Can I substitute the iOS Files app for another

[Affinity-Inspiration]

The Apple iOS Files app is super buggy. Can I substitute it for another Files app from the App Store and use it as the default.

All the Affinity apps appear to use the Apple Files app by default, and as a result Affinity won’t work because the Files app won’t work.

I thought I had it fixed. But nope.

[Paul Mudditt]

12 hours ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

The Apple iOS Files app is super buggy. Can I substitute it for another Files app from the App Store and use it as the default.

All the Affinity apps appear to use the Apple Files app by default, and as a result Affinity won’t work because the Files app won’t work.

I thought I had it fixed. But nope.

I use the files app all the time and never encountered a bug, are you using it with some external device  ?

[Affinity-Inspiration]

16 minutes ago, Paul Mudditt said:

I use the files app all the time and never encountered a bug, are you using it with some external device  ?

No. I’ve been using it for years now. No problem until after the last update of iOS I think.

Now it locks up. Won’t display folders. In Affinity and other apps go to save and it won’t display folders. The only way to get it working again is a restart of the iPad. It’s a proper nuisance.

Dosent matter what I’m trying to access. Sometimes it’s fine. Sometimes it’s not.

[Paul Mudditt]

That is worrying, sounds like your file system may have some corruptions, you do have plenty of iPad space still left?

Assuming that is ok then I would ensure you are backed up to iCloud AND your desktop then try one or more of these:-

1. Closing ALL OPEN apps, wait a about a minute then doing a Forced Restart. You will not lose any settings or data.  https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/ipad/ipad9955c007/ipados

2. If that does not solve it, try Settings -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPad -> Reset -> Reset All Settings. You will lose Wifi passwords and have to re-enter any customisations you have done eg widgets etc. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/ipad/ipad9a74dc01/ipados

3. If that does not solve it then you will need to consider erasing your iPad and restore it from backup. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/ipad/ipad9a74c804/ipados

[Affinity-Inspiration]

3 minutes ago, Paul Mudditt said:

That is worrying, sounds like your file system may have some corruptions, you do have plenty of iPad space still left?

Assuming that is ok then I would ensure you are backed up to iCloud AND your desktop then try one or more of these:-

1. Closing ALL OPEN apps, wait a about a minute then doing a Forced Restart. You will not lose any settings or data.  https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/ipad/ipad9955c007/ipados

2. If that does not solve it, try Settings -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPad -> Reset -> Reset All Settings. You will lose Wifi passwords and have to re-enter any customisations you have done eg widgets etc.

3. If that does not solve it then you will need to consider erasing your iPad and restore it from backup.

Yes, that's what I thought. Or I could just wait until the new iPad Mini 7 comes out later. this year 🙂

I did a full reset about a week ago, and it was fine for a few days. The next step is a complete reinstall. A pain, but not as bad as having to do it on a desktop

[Paul Mudditt]

1 minute ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

Yes, that's what I thought. Or I could just wait until the new iPad Mini 7 comes out later. this year 🙂

I did a full reset about a week ago, and it was fine for a few days. The next step is a complete reinstall. A pain, but not as bad as having to do it on a desktop

Backup and restore is very robust now using iCloud and my preferred method, if you have tens of thousands  of photos it can take several days to fully restore. However if low level file system is damaged you may need to use a desktop restore or even more a DFU restore cycle.

[Affinity-Inspiration]

On 4/15/2024 at 10:09 AM, Paul Mudditt said:

Backup and restore is very robust now using iCloud and my preferred method, if you have tens of thousands  of photos it can take several days to fully restore. However if low level file system is damaged you may need to use a desktop restore or even more a DFU restore cycle.

I did a full reinstall today. So far so good. Stress test over the next few days. 

[Plumspot]

Files app is broken. Is there another way to open files in affinity without the files app? Dropbox or google drive or other cloud directly without going through the files app? 

[Paul Mudditt]

11 minutes ago, Plumspot said:

Files app is broken. Is there another way to open files in affinity without the files app? Dropbox or google drive or other cloud directly without going through the files app? 

Files app is not broken but sounds like your iPad may be. It is possible for your iPad’s flash memory to be corrupted  so follow the instructions above to try and repair your iPad.

[Affinity-Inspiration]

15 minutes ago, Paul Mudditt said:

Files app is not broken but sounds like your iPad may be. It is possible for your iPad’s flash memory to be corrupted  so follow the instructions above to try and repair your iPad.

Did a complete reinstall of the iPad. Seems to be ok now.

[Affinity Rat]

Ipad files app is always a problem if attempting to use it outside the Apple ecosystem and maybe Dropbox.

I have used both Readdle and Owlfiles both work better than Apple files app when connecting to files outside the Apple ecosystem.

It seems like the iPad os forces all file management through the same mechanism as the Apple file manager, but it operates more cleanly allowing visualization of icons from files on 3rd party sources, and no ipad hangs necessitating a reboot. That is my experience.

That said I dont have issues with the Apple file manager with connections between iPad and the iCloud, hence why Paul sees no problem.

Use the Apple File app at own risk when connecting outside.

 

[Affinity-Inspiration]

2 hours ago, Affinity Rat said:

Ipad files app is always a problem if attempting to use it outside the Apple ecosystem and maybe Dropbox.

I have used both Readdle and Owlfiles both work better than Apple files app when connecting to files outside the Apple ecosystem.

It seems like the iPad os forces all file management through the same mechanism as the Apple file manager, but it operates more cleanly allowing visualization of icons from files on 3rd party sources, and no ipad hangs necessitating a reboot. That is my experience.

That said I dont have issues with the Apple file manager with connections between iPad and the iCloud, hence why Paul sees no problem.

Use the Apple File app at own risk when connecting outside.

 

Yes, that's my experience. Thanks for the confirmation too. iCloud was always fine, but anything else got progressively worse until I fully factory-restored my iPad. Now everything is working as it should again. I can only assume that over time - since 2021 when I got the iPad mini 6, it's been in constant use and probably had a lot of file corruption going on. Files eventually gave up on that. So a full factory reset brought it back to being a nice well well-behaved iPad again. Because I store all my Photos on iCloud, Affinity working stuff on Dropbox and where possible don't have any files locally, and iPad backup runs regularly, the reset and restore only took an hour or so. Very nice. 

I don't mind the slight delay sometimes when for example Affinity Photo has to download a file I want over a sometimes painfully slow internet. I can live with that.

The reason I started looking at Affinity first as the source of the problem was probably because I use that daily. Practically the only apps I use are on the iPad, and of course that one was not handling the files at all via whatever mechanism that Apple has for that.

 

Anyway, all is back to normal again and one happy bunny here.

[Affinity Rat]

@Affinity-Inspiration

I dont get it, people here know the Apple file manager is a problem unless staying within the Apple ecosystem, but fail to acknowledge the problem. 

I suspect Affinity-Inspirations corruptions are the result of the Apple File App accessing 3rd party sources, and while reinstalling may be a short term fix, the corruption will resume if you continue on this path.

My suggestion:

• stay with the Apple ecosystem or
• use 3rd party app if accessing 3rd party storage
• use Apple file manager minimally when accessing 3rd party.
• when saving from Affinity apps save locally (ipad), then use 3rd party to transfer to 3rd party storage.

I use the iCloud a Windows external usb drive, and internet storage provider to save files, but saving to iCloud is easiest and least problematic by far.

Saving to external Windows USB drive works about 70-80% of the time without problems, providing I disconnect from iPad before shutting down Windows. Shutting down Windows while still connected to ipad will hang my iPad, and only way to fix is reboot Windows to restablish the connection, or force the iPad to shut down.