Flash Drives for iOS Devices

By Daveed Mandell, 15 February, 2015

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Helo, everyone:

I understand that a number of flash drives are available for iOS devices that provide a means of external storage. One can transfer all kinds of material to and from these drives, just as one does now with computers. One can also read documents, view photos and stream audio and video from these drives themselves.

However, these drives rely on accompanying apps that must be downloaded in order to be able to use them. I'm trying to find out if anyone on AppleVis has used, or is now using, any of these drives, and if their accompanying apps are accessible with VoiceOver. I have heard of flsh drives from such companies as Hyper, PhotoFast and Sandisk. I'm sure there are others.

I hope that the AppleVis Editorial Team will assist in this matter as well, because I think I'd feel more comfortable with being able to use such flash drives, rather than having to rely entirely on the Cloud for storage. I believe I'm not the only one who feels this way. Thanks so much for any information anyone has about iOS flash drives.

Regards,

Daveed Mandell

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Comments

By Roxann Pollard on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 15:59

Hello Daveed:

I currently use the Patriot Aero 1TB Wireless Mobile Drive. Amazon.com has the drive for $139.99, in the US, as of this post.

The Patriot app for the iPhone works very well. I am very satisfied with the purchase.

One of the things I was curious about, when I first used the drive was whether or not I could put my BARD books on the drive and use the BARD app to access them. You cannot do this. The books can only be accessed inside the BARD app. This was certainly not a deal breaker for me, however. I have an extremely large music and movie catalog. It's certainly nice to be able to carry whatever I want on the Patriot Aero drive.

If you purchase this drive, or for that matter, any wireless drive for the iPhone, remember that you have to turn off your WiFi Home system before you can connect your phone to the drive. This is because your drive is also a WiFi source and the phone does not work with two different WiFi networks at a time.

HTH

By Daveed Mandell on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 15:59

Hi, Roxann:

Many thanks for your very thorough post. However, I should have stated at the outset that I am looking for a conventional, non-wireless flash drive. I know there are several of these available for iOS devices.

By Daveed Mandell on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 15:59

Hello:

These drives come with one or more connectors built in, so that you can plug them directly into a computer or into an iOS device.

By Roxann Pollard on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 15:59

If you were wanting to know how to get files onto the Patriot Aero wireless drive, it's just like any other USB style drive, such as the thumb drive. You plug the Patriot into the computer and drag your folders onto the drive. Then, when you open up the companion app on your iPhone, you will see your folders there.

HTH