iPad's AirDrop goes unresponsive

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Level 4

1,118 points

iPad's AirDrop goes unresponsive

So I have this workflow where I share ~4 GB sized MKV files via AirDrop from a MacBook to an iPad, watch them using the VLC for Mobile app, then delete them. Rinse and repeat.

This is what I see at the end of a successful AirDrop:

I tap on Open with Files, select the On my iPad > Downloads directory, tap Save and it's done. All is well, the received video file can be watched on the iPad.

The catch is that the iPad goes dark after a single or a few successful transfers.

Meaning the iPad that previously worked correctly ends up in a state where it's no longer visible as an AirDrop target from the MacBook. The iPad can't be seen ever again in Finder > AirDrop, or the MKV file > Share > AirDrop modal from the MacBook. I went through the recommended steps (How to use AirDrop), it's not that I suddenly turned off AirDrop or placed the devices too far away. Not even days of waiting make a difference, the iPad has to be rebooted (power off, then on) for AirDrop to function again. The iPad can still send files via AirDrop, only receiving is broken. The iPad remains otherwise functional, including Bluetooth audio and WiFi.

I can see the iPad as an AirDrop target from my iPhone. When trying to send anything to the "dark" iPad from the iPhone, it gets stuck in Waiting... on the iPhone, the iPad doesn't display anything and doesn't make a sound like it normally would at the start of an AirDrop.

Another odd thing is how the Files app eats up storage space when using AirDrop. On the above screenshot you can see that the Files app takes up 21.23 GB. This seems wrong, the Files app normally takes up only ~10 MB on this iPad. Its storage use significantly increases when using AirDrop. But I'm saving AirDropped files to the On my iPad app's storage, which is displayed correctly as 24.38 GB. I have practically no data on iCloud Drive, less than 1 MB. I assume the AirDropped MKV files somehow get cached in Files, but are invisible, they're not in Recently Deleted or iCloud Drive or anywhere, within the Files app they can only be seen in On my iPad > Downloads.

A reboot didn't do anything to the Files app's or the total storage, but when I removed the Files app and installed it again, the 21.23 GB went down to a normal 14 MB. As seen above, total used storage went down from 47.4 to 41.9 GB, which is just 5.5 GB freed, maybe it's less than 21 GB because of copy-on-write behavior. The point is that nothing user visible changed, and yet 5.5 GB of space was freed. All of my files were still accessible after reinstalling the Files app, exactly as before, including the 24.38 GB worth of files in On my iPad.

I also tried AirDropping with the VLC for Mobile app deleted from the iPad, it fails the same way. The only difference is that with VLC absent iPadOS asks, when starting the AirDrop to the iPad, if I want to download an app for the MKV file type, or use the Files app. AirDrop still goes unresponsive and Files still has to be reinstalled to get rid of the apparent gigabytes of mysterious storage space allocation.

Devices involved:

MacBook Air 2020, base model, running macOS Catalina 10.15.5 (no 3rd party kernel extensions, no antivirus or similar intrusive software, yes I tried restarting)
iPad Air (3rd generation), A2152, 64 GB, running iPadOS 13.5.1

I feel that for this use case AirDrop from macOS Finder to iPadOS Files is a bug-ridden user experience. AirDrop on the iPad can't stay operational for 10 minutes when receiving large files, it becomes unresponsive every single time in a reproducible fashion. Files app taking up phantom space is another, perhaps related issue. Maybe this is how it's supposed to work, but as a user I perceive these as bugs, I don't think I should be able to break the system just by AirDropping and deleting files repeatedly.

Am I doing something wrong here?
Is there an easier workaround, so I don't have to reboot the iPad and reinstall the Files app?
Do you know of other methods to copy these large files to the iPad? Maybe a video player app that accepts AirDropped files to its own sandbox without involving the Files app, unlike VLC? I know VLC has a WiFi upload feature, but it requires IP networking to be configured for both devices, is about 10x slower than AirDrop for me and the iPad display needs to stay on for it to work.

iPad Air, 13

Posted on Jul 4, 2020 1:58 PM

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Answer 1

QuickPost

Level 10

103,437 points

Jul 4, 2020 3:48 PM in response to SilkySteel

Hello,

Try resetting iPad's settings in Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. Be certain you do not select Erase All Content and Settings as this will erase all of your information. It is a good idea to perform a backup of your iPad prior to resetting its settings.

