bashing the Files app for not doing something that you aren't supposed to be doing on Youtube to begin with (saving videos), and Youtube doesn't even natively let you do?

How could ANYONE predict that type of usage? Nor would Apple WANT to allow that. Am I missing something here?

 

[Shirasaki]

So wait, we're still debating/bashing the Files app for not doing something that you aren't supposed to be doing on Youtube to begin with (saving videos), and Youtube doesn't even natively let you do?

How could ANYONE predict that type of usage? Nor would Apple WANT to allow that. Am I missing something here?

Not everyone has the need to copyright their contents in public domain. Also, downloading Youtube video for personal use is not a rare practice. This is not what Apple or Google/Alphabet would like to care about much most of the time.

And, the feature set of Files app is incomplete indeed. However, this app will not be as powerful as some other alternatives such as Documents.

 

[stulaw11]

Not everyone has the need to copyright their contents in public domain. Also, downloading Youtube video for personal use is not a rare practice. This is not what Apple or Google/Alphabet would like to care about much most of the time.

And, the feature set of Files app is incomplete indeed. However, this app will not be as powerful as some other alternatives such as Documents.

This is not an IP/copyright debate about downloading content from Youtube; but EXPECTING and then being angry that an Apple app to support something that the Youtube site doesnt even let you natively do is completely blown out of proportion expectations.

It's like expecting iOS Mail app to push Gmail via Exchange when Google doesnt support it any more. You cant make an app do something the 3rd party service doesnt support on stock non-jailbroken iOS!!

 

[Rogifan]

So wait, we're still debating/bashing the Files app for not doing something that you aren't supposed to be doing on Youtube to begin with (saving videos), and Youtube doesn't even natively let you do?

How could ANYONE predict that type of usage? Nor would Apple WANT to allow that. Am I missing something here?

That was an example I gave. But what I’m really saying is any file/document loaded on to an iOS device should be accessible from the Files app. Also let us save directly to the Files app. Basically give us a way to rid ourselves of iTunes once and for all.
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This is not an IP/copyright debate about downloading content from Youtube; but EXPECTING and then being angry that an Apple app to support something that the Youtube site doesnt even let you natively do is completely blown out of proportion expectations.

It's like expecting iOS Mail app to push Gmail via Exchange when Google doesnt support it any more. You cant make an app do something the 3rd party service doesnt support on stock non-jailbroken iOS!!

Again this was one example. What about people that don’t use iCloud Music Library but have tons of music they manage via iTunes? Why not let them manage/access iPad directly? As it is now there is no way to access this media outside of the Music/TV apps (or an app that accesses your iTunes Library) and there is no way to alter any of the metadata/tags without using iTunes on your laptop/desktop.

A user should be able to access any file/document they load on to their iOS device via the Files app. Otherwise Apple should have called it the Cloud app instead and On My iPad shouldn’t even be an option.

 

[profets]

That was an example I gave. But what I’m really saying is any file/document loaded on to an iOS device should be accessible from the Files app. Also let us save directly to the Files app. Basically give us a way to rid ourselves of iTunes once and for all.
[doublepost=1498848881][/doublepost]
Again this was one example. What about people that don’t use iCloud Music Library but have tons of music they manage via iTunes? Why not let them manage/access iPad directly? As it is now there is no way to access this media outside of the Music/TV apps (or an app that accesses your iTunes Library) and there is no way to alter any of the metadata/tags without using iTunes on your laptop/desktop.

A user should be able to access any file/document they load on to their iOS device via the Files app. Otherwise Apple should have called it the Cloud app instead and On My iPad shouldn’t even be an option.

Fair points, I do agree.