Getting Photos onto iPad Pro

P

Professor1991

Messages
255
Name
Anonymous
Edit My Images
Yes
I have an iPad Pro (12.9, 1st Gen). I recent purchased a usb flash drive and it has a lightening adapter. However, recently, I spent a good deal of time copying photos onto the flash drive, only to plug it into the iPad and it shows up as empty. As you can imagine, this is fairly frustrating. I was of the belief my iPad was a 64GB model but thankfully, It's a 128gb so I've just decided to copy all the photos onto the iPad itself.

This may seem trivial, but I'm not too knowledgeable about the workings of iOS and I seem to be unaware of how to get something onto the iPad. In the past, I used to just upload to the Google Drive (When dealing with Android) and download from there but I can't seem to even see any ability to do that and my iCloud data is severely limited. When plugging the iPad into my laptop, nothing registers. I'm attempting to persevere with the USB route but is there a way to do this seemingly easy task of just simply transferring photos from PC to iPad ? I dont own any other iOS devices. Last time I did, iTunes was the only way. I've never used iTunes with this iPad so I'm worried everything already on the iPad will get deleted.

These are my various failed attempts;

I have a photo folder on the USB which had nearly 2'000 photos. I copied them all over. It took ages, but that was to be expected. However, the photos only seem to be visible on the app for the USB (An app is required for the USB to interact with iPad). I cant find the folder in Photos, Files or any 3rd party gallery apps. The proprietary app while it does show the photos, they are out of order and I am unable to sort them.

I was of the belief you couldn't download from Google Drive. I've never seen an option, however I was made aware of it so I spent another 2 hours uploading the photos onto Google Drive, only to see on my iPad, no way of downloading an entire folder. Individual, or mini sets seemed to be doable, however I don't plan on downloading 2'000+photo this way.

The final way was to access Google Drive via the Files app. I thought I hit gold with I tried to copy the folder to the iPad but it just spend an hour "copying", not showing any progress and then refreshed to nothing.

I'm beginning to get awfully frustrated. I don't plan on purchasing an lightning SD card reader as it's just another addition I don't really require. Is there an easier and 0 £££ way than this ?
 
PhotoTransfer App does exactly what it says and only a couple of quid!
 
Another possibility is to transfer from your Windows PC (if that is what you have — not stated) to iCloud Drive (or DropBox or whatever) and then they’ll appear in Files App on the iPad.
 
Has anyone had any experience with EaseUs Mobimover ?

sphexx said:
Another possibility is to transfer from your Windows PC (if that is what you have — not stated) to iCloud Drive (or DropBox or whatever) and then they’ll appear in Files App on the iPad.
Click to expand...

I have a Win 7 Laptop and I have very little iCloud storage to facilitate moving files of this storage capacity. Dropbox only gives you 2GB free which doesn't help my cause either. Google Drive seemed like the obvious choice (It's what I would have done if I had an android tablet) but I can't see an option to download the entire folder. I tried accessing Google Drive in the Files app and when I tried to make a copy of the folder onto my iPad, it just seemingly stayed on a screen showing a constant "In Progress" loop for an hour and nothing was copied at the end of it.
 
Regarding “can’t see photos in usb app” in Files App. You could try “Documents by Readdle” App. I can’t remember if it’s free but I’ve used it and though it’s a bit confusing it seemed to do things with Files that the native app didn’t.
 
I have to say I find all the iCloud Drive, Photos App etc a bit confusing. I think the easy answer is to pay for as much icloud storage as your iPad has — easy but costs!

The only other way I can see for you, as I wrote earlier, is transfer them from Windows to iCloud Drive (using a browser) and then move them to Photos App or wherever you want them. You can move 5 GB at a time with your free storage. I don’t think you can move folders into/out of Photos app as I dont think they are real folders, just tags.
 
I genuinely didn't think it would be this much of a hassle. I've installed the EaseUs but my iPad doesnt register in my system. The iPad charges, but my laptop doesnt register it being plugged in. I have no intention of upgrading my iCloud storage as i cant justify the cost as I dont use it enough to warrant spending extra.
 
I occasionally find that my 'i' device isn't seen by my laptop but I find that unplugging/plugging back in generally works, or switch 'i' device off then on.
 
gramps said:
I occasionally find that my 'i' device isn't seen by my laptop but I find that unplugging/plugging back in generally works, or switch 'i' device off then on.
Click to expand...

At least your device registers it ! I've had 0 success in getting it to register. I noticed in device manager, an known driver appears with a yellow ! Triangle. I attempt to update the driver but nothing happens of it. I downloaded the EaseUs application but this is stagnating everything.

I thought that iOS 13 made everything easier. This is most aggravating. I also have a HP Elite X2. I'm opting for the iPad due to battery life advantages over the HP as its standby time is awfully bad. Even when in use, it drains faster.
 
Your USB stick should work. Apple says “Connect an external hard drive, SD card reader, and, yes, even a USB drive” in their iPadOS description. Is it a problem with the format do you think. I don’t have a way to connect a flash drive to my iPads so can’t test. I know iPads are fussy about format/file structure with SD cards and won’t recognise them sometimes.
 
Re-reading your OP you say “An app is required for the USB to interact with iPad” but that shouldn‘t be true (though manufacturers often like to make themselves look special ;)) and so it sounds like there is something non-standard with the adapter/usb stick. If you uninstall the app does the usb not work?
 
Last edited:
@sphexx Whenever I pop the USB in, a pop comes up saying an app is required for the data to be read. Files doesn't pick it up.

I bit the bullet and I tried to install iTunes as I think it installs drivers as part of its installation process. However, when attempting to do so, it transferred to a Microsoft page and it was asking for a Microsoft user credentials. Not entirely sure how its come to this, desktops being treated like smartphones. My Win 7 ZBook isn't tied to an account. I felt like throwing it out the window due to frustration.
I then remembered the 3rd post on this thread recommending a transfer app. I tried it but its limiting in its free variant. Only 10 photos.
I bit the bullet, and I upgraded to the Full version. I'm now downloading from my Google Drive and it seems to be going well ! It's showing solid progress. Only negative thing seems to be that last I checked, its transferred 280/1706 photos, but its still showing as 0%.
 
It’s all very odd. I think I’ll try it myself. The only way I can do it it with a usb powered hard drive and lightning cable, might be interesting :oops: :$.
 
Update;

IT WORKED ! A few photos were out of sync but I can live with that. In an effort to not blow my own trumpet, I like to think I'm fairly adept at doing stuff like this. I have an android phone and I am constantly uploading to the cloud and whatnot but I didn't expect it to be such a hassle put photos onto an iPad.
 
Professor1991 said:
Update;

IT WORKED ! A few photos were out of sync but I can live with that. In an effort to not blow my own trumpet, I like to think I'm fairly adept at doing stuff like this. I have an android phone and I am constantly uploading to the cloud and whatnot but I didn't expect it to be such a hassle put photos onto an iPad.
Click to expand...

Best couple of quid you've spent!
 
Professor1991 said:
I never thought I'd buy an iOS app as my iPad is the only iOS device I own plus I use it sparingly.

Having said that, I must thank yourself immensely @Mikesphotaes !

Now, I must never delete this app again, even if I don't use !
Click to expand...
Theres no point I deleting it probably but it’s not a problem as you just download it again when you need it. And if you can’t remember what it was called (because app names are a mess) it is in your “Purchases”.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top