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iPadOS 15: Files App Gains NTFS Support, Progress Indicator, and More

By not allowing us to write on NTFS formatted devices, you're only making our lives more difficult Each time someone gives me a pendrive in order to exchange some files, I'm getting embarrassed, because I'm unable to accomplish simple tasks on my expensive Apple devices. Responding to it requires giving people messages they cannot comprehend, eg: "Sorry, my Mac cannot write on USB sticks", "Sorry, I don't have any USB ports" or simply "Sorry, I'm an Apple user".

Apple, I know you don't give a damn, but not everyone has the money to pay for your whims. I'm personally more and more pissed by your marketing practises. Before MacOS Catalina I was able to easily transfer files between MacBook Pro 2015 and 2009 via AirDrop, now I need to use pen drives to achieve the same thing!

It looks to me like some of practises are deliberate, which they clearly are.

💩 :apple: 💩
 
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Apple_Robert said:
We will have to agree to disagree. I think Apple can do far more they just choose not to.
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Thing is there are basic File access features FileBrowser Pro still can't do because developers aren't given access to those OS hooks inside their apps. FileBrowser Pro is much better, but it's heavily handicapped by the developer interfaces allowed.
 
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blackcrayon said:
I'd like to see the ability to actually format disks, and at least a light version of Disk Utility that can run disk first aid on them.
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Does new Files actually even Eject drives cleanly now? It wrecks files on flash drives just by opening them on a regular basis.
 
donguevas said:
Apple employee here? Why?

Time capsules were discontinued 3 years ago or so and those old 5400 RPM drives in them are on the their last legs and they are really just bog standard old school routers. The internal drive is really mean for time machine only. The argument you could make is that you can connect a USB drive to it for "cloud" storage but again bog slow usb drive connected to a USB port that the traffic is going to have to route over old AC wifi.
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Time Machine is still part of MacOS and it's really important. We need to get files OFF our old backup copies. That's a BASIC function and expectation of an app that creates backups.
We can still run Time Machine on a NAS as well and keep our own backups as long as we want. iPads are portable and have cellular data... perfect for house calls to family where reviving data might be suddenly important.
 
The iPad is not a “all-Pros” device. All iPads run the same OS, so there is a least common denominator here.

The way I see it, the iPad is a consumption device first and foremost, and a content creation device second (for content that benefits from the touch interface like drawing).

Apple is shoehorning Mac features into the iPad little by little, while ensuring the core experience doesn’t become convoluted in a Mac way.

I know many of you want more from your iPads, but I gave up on that battle years ago. Today, the iPad is still an in-between device, and external drive issues like these illustrate that fact.

It’ll be a LONG time before the iPad can replace a “real” computer for everybody.

For me, that time is now, but I don’t and never have used my Apple products in any kind of professional capacity (I use PCs for work).

By using iCloud Drive I’ve been transferring my files from my Macs to the cloud, so basically everything’s in sync across all devices and I don’t need to plug anything in. Ever. Except to power-up, of course.

This is the way the iPad was INTENDED to be used, whether we like it or not.

All that said, I do appreciate Apple’s efforts in adding capabilities to the iPad it didn’t have, even if it’s at a snail’s pace.
 
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dguisinger said:
So thats your excuse that they shouldn't do anything now? So we can look forward to WWDC25?

I hate to break it to you, people are trying to find justifications TODAY for spending up to $2800 on an iPad to watch youtube videos and browse the web. To quote Apple's newest ad campaign.... But who cares, No big deal, I want mooooooooore
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Just don’t spend the money… Use a Mac!

I can’t understand the pervasive rationale of complaining that a mini Cooper cannot do as much as a Land Rover can.
 
Darth Tulhu said:
And that’s why the iPad is the most successful (and in my opinion, the best) tablet. Because Apple doesn’t do that.
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I mean, I don’t really want to argue because I agree with you, but Apple does run the same os across its machines - it doesn’t differentiate between pro or basic (for example) within the os for any of its range.
 
cupcakes2000 said:
I mean, I don’t really want to argue because I agree with you, but Apple does run the same os across its machines - it doesn’t differentiate between pro or basic (for example) within the os for any of its range.
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to be clear- I’m referring to this quote,

Darth Tulhu said:
The iPad is not a “all-Pros” device. All iPads run the same OS, so there is a least common denominator here.
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when I say machines or range I mean specific range as you are referring to here. I obviously know that each of apples different range of machines runs a different os. But none of those os’ prioritise pro or basic or anything. They’re the same across that range from base model to pro model.

I was originally saying that, to be fair, is how most companies do it.
 
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cupcakes2000 said:
when I say machines or range I mean specific range as you are referring to here. I obviously know that each of apples different range of machines runs a different os. But none of those os’ prioritise pro or basic or anything. They’re the same across that range from base model to pro model.

I was originally saying that, to be fair, is how most companies do it.
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Indeed.

