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Is there a way to use a lightning to usb adaptor to transfer documents to an ipad?

Every place i have found discussions on the lightning to usb adaptors it only talks about media (pictures and video) files. Is there a way to use the adaptor to transfer documents (txt, pdf, etc.) files from a usb stick? I am using the latest version of ios 13. This question is not about an ipad pro

iPad Air, iOS 9

Posted on Jan 17, 2020 11:10 AM

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3 replies

Jan 17, 2020 11:29 AM in response to QuickPost

Thanks for your reply, but it does not answer my question. As far as I have been able to determined the only files that are visible on the ‘files’ application from all the discussions that I have found are video and pictures files and not document files. They do not mention document files. Even the name of the apple adaptor implies that only ‘camera’ files are supported.

Jan 17, 2020 11:34 AM in response to AndyR8

Hello,


The adapter used to be exclusivly for connecting USB cameras to an iPad in order to transfer photos. This is no longer the case. The Files application treats USB external storage devices nearly identical to a traditional computer would. You can storage any type of file you would like on an external storage device and open them in any supported application. For instance, if you have a Pages document stored on a flash drive then you could open it directly in Pages without needing to transfer it to iPad’s internal storage.

Jan 17, 2020 11:21 AM in response to AndyR8

Hello,


Any iPad model running iPadOS 13 supports USB external storage.


iPadOS 13 supports the following disk formats with a GUID partition scheme:

  • macOS Extended journaled — YES Read and Write
  • APFS - NO
  • FAT32 — SOME*
  • exFAT — SOME**
  • NTFS — NO


*iPadOS 13 supports solid state devices formatted as FAT32 such as a SD card. iPadOS 13 does not supports mechanical hard disks formatted as FAT32.

** iPadOS 13 supports disks formatted as exFAT as long as it was formatted with Disk Utility on a Macintosh. The disk cannot be formatted by Windows.

Is there a way to use a lightning to usb adaptor to transfer documents to an ipad?

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