Carrying a portable drive or storage to do your work or access files at any time is still a dream for some people. One might struggle to finish some work or access some important data while traveling, but an external drive or portable data can sort a lot of work. But it’s not possible to carry your drive like that. This is when your iPhone swoops in to help you work efficiently. Now, you can turn your iPhone into an external drive. To do so, you can either use an app or hardware. Below we have mentioned all the details required to convert your iPhone into an external drive:
Use Hardware
With the release of iOS 13, Apple improvised the iPhone and iPad to an extent where these devices can work efficiently with physical external hard drives and flash drives. You can now drag and drop the files between your drive and devices. You will need the following accessories and steps to transform your iPhone:
Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter
If you own an external hard drive and want to use it with your iPhone or iPad, then you’ll need a Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter. You’ll know the correct product type when you’ll find a female USB port to plug it in your flash drive and a male Lightning connector to link the adapter to your iPhone.
Apple’s official adapter costs $30 on an online store, but you can buy a third-party version on Amazon at a more affordable price. And remember, you check the third-party Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter carefully and ensure that you’ll be able to connect a USB mouse to your iPhone or iPad (running on iOS 13 or later). After making your purchase, go to Settings of your phone and click on Accessibility. Then, select Touch and turn on Assistive Touch. Follow this step before trying to set up the mouse. You can add it under the Devices section, later.
SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive
Instead of using an adapter, you can invest in a flash drive specifically designed to work with both iOS devices and other computers. These days, you’ll find an entire sector devoted to iPhone specific drives, and currently, SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is the best one you can get. If you choose to purchase any other drive, then make sure it comes with a Lightning connector and plugs directly into your iPhone or iPad.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive comes in four sizes: 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. It automatically backs up your photos and enables you to transfer any file from or on your phone. It is enabled with USB 3.0 and has a regular USB-A connector so that you can transfer data from the flash drive directly to and from any device using a USB port.
Use Third-Party Apps
As we mentioned earlier, some third-party apps can resolve the problem, and you wouldn’t have to invest in any equipment. The following are the apps that will convert your iPhone or iPad into an external device:
File Manager and Browser
File Manager and Browser is a free file manager and virtual USB drive for your iPhone and iPad where you can easily view images, audio, videos, PDF documents, Word documents, Excel documents, ZIP or RAR files, and more. Once the app is installed, you have two ways to get the data on your desktop, i.e., either via Wi-Fi or iTunes. To use the Wi-Fi connection, you have to go to the app’s settings and click on ‘Upload via Wi-Fi Sync’ to get an IP address. Insert this IP address on the browser’s search bar but ensure that your phone and browser are on the same network. This will enable you to transfer the files quickly.
If you want to use iTunes, then connect your iPhone to PC. If you’re using macOS Catalina or newer, open Finder and select your phone from the left. For older macOS versions or Windows PC, open iTunes and go to Apps. From the list, click on File Manager. Now you can drag-and-drop files into the documents section in the right-hand panel.
iMazing
iMazing is a great desktop app platform that efficiently replaces iTunes. It is available for download on both Windows and Mac. It can be used to take backups, transfer files, iOS management, and more. It includes features for photo organization, backup creation, WhatsApp, and message archiving as well. With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, you can choose the apps (on your phone) from which you want to transfer and save the contents. Use its file transfer feature to move files, documents, contacts, Safari data, ringtones, e-books, voice memos, and notes to your PC.
Using the methods mentioned above, you can easily convert your iPhone or iPad into a USB drive. Along with data transfer, you should also focus on managing the apps and data on your phone and PC for a healthy device.
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