Master the Files app

Use Files to sort, scan, share and scribble on your stuff

- Carrie Marshall

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN Everything you need to know about Files

YOU’LL NEED iOS 11 or later, or iPadOS 13 or later

Before iOS 11 came along, file management on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch was a real pain – and something that meant spending far too much time swearing at iTunes. And then Apple released Files, which made it easy not just to access the files on your device, but to access cloud services and iCloud Drive too.

In its current incarnation Files is very like Finder, and it has extra powers beyond just organising and displaying files. You can use it to scan documents with your iPad’s camera, to annotate PDF files with Markup (see p38), to play music files including high-quality FLAC files and even to make basic edits to video clips. We think it’s particularly good when you also store your Mac desktop and documents in iCloud Drive, because you can then access those files and folders from your device.

Cloud control

In this tutorial, we’ll look at the features that Files offer to make every day a little bit easier, focusing on cloud services and the files on your iPad. But Files can work with other devices too: with the appropriate adaptor it can read SD cards or external USB drives, and you can connect to a network server via SMB, which is widely supported. And you can also expand its powers by sending content from Files to other apps or by customizing the iOS share sheet, which you can edit and add new features to via the Shortcuts app.

HOW TO Use Files on iPad