I've combed the forums. I can't sync through iTunes. These PDF files don't show up. I've downloaded tech manuals for gear I have via manufacturer's websites. I can't populate them across my devices. I have some in iPhone, some on iPad. I have an iPhone 5, iPad2, and MacBook Pro running current software as of 11:22 AM 13 MAR 2014. Nothing has worked so far in the standard methods.
Help!
iPhone 5, iOS 7.1
We are well into the 21st Century. This stuff should just sync effortlessly. Apple makes decent hardware. That's it. For Music and consumable doc storage and reading, Amazon or Google are better choices. E.g. for books, use Kindle.
The iBooks app has limited use for docs you want to access on your phone.
Anything that involves the iCloud is strictly second tier at this point in time.
Hopefully Apple noticing that users are not using native apps will force Apple to improve their native apps. But I would not count on it.
You can either (if the PDFs' aren't protected) email them to yourself from one device to another (open the PDF and see if you get an email option on the 'share' icon) and use 'open in' in the Mail app on the other device.
Or connect the device that has the PDF on it to your computer's iTunes and do File > Devices > Transfer Purchases to copy them over to your Mac (that should copy PDFs and/or epubs that are in the iBooks app on the device, not just actual ibooks). With OS X Mavericks you might then also need to do File > Move Books iTunes in its iBooks app to move them over to it, and you can then connect and sync them to your other device. Is that what you've tried ?
Thank you for taking the time to help.
This did not work. I can't even see my PDF files in iTunes. They aren't protected. Just standard PDF files and manuals downloaded from the internet.
So can't really try that, other than mailing each individually. I would just hope I could have a PDF library in iBooks that syncs across devices.
Of course if you buy an iBook it works...just not with personal PDFs.
Now, I have gone into my iBooks on my MB Pro and uploaded a few PDFs to my library from my HD. That works great, thank you.
I just can't seem to populate iBooks on my MB Pro with the PDF files I have downloaded directly to my various iOS devices.
Yeah..... I put my PDFs in ePub format, then open in iBooks. But they still won't sync between devices automatically.
This works....
I use the Kindle app so I can access on all my devices I sync with. I use a Note 3 cell phone and I just add the kindle app and all my PDFs come up.
The downside is, it is a pain to go through Amazon and send the emailed PDFs to my kindle devices so they will sync.
But then again I only have to do it once,. No surprises with lost materials.
That's a work around and worth it but don't you think iBooks should have this feature. Apple makes some pretty bold claims for iCloud and universal access. Where can I go to generate some steam to get their code writers to fix this. This shouldn't be hard at all. Instead of focusing on SIRI garbage, just give me the basics you sold me on for converting from PC!
I agree in theory.
Apple is very protective of copy written material, but even I have shoe-horned copy written papers into iBooks by using copy & paste. This is the only reason I can see for the lack of user friendliness in iBooks. You may have noticed that removing it from iTunes also removed the ability to edit any "get info" content - something I could do when books were within iTunes.
I like the ePub format. I can produce a very nice looking book with pictures and it looks great in iBooks. If I produce it on my Mac and use ePub into iBooks, I can then sync to my devices that way. For a really nice product this is a great option.
But. I can send the same product to Kindle and keep it synced to all devices. Or I can add to kindle from one of my other devices and get it to sync also. Obviously I made my choice and it works.
If you find a route via iBooks, please publish. Many other Apple users are frustrated by the lack of iBook flexibility since iOS 7 update.
Which bit didn't work ? Where are you looking for them in iTunes ?
Does connecting your iPad (or iPhone) to your Mac's iTunes and doing File > Devices > Transfer Purchases in iTunes, and then File > Move Books From iTunes in iBooks on your Mac, does that not copy them from the iPad over to your Mac's iBooks library ? That has worked for all PDFs and/or epubs that I've downloaded directly on a device, they have always then shown in the iBooks app on my Mac.
Or does that work but when connecting the other device to your Mac those PDFs don't show on its Books tab for selecting and syncing to it ?
Couldn't agree more. It's very frustrating to have to resort first to the support forums (thankfully y'all were here with the answers) and then to manually emailing each one to myself, just to move pdfs from my mac to my iPad. It shouldn't be this way and is a far cry from the total compatibility and ease of use of the Apple ecosystem that Apple has long touted and promised to us all. This is frankly beneath them not to have fixed by now.
How do I sync downloaded PDF files in iBooks between my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro?