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Answer 2

SilkySteel Author

Level 4

1,118 points

Jul 5, 2020 5:59 AM in response to QuickPost

This is what I did:

Make a local backup of the iPad to the MacBook
Disconnect Lightning cable from iPad
On the iPad go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
Confirm that I want to reset, twice
iPad appears to reboot by itself, Apple logo and a progress bar
My old settings are at this point noticeably gone, e.g. different background picture, my Command Center custom layout gone, light mode instead of dark, Messages asking me to sign in, I wasn't signed out of my Apple ID though, my Settings > Apple ID menu remained as it was
Join WiFi by typing in the password, as my WiFi passwords were also deleted from the device (I assume all my saved WiFi passwords are still on my iCloud keychain so no worries, but you need Internet to sync that)
Total storage used at this point is 17.6 GB, with neither the Files, nor the On My iPad apps taking up significant space, they're both in the few MB range and not GB
Send a single 4.3 GB MKV video file via AirDrop from the MacBook
A dialog titled AirDrop pops up saying "Failed to save item. Save to iCloud Drive instead?", tap Open with Files, then select On My iPad > Downloads, tap Save
Success, the file is now on the iPad, visible in the Files app in On My iPad > Downloads
Total storage increased to 22.3 GB, Files app is now 4.34 GB and the On My iPad app is 4.33 GB
Delete the file from On My iPad > Downloads, then from Recently Deleted as well
Total storage usage is the same, only the On My iPad app's storage went down to ~0, Files app stayed the same
AirDrop the file again
The file is named originalName-1.mkv on the iPad, -1 got appended to the filename
Total storage increased to 26.6 GB, On My iPad is 4.33 GB (OK), Files is 8.67 GB (not OK, should be ~0), Other is ~0.3 GB
Delete the file, from Recently Deleted as well
Total storage is still 26.6 GB, Files is still 8.67 GB, On My iPad is empty (4 KB), Other is 4.66 GB
AirDrop for the 3rd time, file appears as originalName-2.mkv on the iPad
Total storage increased to 31 GB, On My iPad is 4.32 GB (OK), Files 12.99 GB (again, should be ~0), Other is ~0.3 GB
Delete MKV file from On My iPad > Downloads, then from Recently Deleted
Just to make sure, I browsed through all of my iCloud Drive, On My iPad and Recently Deleted directories and subdirectories, the video file can't be found anywhere
Total storage used remains 31 GB, Files remains 12.99 GB, On My iPad got empty (4 KB), Other is 4.91 GB
Did this AirDrop and delete routine 2 more times using the same file, then the iPad was no longer visible in the MacBook's Finder > AirDrop window. I can see the iPad from the iPhone, but I can't AirDrop a picture from the iPhone's Photos app to it, it gets stuck in Waiting..., while the same picture can be sent to the MacBook from the iPhone. The last file that I sent successfully got the -4 suffix, so it was the 5th file in total. After deleting this file, I have 39.6 GB total storage used, Files app 21.64 GB, On My iPad app empty, Other 4.87 GB. The video file isn't visible anywhere in the Files app.
Reboot the iPad
The iPad can be AirDropped to again, but storage stays exactly the same as before at 39.6 GB, when it should be ~17 GB
Delete and install the Files app
Total storage used is back to normal at 18 GB

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Answer 3

SilkySteel Author

Level 4

1,118 points

Jul 5, 2020 6:01 AM in response to SilkySteel

It looks like resetting the settings didn't change anything. Your comment was still helpful as I didn't try it before and maybe this rules out a couple things.

Meanwhile, when I connected the iPad to the MacBook, I realized that in Finder > iPad > Files I can drag & drop video files directly into the iPad VLC app's sandbox storage. Transfer speed feels as fast as AirDrop and it works in the background. Playing back videos from the VLC app's internal storage as opposed to Files app > MKV file > Share > Open with VLC actually fixes two VLC bugs, namely video artifacts at playback start, and audio being silent for 1-2 seconds when resuming playback or skipping around in the video. I'll be using this wired file syncing method, as it avoids not only the AirDrop bugs, but these VLC bugs as well.

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iPad's AirDrop goes unresponsive

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