My post was more in reference to how people expect the M1 iPad, because of it's shared hardware with Macs, to somehow run a "more Pro" iPadOS, or apps that take advantage of the hardware.

I think Apple is keeping the OS tailored to what the iPad is, a tablet. The fork happened upon the break from iOS, which was necessary to take the iPad to where it is now.

In order for (Mac) people to get what they truly want, Apple would have to fork iPadOS again, which ain't happening (yet). That or completely redesign macOS specifically for touch, with also ain't happening.
 
Darth Tulhu said:
Indeed.

My post was more in reference to how people expect the M1 iPad, because of it's shared hardware with Macs, to somehow run a "more Pro" iPadOS, or apps that take advantage of the hardware.

I think Apple is keeping the OS tailored to what the iPad is, a tablet. The fork happened upon the break from iOS, which was necessary to take the iPad to where it is now.

In order for (Mac) people to get what they truly want, Apple would have to fork iPadOS again, which ain't happening (yet). That or completely redesign macOS specifically for touch, with also ain't happening.
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The only thing these people want is full macos it seems. But Apple are never going to do that, you’re right. Ipados is the new kid on the block and it will developed to include more and more features of macos that’s for certain, but yes it will remain the os across all iPads.
 
rlhamil said:
Default app assignment is nice, but if there's more than one app that can handle something, I want the option to choose rather than be locked into the default (i.e both Open and Open with:). And I'd kind of like the option to choose what the default is (like on a Mac in Finder Get Info, choosing Open with: and Change All; or scrounging the Default Apps preference pane).
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Totally what I envisioned when I said “default app assignment”. Being able to assign what the default app is for each file type
 
Unless the BSD community is lying to me, shouldn't everyone move to ZFS file system because its the best thing ever?
note: I have no idea about file systems this is all i know

itsmeaustend said:
This is outdated advice. Modern OS’ don’t need to eject drives. Windows eliminated the need a year or two ago now.
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Is this Windows only? you can just pull the disk out now? Its very annoying on MacOS I have few HDDs that will take minutes to spin down after an eject so I can pull them out.
 
MacBH928 said:
Unless the BSD community is lying to me, shouldn't everyone move to ZFS file system because its the best thing ever?
note: I have no idea about file systems this is all i know



Is this Windows only? you can just pull the disk out now? Its very annoying on MacOS I have few HDDs that will take minutes to spin down after an eject so I can pull them out.
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macOS never implemented any routine to properly shut down HDD, and the best bet for drive safety is HDD manufacturers implementing measures to shut it down properly. You HAVE TO wait for HDD to stop spinning in order to safely remove it, or you will risk damaging your drive and data.

As for file system, Apple has its own APFS so they have zero incentive to move to any other file system even if the other one is possibly superior.
 
MacBH928 said:
Unless the BSD community is lying to me, shouldn't everyone move to ZFS file system because its the best thing ever?
note: I have no idea about file systems this is all i know



Is this Windows only? you can just pull the disk out now? Its very annoying on MacOS I have few HDDs that will take minutes to spin down after an eject so I can pull them out.
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I thought that Apple decided ZFS wasn't a good fit due probably to its license, and they developed APFS to get most of the features that were most important to them anyway.

Although there are steps you can take to minimize the need for an eject button, it can't be foolproof. Start saving a 900 megabyte file in Photoshop, and then yank the disk out 4 seconds in. There's no eliminating the need for eject in that scenario without magic. An OS might be able to prevent directory corruption in that scenario, but at best you would still not get your changes properly written to the disk.

In iOS it's less likely a random app is using your disk in the background, but apparently corruption is a problem so something is wrong with the "remove whenever you want" expectation at the moment.
 
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Saturnine said:
Morale of the story is that it’s probably not wise to use the files app with removable devices at the moment - at least for anything for which you don’t have a backup.
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Sadly the “moment” you are referring to started in iOS 11, when Apple introduced the Files app. 🥳
 
Slartibart said:
Sadly the “moment” you are referring to started in iOS 11, when Apple introduced the Files app. 🥳
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Curious, did USB-C iPads support external drives right from the start?

Because iirc, my Lightning-based iPad Pro only got native external USB drive support starting iOS 12 or 13. Before that, it was really only useful for photos.
 
rui no onna said:
Curious, did USB-C iPads support external drives right from the start?

Because iirc, my Lightning-based iPad Pro only got native external USB drive support starting iOS 12 or 13. Before that, it was really only useful for photos.
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Even lightning iPads supported external drives since iOS 11, e.g. iXpand drive.
 
itsmeaustend said:
This is outdated advice. Modern OS’ don’t need to eject drives. Windows eliminated the need a year or two ago now.
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That is not true. Microsoft disabled the device write cache as default:

C6B423BC-C057-47C2-9C8B-C72B6C111AE1.jpeg


but they still recommend using Safely Remove Hardware for external hardware.
 
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