andrey_20 wrote:
Copying synchtonizing files between devices is simplest operation, which exists since beginning of PC era.
PCs (1981) well predate the advent of USB (1996).
AFAIK, Apple has never advocated using an iPhone or iPad as a USB storage device.
Simple or not, Apple has long recommended using iTunes in earlier times, and using Apple Devices app more recently.
Before iOS i had Pocket PC which had SD card, so excahnging of files wasn't an issue at all those days.
Going back further, XMODEM and YMODEM and similar tools were used for direct file transfers too, as was uucp and such. And if you’re using external media and not (for instance) the built-in file server capabilities intended for accessing shares on a Windows SMB server with the iPhone or iPad Files app, there are external SD and other storage adapters that can be used for “sneakernet”.
Files app info, and Files app SMB server access info:
There where also some Symbian OS based phones, where files syncing was also flawless operation.
Yeah, the Compaq iPaq was interesting, as was the Palm Pilot and Palm OS stuff. DECnet file transfers and
external removable storage including various disk packs and floppies worked pretty well on VMS/VMS, too.
But for this case, Apple iPhone and iPad uses the Apple Devices app for file transfer to and from Windows.
I also had several android devices, where files copying works perfectly since the beginning in all Android version.
If Android best meets your needs, then by all means use it. Clearly you want and need features — the ability to connect to a flash drive, and the ability to present internal storage as USB storage, included — that Apple iPhone does not offer, and hasn’t offered for most of twenty years.
Apple devices do not have any SD card slots, whatever.
Not integrated. But SD storage and remote network storage is easily available, and Apple supports it:
Apple no longer seems to offer their Lightning to SD reader, but that is likely still available used, as are third-party MFi options.
They also cannot transfer files with simple USB file protocols. This happens since the beginning in 2007 and exists till now in iOS 26.
I’ve been using FAT storage on iPhone and iPad for a while. Now if you’re having issues trying to use an iPhone or iPad itself as a USB file storage and transfer device, AFAIK that hasn’t been recommended in a long time. If ever. Probably not since the iPod era, when that was more common.
In order to save phone memory - i need to organize folders by dates taken, and then inside folders - sort files by size. No any provided program by MS or Apple is able to do this.
I’m doing that with the built-on Mac Photos and albums and smart albums, and that does have the option to manually sync a subset of photo albums.
But I’d fully expect various photo-management apps also exist here, as many people will set out to create their own version of this photo database, and often unfortunately with some common mistakes including dependencies on file system metadata and not on more supportable options such as using the existing photo metadata including EXIF. Preferably with an iOS and iPadOS client, if you need that. (Apple likes keeping photos in the Photos app library and that library and its albums possibly synced using iCloud Photos.)
And if Windows is doing weird or unexpected stuff, contact Microsoft Support.
