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iPad Pro Watching videos from an external device?

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kat.hayes

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
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I have a 32GB first gen iPad Pro that I would like to take with me with my kids and let them plug in a USB flash drive or hard drive to watch videos.

1. Will videos play smoothly off of an external flash drive or hard drive?
2. Are there any issues with doing this?
3. What would be the better choice? A flash drive or hard drive? Is there a specific speed or device I should look into for doing this?

Thanks!
 
kat.hayes said:
I have a 32GB first gen iPad Pro that I would like to take with me with my kids and let them plug in a USB flash drive or hard drive to watch videos.

1. Will videos play smoothly off of an external flash drive or hard drive?
2. Are there any issues with doing this?
3. What would be the better choice? A flash drive or hard drive? Is there a specific speed or device I should look into for doing this?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
In that case, your iPad Pro is on iOS 13.0, right?
 
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kat.hayes said:
I have a 32GB first gen iPad Pro that I would like to take with me with my kids and let them plug in a USB flash drive or hard drive to watch videos.

1. Will videos play smoothly off of an external flash drive or hard drive?
2. Are there any issues with doing this?
3. What would be the better choice? A flash drive or hard drive? Is there a specific speed or device I should look into for doing this?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
usb camera adapter and need power for usb... are before beta work .. beta 3.. beta 4 above not work.. Wait for official ..
 
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Doesn't usually work, even in iPadOS 13.

I guess it will depend on all the apps and iPadOS getting updated.

BTW, getting the iPad Pro 1st gen just to recognize the USB drive will be a major PITA, even in iPadOS. You'll need an Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, but you'll also need external power in the form of a plugged-in Lightning cable attached to a USB power source (like a car lighter socket charger). Then you can plug in your USB flash drive, and then the iPad Pro will see it and the files on it.

But as mentioned, even then, it probably won't work, since there will be no easy way to play the movies. The Files app won't play them unless they're short ones in a very specific format, and most third party apps won't be able to access the files. However, I'm thinking over time this should be rectified.
 
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EugW said:
Doesn't usually work, even in iPadOS 13.

I guess it will depend on all the apps and iPadOS getting updated.

BTW, getting the iPad Pro 1st gen just to recognize the USB drive will be a major PITA, even in iPadOS. You'll need an Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, but you'll also need external power in the form of a plugged-in Lightning cable attached to a USB power source (like a car lighter socket charger). Then you can plug in your USB flash drive, and then the iPad Pro will see it and the files on it.

But as mentioned, even then, it probably won't work, since there will be no easy way to play the movies. The Files app won't play them unless they're short ones in a very specific format, and most third party apps won't be able to access the files. However, I'm thinking over time this should be rectified.
Click to expand...
can play . but better to use air drop to transfer video,picture or anything else
 
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"BTW, getting the iPad Pro 1st gen just to recognize the USB drive will be a major PITA, even in iPadOS. You'll need an Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, but you'll also need external power in the form of a plugged-in Lightning cable attached to a USB power source (like a car lighter socket charger). Then you can plug in your USB flash drive, and then the iPad Pro will see it and the files on it."

1. Why Apple Lightning to USB3 camera adapter? Wouldn't it be a Lightning to a USB3 adapter or is this the same thing?

2. Are you saying to make this work it will also need to be plugged into power? So to do this I would need to plug the iPad via Lightning into a hub and the hub into a power supply?


"But as mentioned, even then, it probably won't work, since there will be no easy way to play the movies. The Files app won't play them unless they're short ones in a very specific format, and most third party apps won't be able to access the files. However, I'm thinking over time this should be rectified."

3. I thought with iPad OS there was easy access to files on external devices. Isn't that the whole point? Is there some option to "open with" or do you just click on a file and hope it opens the way you want?

Thanks.
 
EugW said:
But as mentioned, even then, it probably won't work, since there will be no easy way to play the movies. The Files app won't play them unless they're short ones in a very specific format, and most third party apps won't be able to access the files. However, I'm thinking over time this should be rectified.
Click to expand...
I expect Infuse will add support for external drives in short order. Looking forward to getting a USB-C Pro. Now the question is will it provide sufficient power to external 4TB portable HDDs. :D
 
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1. Apple’s Lightning USB 3 to Camera Adapter has a Lightning input for power. That’s the name because in iOS 12 it’s mainly just for attaching cameras. Note there is also an older version without power input and which only supports USB 2. You don’t want the older one.

2. Yes. In most instances you will need to supply power via Lightning to work USB flash drives. That can be from a portable power bank or an iPad charger, etc. No separate hub needed.

3. In iPadOS, access to files on external drives is not yet easy. Yes you can see the files but you may not be able to do much with them. The Files app can play some video files but most types it can’t, and apparently it sometimes is flaky with larger files. Unfortunately, most third party apps don’t even see files in that Files app so they usually can’t access those files either. Or at least, not yet.
 
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