Probably a stupid question but will ask anyway. Is there anything adapter-wise that would enable me to watch mp4 or avi clips from a USB stick or even an external drive on an iPad mini 4? Thanks
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Viewing USB sticks on iPad mini?
- Thread starter Peter Franks
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You want the Apple Lightning Camera Adapter with power port.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter
Thank you, and that will playback all mpeg, avi, mkv etc? from sticks and drives OK?
Is it for transferring only or can it be played also while still on the stick and plugged in? I notice it only mentions iPad Pro on that page also, but will work on older mini?
You should be able to play back some media. You may need a 3rd party player, and you'll have to have the iPad connected to external power through the adapter. Be aware that the Lightning port on the Mini is USB 2.0 only.
Check out this thread -
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ch-one-will-work-without-extra-power.2241185/
It talks about some of the vagaries of using external storage on non-Pro Lightning devices.
If that's the case and it has to be plugged in to external power then it defeats the whole object of this.
Is that a definite, because if it has to be plugged in to the mains, then it's a pointless exercise?
Presumably because I'm on the old ipad mini 4?
Thanks for that, I'm not alone in frustration then
I have something similar to this:
USB Camera Adapter,OTG Adapter for iPhone On The Go USB 3.0 Male to Female for iOS 13.0 or Above Version 7 8 6 6s Plus 11 Pro Max X XS XR kit Converter for iPad 12 13 Connect MIDI Piano (1pc Black)
USB Camera Adapter,OTG Adapter for iPhone On The Go USB 3.0 Male to Female for iOS 13.0 or Above Version 7 8 6 6s Plus 11 Pro Max X XS XR kit Converter for iPad 12 13 Connect MIDI Piano (1pc Black)
www.amazon.com
which works perfectly for me on an iPad mini 5 and an iPhone X, exposing a USB thumb drive to the files app like this video shows
Unfortunately mine was bought within China and is devoid of branding so I can't be sure this is exactly the same, but there are definitely options beyond the lightning camera adapter and a power supply.
For anything other than .mp4 videos, you'll likely need a 3rd party player as others have mentioned.
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Gentle persons,
or you go with a Dual USB-stick like Sandisk iXpand -> https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ixpand-usb-3-0#SDIX30C-032G-AN6NN
Sadly VLC in the current version does not play from external media. Apple’s Files app will play only Quicktime-supported formats like MP4. E.g. FE File Explorer Pro (as well as couple of other apps) will play in addition MKV.
or you go with a Dual USB-stick like Sandisk iXpand -> https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ixpand-usb-3-0#SDIX30C-032G-AN6NN
Sadly VLC in the current version does not play from external media. Apple’s Files app will play only Quicktime-supported formats like MP4. E.g. FE File Explorer Pro (as well as couple of other apps) will play in addition MKV.
I have something similar to this:
USB Camera Adapter,OTG Adapter for iPhone On The Go USB 3.0 Male to Female for iOS 13.0 or Above Version 7 8 6 6s Plus 11 Pro Max X XS XR kit Converter for iPad 12 13 Connect MIDI Piano (1pc Black)
USB Camera Adapter,OTG Adapter for iPhone On The Go USB 3.0 Male to Female for iOS 13.0 or Above Version 7 8 6 6s Plus 11 Pro Max X XS XR kit Converter for iPad 12 13 Connect MIDI Piano (1pc Black)www.amazon.com
which works perfectly for me on an iPad mini 5 and an iPhone X, exposing a USB thumb drive to the files app like this video shows
Unfortunately mine was bought within China and is devoid of branding so I can't be sure this is exactly the same, but there are definitely options beyond the lightning camera adapter and a power supply.
For anything other than .mp4 videos, you'll likely need a 3rd party player as others have mentioned.
Thank you for this, USB 3, supposedly won't work on the '4'? Earlier thread mentions USB 2. Never used it on anything other than MBP.
Interesting it works on the phone so may be worth a punt anyway.
I actually had a few things on the MBP that VLC couldn't play recently, Never happened before. MP4 would be a start though.
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The USB3 camera adapter from Apple supports usb3 speeds, but the lightning connector of the iPad only supports usb2 speeds. It works fine though. Thumb drives are very finicky with too much power draw. What I’ve found always works is an external hdd with a power supply. For example, I can plug a 10TB drive into the Apple USB3 camera adapter and drag n drop shows to watch on my iPad using the Infuse app (paid), it plays everything perfect.
Most USB drives (and mostly old ones, at this) need more power than this adapter provides and will give you an error message when plugging them to the iPad. When a drive doesn't work, it doesn't work neither in the Pro (my wife's), in the mini 5 (mine) nor in the XS. I haven't tried it on the SE2020).
Usually the mini and micro USB drives (newer drives) are the most prone to work properly with this adapter.
I think that applies to non-Pro iPads, not Pro models. Using the adapter, I use a 500GB SSD on my 10.5 Pro. See this thread -
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ch-one-will-work-without-extra-power.2241185/
There's no difference in functionality except that some of the Pros support USB 3 speeds.
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Self powered devices will need external power on iPad Pros too.
I have a 10.5 iPad Pro and a 6th gen iPad here. Aside from the Pro's USB connection being faster (although not very much so,) devices which need the lightning cable connected on the 6th gen also need the cable connected on the 10.5 Pro.
Thanks people. Is there a definitive on this now, I know we've moved into iPad pro territory and that doesn't need added power for the most part, but with my old Mini 4, is it not really going to happen easily now?
It's this one but with the brand name airbrushed away -
https://www.iclarified.com/i1178/transcend-jetdrive-go-300-lightningusb-flash-drive-128gb-black