Why doesn't apple allow file storage on iphone?

[Italianblend]

This isn't an anti-apple troll, I just want to know the reason that we can't keep files on our phone? If I have a document in say word format that I want to keep on my phone to be able to e-mail to people at anytime as needed, I can't do that. I have to send myself an e-mail and forward it to them.

 

[Nipommu]

file manager or goodreader. is it that hard to google this and search on app store for 5 minutes? i use goodreader for ipad but file manager pro app for iphone. which i got free on one of them free/sale app apps.

 

[paulbennett95]

The best thing about iOS is if there isn't a certain feature built-in to the device, there's a good chance there's an app that'll do it for you.

 

[Italianblend]

I don't want to trust 3rd parties with my information. Who knows what files they could access.

I do thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not sure I appreciate the tone. I don't have an agenda here. My reason for this thread is not to find an app, but to ask why apple doesn't allow a phone to store information and files. Is there a specific reason they don't want to go there?

 

[GoCubsGo]

I don't want to trust 3rd parties with my information. Who knows what files they could access.

I do thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not sure I appreciate the tone. I don't have an agenda here. My reason for this thread is not to find an app, but to ask why apple doesn't allow a phone to store information and files. Is there a specific reason they don't want to go there?

I think now that we're on the 7th rendition of the iPhone that the question just comes off as odd. Why don't they? Because they don't and never have. It is not to say they never will, but they never have thus far and we're on the 7th iPhone to date. Perhaps the "tone" of the second post suggests that you could have googled for the answer, but he was wrong in that sense. Sometimes I think that Apple is only giving physical storage until they can figure out how to make all apps and games run from the cloud. At this point you may want to start trusting a third party, at least one, with your data.

Either way, why don't they? I don't know if there was ever an official answer but my guess had a lot to do with aesthetics and the fact that Apple, in my opinion, has always left the decision about what consumers want up to Apple and not the consumer. It is like the recent BS about consumers not asking for Blu-ray any longer. We all know that's crap.

 

[paulbennett95]

You trust multi-national corporations whose sole purpose is profit with your information, but not a app that lets you store office files? I'm confused.
And Apple likes a closed-wall ecosystem where everything in your (more oft "their") device is regulated by Apple.

 

[LV426]

I don't want to trust 3rd parties with my information. Who knows what files they could access.

I do thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not sure I appreciate the tone. I don't have an agenda here. My reason for this thread is not to find an app, but to ask why apple doesn't allow a phone to store information and files. Is there a specific reason they don't want to go there?

The iPhone certainly does allow you to store information and files. Any time I create a document in Pages or Numbers, I can save it as a named file to iCloud, for example.

Apple probably regard traditional desktop filing systems as being a little inappropriate for iDevices. So, when an iOS application saves information (any information: a photo, a Pages document, an application's settings etc.), the end user need not even be aware that a filing system is involved, as each app knows what it needs to look for, and where to find it.

Even in iCloud, where you have the ability to organise things into groups, it's restricted to one level deep. Apple want you to use iCloud's searching facilities rather than have the user wander around a filing system looking for stuff.

 

[scaredpoet]

I prefer to use dropbox myself. Given the fact that most of the files I'm sharing with others are changing frequently, it makes little sense to copy something to my phone and iPad directly that will probably be out of date in a few hours anyway. But if it's on dropbox, or box, or Google Drive or some other cloud service, then the updates are pushed to all of my devices, and I'm not having to juggle multiple copies on multiple devices (work Mac, home Mac, MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, random linux test box).

For this reason, to me it makes sense that there's no direct access to a file system, and the storage on an iOS device isn't treated like a regular drive. Most of my content creation is happening on desktops and laptops, with only very minor edits reserved for iOS devices, which are used mainly to review and consume. So, having a cloud-based system to pull these files down makes better sense.

And yes, it's a third party, but frankly, Apple is a third party, too, and yet we seem to be fine with trusting our information with them.

 

[BaldiMac]

The correct answer to the question that you actually asked has been given several times. Apple does allow file storage on the iPhone. You can keep a Word document on your iPhone at all times to email to people.

In answer to the question that you meant to ask:
http://oleb.net/blog/2012/06/steve-jobs-on-the-file-system/

 

[GoCubsGo]

i want to too know about why iphone file storage are inbuilt, if i want to use external, how can i use it.

You can't. Read the thread buddy. Your external storage solutions are strictly tied to the cloud or locally on a computer if you don't need to access that data from anywhere.

 

[BaldiMac]

i want to too know about why iphone file storage are inbuilt, if i want to use external, how can i use it.

Wirelessly.

 

[Small White Car]

My reason for this thread is not to find an app, but to ask why apple doesn't allow a phone to store information and files.

Well, Apple came up with the slogan "There's an app for that" for a reason. They worked hard to build up a huge app store with tons of options and they've tried to not step on too many developer's toes by duplicating the functions of apps that are currently out there.

If you don't trust 3rd parties then it's probably safe to say you should ditch the iPhone and get something else, because "get an app" IS Apple's official answer to your question. If that's not a good fit for you then I'm doubtful you'll find the iPhone very useful.

For anyone else reading this who does trust apps, I'm perfectly happy with Documents Pro for storing files. It allows local storage and Dropbox integration and allows you to move stuff back and forth between the two.

 

[dictoresno]

I use google drive to drop files I need on my phone. Word docs and excel files I open with Pages or Numbers and have adobe if needed for PDF docs. I can easily attach files from google drive to send in an email and save to the drive from emails as necessary.