I can't seem to make Airdrop work (Mac->iPad)

[Elwen]

I purchased iPad version after being satisfied with Mac version.

I don't want to use the cloud option, but Airdrop does not seem to work. I am sending the *.afdesign file and the only option that I see on iPad is "Import from Photos"

I tried 800Mb but also smaller file, but neither appeared.

What I am doing wrong? If the Airdrop option will not work, I will probably need to return the app.

Thank you for your help!

[Paul Mudditt]

32 minutes ago, Elwen said:

I purchased iPad version after being satisfied with Mac version.

I don't want to use the cloud option, but Airdrop does not seem to work. I am sending the *.afdesign file and the only option that I see on iPad is "Import from Photos"

I tried 800Mb but also smaller file, but neither appeared.

What I am doing wrong? If the Airdrop option will not work, I will probably need to return the app.

Thank you for your help!

Yes it works fine, select the file on your Mac right click and select share then airdrop, assuming you have airdrop enabled on your iPad you should see a message like this appear, select the app and it will open it directly. You don’t need to do anything on the photos app apart from not having another document already open.

Edit: In this example I was using photos but it is exactly the same with designer

Edit2: The pop up window does not appear for an afdesign file but instead opened directly in Designer on the iPad.

[Elwen]

Thanks! When the app was opened and I Airdropped the file, it opened right in. 

I wonder where are all the files I have successfully Airdropped without having Designer app opened on the iPad.

[Elwen]

The only downside is that any bigger files just crashes the app as soon as it is transferred. It opens for a second and then it crashes. (I am using iPad Pro 12.9 year 2018)

[LionelD]

@Elwen I also use Airdrop, just like your description.  I’ve had some mixed results (I am using iPad Pro 11” bought April 2019, latest iOS).

Airdrop from iPad to Mac places the airdropped files into the Downloads folder.  I can now do this consistently after mixed results when I first tried it (before I got AD for Mac).

This morning Airdrop from Mac to iPad opened only one of a batch of Airdropped images in AD; no idea where the others went.  I had to Airdrop them one at a time.

I have Airdropped .afdesign, .jpg and .png to Mac, only .afdesign to iPad.

I have never seen the dialog that Paul Muddit posted; last time I did this, the Airdropped opened in AD immediately.  I don’t recall ever seeing any dialog on the iPad about incoming Airdrops.  I’ll do another Airdrop and see what happens.

The Airdrop process sometimes fails to transmit at all.  I got AD for Mac about 10 days ago, and I’m convinced that things improved after I installed it (I have no facts to support this belief).  I have successfully Airdropped some fairly large files (up to 266MB), none as large as yours.

Regards

Edited June 14, 2019 by LionelD
Clarification

[Paul Mudditt]

1 hour ago, LionelD said:

@Elwen I also use Airdrop, just like your description.  I’ve had some mixed results (I am using iPad Pro 11” bought April 2019, latest iOS).

Airdrop from iPad to Mac places the airdropped files into the Downloads folder.  I can now do this consistently after mixed results when I first tried it (before I got AD for Mac).

This morning Airdrop from Mac to iPad opened only one of a batch of Airdropped images in AD; no idea where the others went.  I had to Airdrop them one at a time.

I have Airdropped .afdesign, .jpg and .png to Mac, only .afdesign to iPad.

I have never seen the dialog that Paul Muddit posted; last time I did this, the Airdropped opened in AD immediately.  I don’t recall ever seeing any dialog on the iPad about incoming Airdrops.  I’ll do another Airdrop and see what happens.

The Airdrop process sometimes fails to transmit at all.  I got AD for Mac about 10 days ago, and I’m convinced that things improved after I installed it (I have no facts to support this belief).  I have successfully Airdropped some fairly large files (up to 266MB), none as large as yours.

Regards

The dialogue box appears if there is more than one possible app that could receive the file. To test this out, airdrop a pdf file from Mac to iPad and on my iPad at least there is a huge dialogue box. My only concern is why IOS Files app does not appear for afdesign files but does for other file extensions.

Personally I prefer the iCloud method instead.

[LionelD]

@Paul Mudditt  Well, you taught me something again, thanks.

I hope that many of these tribulations will go away when iPadOS gets here.  I’d happily use a thumb drive.  I may also have to go to an Apple store to find out how iCloud really works.

Regards

[Paul Mudditt]

49 minutes ago, LionelD said:

@Paul Mudditt  Well, you taught me something again, thanks.

I hope that many of these tribulations will go away when iPadOS gets here.  I’d happily use a thumb drive.  I may also have to go to an Apple store to find out how iCloud really works.

Regards

Don’t think it’s that difficult, use Finder on Mac and you will see iCloud folder, on IOS Files you see the same folder which is kept in sync on all devices. In use just create sub-folders and place your files on one platform and they are very quickly available on all other platforms. Obviously large files will appear as thumbnails and won’t download from the cloud until you access them. Best way to think of it is like a network drive that all devices can read and write too. 

[LionelD]

@Paul Mudditt Thanks again.  I’ll take a look at it.

You are quite the informative fellow.

Regards

[Bubily]

Hi there,

I seem to have the same problem with AirDrop except I'm not receiving anything in any form when sending from my MacBook. All other file formats work as expected when being sent Mac->iPad. I have installed both Photo and Designer on iPad and no matter what scenario i create I'm not getting a file via AirDrop. Just the AirDrop audio queue. No popup, no automatic opening in an Affinity app, no automatic download to the Downloads folder, nothing.

Sending from iPad to Mac works just fine though.

[LionelD]

Well, I eventually resolved my Airdrop problems.  I was dropping iPad to MBP, and had intermittent failures; Apple was very good, and persistent troubleshooting identified a size-related issue.  MBP to iPad seems to require receiving app to be running.

But then we got iPadOS, and it seems to offer another alternative.  If you connect your iPad to MBP with USB cable, iPad shows up in Finder on MBP, and I’ve been able to move files that way.  Take a look and see if that works for you.

Regards

[Bubily]

I've already tried having each of the app open while sending, having them closed, reinstalling them, having the iPad upside down while dancing la macarena in the background and yes, tried sending different sizes of Affinity files. Nothin'. Thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately my setup makes the cable connection method a lot slower than anything else.

A bit of a workaround i figured out is to simply compress the file before sending to iPad. AirDrop the .zip, popup appears, save where you want, uncompress and that's it.

[LionelD]

Can’t imagine an iPad dancing the Macarena, but you’re obviously one of those lucky people whose imagination works very well.

It sounds like your problem might be connected to the size of the file, and that makes me wonder if your iPad and MBP are up to date.  When Apple fixed the bug they diagnosed in my case, that problem went away.

You’ll know everything is working when your iPad and MBP start doing an Argentine Tango; I hope you have appropriate music ready...

Regards

[Bubily]

Nah, I tried sending different file sizes with no results and I'm borderline OCD about updates of any kind so no issues there also.

I'll prepare the music in case it starts working properly eventually