iPad File System

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Level 1

5 points

iPad File System

This is probably a silly question, but I am hoping for a promising answer. Does the iPad have any sort of central file system (of course it does) where documents, etc. are saved? With the iPad kind of splitting the gap between a laptop and iPhone, I am looking for the ability to, say save a Pages document on the iPad, but then be able to access that file with a different application, also on the iPad. I might use this to upload the file to my iDisk, or even more tricky, let's say I bring down a spreadsheet from my iDisk. I open it in Numbers, and don't like how it is working. I would like to switch to a different app and open the same file.

However, I am not seeing anything central. Every app seems to save any contents within its own little world. If it doesn't have the capability, does anyone have a recommendation for a slick and easy solution? My iDisk isn't consistent enough of a solution, as occasionally, I am not wi-fi. Otherwise, I could work towards grabbing and saving files out there.

I hope this makes some sense, and I hope someone can help. Thanks!

iPad, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Apr 21, 2010 12:34 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 21, 2010 12:53 PM in response to MHaddon

According to the information I've seen documents are saved within an app rather than separately in folders. So there is no Documents folder within which Pages saves a document. The document is saved in the Pages app itself.

I would assume that if another app can open a Numbers sheet, for example, that would likely mean importing the sheet independently. That is exporting it from Numbers to iTunes, then importing back to the other app. Unless, of course, the other app has other means of import.

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Answer 2

Apr 21, 2010 1:19 PM in response to MHaddon

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but No, the iPad does NOT have a central file system. It also doesn't allow files to be shared/edited/saved by any app that wants it, except for a very few apps which have been specifically set up to do so with specific other apps. Worse yet, the iWorks suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) does NOT have full-function compatibility between the laptop and iPad versions. Major bummer.

The iPad does a lot of things very well...it's just that file management is NOT one of them.

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Answer 3

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Apr 21, 2010 5:33 PM in response to MHaddon

Kappy is right - the way I think of it is that each application has its own filespace. There is no centralized data area like we are used to. One thing new to the iPad and we'll all see in version 4 on the iPhone and touch is document sharing. Apps can forward a copy of a file in their file space to another program that can handle that kind of file. So, for example, when I email myself a Pages document Mail can pass it along to Pages. Currently the iPhone and touch could only read it, not pass it to another program. And its important to keep in mind that, at this time at least, the file is copied to another program. It isn't shared between the two.

So yes, you can sorta do what you want...but not quite the way you want. PrintCentral is an interesting App that you may find useful. I'm using it as my central file storage location. From there I can print my documents (yippee!) and if I want to edit one I can sent it to Pages or Numbers and edit it. Unfortunately, at this time I apparently can't directly pass the file back from Pages into PrintCentral.

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