From iOS 13 and iPadOS it is possible to connect a USB stick, hard drive or SD card to your iPhone and iPad. iPhone explains how to do this.
Mount external storage in iOS 13 and iPadOS
You probably store more and more in the cloud, but in some cases an external drive, such as a USB stick or hard drive, still comes in handy. For example, if you have a slow internet connection and need to transfer a lot of files, copying to online storage will take a long time. How to connect an external drive to your iPhone or iPad:
- Connect the hard drive, USB stick or SD card to your iPhone or iPad via the Lightning or USB-C port, possibly using an adapter (see below);
- Open the Files app;
- Look for the linked storage in the menu on the left.
From here you can browse through the folders, open files and possibly transfer them directly. You can also create new folders yourself. Tap the Select button at the top right to share, duplicate, move and / or delete files and folders.
To move just a single file or folder, simply hold it down for a moment. Do you want to create a completely new folder? Then go to the location where it should be and put your finger on the white space on the screen. When you have dark mode on, the background is of course black.
Also read: Tip: This is how you turn on the dark mode of iOS 13
How do you mount the drive?
You may need an adapter to connect the external drive, SD card or USB stick to your iPhone or iPad. Currently, only the iPad Pro (2018) is equipped with USB-C support. Therefore, if you have a Lightning port, you will probably need to purchase an adapter.
→ Purchase Lightning to Micro USB Adapter from Apple (25 euros)
→ Buy Lightning to SD card reader from Apple (35 euros)
→ Purchase a Lighting to USB 3 Camera Adapter from Apple (45 euros)
You can of course also buy special USB sticks for the iPhone and iPad, such as this one from SanDisk. You can connect this stick directly to your Apple device without an adapter, but it is a lot more expensive than normal USB storage drives.
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