Why is the "Open with" option now missing from CSV files on iOS9?

iOS 9 has introduced some new security features that affect how an application can be launched. I am not quite sure why the "open in" is no longer working in Safari, but I suspect it has to do with that. However if it is because of new security features then Apple is not applying it consistently. You can still launch apps from DropBox, the Mercury Web Browser, etc. It is not clear why Apple would remove this functionality from Safari as it is still available in other apps.

Given that the problem may not disappear, you should know that you can load CSV from DropBox, the Mercury web browser and the new iCloudDrive app. Of course this is in no way a perfect solution as you still have to be able to deposit the file into your iCloud drive for DropBox or the iCloudDrive.

Jim

Guys... Apple has just solved this issue!

They have already seeded iOS 9.0.2 that solves the problem, so you can open any document in Safari and afterwards, open in Pages, Word... whatever!

🙂

I also had this problem. I've found two work arounds.

1. Copy the csv file displayed in Safari and drop it into an open Numbers spreadsheet.

2. Using the app Workflow I had it read a csv file over the web and send it into Numbers.

The workflow takes the URL link to the csv file, in my case a query to yahoo finance for share prices, gets the URL data and then opens the data in Numbers. It works as it did before IOS 9.

Hope this helps

I know this is not a solution when using Safari (our preference as well), but I found you can use Mercury Browser (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mercury-web-browser-pro-powerful/id1000610117?mt =8) to download files within the browser and then open them in Word using the Share Sheet.

This is a major headache for our students and this is the only solution I could find until Apple decide to revert and allow the 'Open In' bar to work for Microsoft Files.

In saying all this, the 'Open In' does appear for Pages, Numbers and PDF, so this could more be a Microsoft issue not extending to Safari.

I too have an open ticket in with Apple to have this resolved.

(This is a post I wrote on reddit but I’m cross-posting it here in many threads because it looks like many people are facing this problem)

Hello everyone! I found a solution! It requires a bit of time but it solved the bug (which is the impossibility to download any kind of file from Safari because the “Open in” label in ANY kind of document of file is simply not showing up).

This is what I did. Not sure every single passage is necessary but now it’s working flawlessly.

1. Connect the iPhone to the computer, put it in flight mode (to avoid receiving iMessages and notifications after the backup that would go lost) and do a full and encrypted backup (this way it preserves health data and keychain elements)
2. Restore the iPhone. It will download the latest iOS version and erase all the content
3. Once the iPhone is restored instead of restoring your data, choose the setup as new option from the iPhone screen (not from iTunes, but from the phone). To go more quickly I connected to Wi-Fi but skipped everything (including signing in to iCloud, and TouchID and passcode, there’s an option to do that) - so it prevents linking to iMessage as well (we don’t want that for now)
4. Now that you got a fresh copy of iOS open Safari and check that it’s working properly - I googled “pdf example” and opened the first two results - now it was handling the “Open in iBooks” correctly.
5. Connect the iPhone to your computer again if you disconnected it and it will ask you if you want to set it up as new or restore from a backup. Choose the backup you did in #1 (it should be already selected)
6. Wait for restore to be completed. You’ll have to put your Apple password several times because… I don’t know why, but iOS keeps asking it several times
7. While you wait for every app to be loaded you can already try to open Safari and look for a PDF or regular document, now everything should work just fine!

Hope it helps.

Not sure if you saw this thread... https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7224288

I do not have ios 9... I'd try:

-- download in a full function browser like iCab

-- rename the host file .xls and hope the excel application notices the format differences and does the 'right' thing.

R

This was frustrating for me too... Apparently Safari is now smart enough to know when an attachment is open. When you have a pdf, xls, doc, etc. thats when you will see the "Open with..." or "Open in iBooks.." Just opened a PDF and the option appeared.

Hope this helps!

I'm having issues too, even after update.

MY first question to you is: Do you have either of your apps enabled in "Privacy Settings" and within the app settings themseleves under Settings? Are they turned on in the Cloud? Is Safari's settings enab to access these apps AND is Safari enabled in iCloud?

Mine all are, and I have iSpreadsheets. But when I get the opt to open them "with"...iSpreadsheets isn't listed (nor is Excel, Word (as a table), iBooks. HOWEVER, odd enough, I DO see the option to "Open with iSpreadsheets." If I select it, I get an error in the app.

Still searching for a workaround. *sigh*

Same problem here. Called Apple, said they erased this option. Why? Who knows. Not very cleve. It was a useful tool

Confirmed! The old "Open In" toolbar has been restored.

Yes, me too!

I've just updated my iPad Air to iOS 9 and it is impossible to download a document from Safari (doc, xls, etc.) and open it on an app like Word o Pages. When I was on iOS 8, there was an option on the top of Safari asking you to open that file on a different app, like 'Open in Word'.

This is helpful. I use my iPad with maximum memory as a work device and easy downloading is a vital aspect in this. On you advice I will move fron Safari to another browser; but this does interfere with the convenience of saved passwords.

This link doesn't address the issue either so don't bother... You can even use Apples own apps to download attachments... Makes no sense at all