iOS 11 will have a new way to interact with your files. Here's what you need to know about it!
It's been a long time coming: In the fall, iOS will have an official way to view, manage, and organize your files. Apple has long resisted providing a Finder-style option for users, largely because of the sometimes cumbersome process of file management for the average person, but no longer — at WWDC, Apple previewed the Files app, a new way to view and manage your documents.
Here's what the Files app is, what it isn't, and what you can expect.
Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac (sadly, no public beta for the Apple Watch). While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.
So what is the Files app?
Files is to iOS as Finder is to macOS. Although not as full-featured as its macOS counterpart, the Files app lets you view, preview, organize, store, and share files from iCloud and other cloud-based providers.
Does it replace iCloud Drive on my iPhone and iPad?
Sort of. The iCloud Drive app is no more in iOS 11, that much is true: Instead, iCloud Drive lives inside the Files app as one of multiple "providers" that you can hook into.
What devices can use the Files app?
Any device that supports iOS 11 — iPhone and iPad alike.
What can you store in the Files app?
Just about anything! Files, folders, zip archives, presentations, the works.
What about music and movies?
Yup! You'll be able to store these, too — and in some instances, even play them right in the Files app. We've confirmed that MP3s, AACs, MP4s, MOVs, and FLAC files will all play inside the Files app. (Still no luck on WebM, though.)
Can you unzip a compressed document in the Files app?
Sort of, but not really. The app offers a "Preview Files" button when you open a zip file; tap it, and you'll view any assets in that zipped file one by one (where they can then be saved separately to iCloud Drive), but you won't be able to actually unzip the file or view any folders contained therein.
What about offline access?
Yes! You can download any file locally to your device, where it will be copied from your service of choice to an "On My iPhone" or "On My iPad" folder.
Can I organize files?
Yes! You'll be able to view your files by Name, Date, Size, and Tags, as well as either in List or Icon view. You can also add and rename folders and files, and on iPad, you'll be able to drag and drop files into folders.
What's this about Tags and Favorites?
The Files app offers a new Tags section that lets you add colored and custom-named tags to any file in the app. These tags make it easier to find documents without having to constantly organize them into folders; they're very similar to the Finder's own tagging system.
Can I duplicate files? What about aliasing?
At this time: No, and no. (And don't even start with me about compressing folders — this is version 1 of the Files app!)
What's this about organizing files from other cloud services?
The Files app isn't just for your locally stored and iCloud Drive documents. When it launches in the fall with iOS 11, Files will also support viewing and opening files from Box, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Baidu, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Google Drive. They all live separately in their own Locations folder, however — they don't yet mingle together the way Apple Music tracks and personal library tracks live side by side.
It's unclear as to exactly how this process will work beyond some sort of service-specific APIs; my guess is, third-party apps can build extension-based support to hook into Files, so you'll need to either have that app on your device to use the service, or you'll have to authenticate with it (á la Mail apps).
It's also unclear as to whether you'll be able to use service-specific features (like Dropbox's Sharing), or you'll be restricted to simple read/write access, with all sharing and collaboration done through iCloud Sharing.
Wait, iCloud Sharing? Does that mean I can share files and collaborate now?
Yes! iOS 11 will bring iCloud Sharing out of the iWork apps and standardize it across the operating system as well as macOS. This means that you'll be able to select any document, photo, screenshot, video, and the like and share it with friends and co-workers. Shared Folder support looks like it might be an option, as well, including user collaboration and viewing/editing access to files, but it's as of yet unclear how that will work beyond using APIs like NSFileCoordinator and NSDocument.
How do you view documents from the Files app in other apps?
It's not entirely clear as of yet, but if I had to speculate, I imagine it would work much like the Document Picker in iOS 10 works now. If you tap on an upload toggle in Safari or an open link in an app, you'll likely be brought to the Document Picker and asked where you'd like to source your files.
Other questions?
Let us know in the comments.
Reader comments
iOS 11's Files app FAQ: Everything you need to know!
Question. Maybe I missed this in the article, but one thing that isn't entirely clear to me: Does the iOS version of Files.app allows you to distinctly manage the storage on your iPhone VS. iCloud?
For example, currently with storage on iOS there's no way to determine whether or not (let's say) a picture is stored on your iPhone/iPad or only iCloud. Does Files allow you to move items from the "On this iPad" and "on this iPhone" section to iCloud drive specifically in order to manage on-device storage on a pro level?
Will the files app work on iPad Air 2? Craig said iOS 11 and Files will be available on all "these" iPads in the fall. I am just hoping my iPad Air 2 won't get left out.
What about SD card reader/cameras, can you transfer files from them (via Apple’s USB adapter) into Files’s local storage without using third party apps?
During the keynote, they mentioned that Files has tagging and color labels. Will Files recognize tags and color labels that were assigned to files on a Mac, or is this a separate tag/color system? Also, will we be able to search for Spotlight comments in Files (I'm guessing no on that one)?
Can you download a file from Safari to your device?
Posted via the iMore App for Android
Yes you can, it's not a new feature to iOS either. But it's not very discoverable and you might find it lacking.
When you click on a download link, the file is actually being loaded in Safari's browser tab. You will see the progress in the address bar, as though it is a webpage being loaded. When it is downloaded, safari will show a thumbnail/preview of the file and you can choose which app you want to open it with, or save to iCloud Drive.
Can files read from a local fileserver like a QNAP, Synology, Windows/Samba share?
I would like to know this too. Can you connect to home NAS via WebDAV?
Does this mean that my files no longer have to be stored inside an app? If I want a file to be used by multiple apps I'm no longer have multiple copies of the file? Do app developers need to update their apps to allow me to select the location where the file is located?
Can you store movies in the files app , and than select "open with" on each file, to open with different apps? Like if i want to store all my movies in 1 folder and play them with vlc. Can I play them from the files app using what app i want or do i need to copy each movie file in to vlc inorder to play them?
I would like to know if they are going to let Files manage files across apps, outside of the sandboxing they do now. Will this let me download files with one app and access them in another app? It doesn’t appear to do so at this moment (on the developer beta).
I'm guessing that apps will still remain sandboxed and limited to their own app directory as they always have. This is really something you want to make sure stays in place. You don't want one app snooping through files from another app. (Seriously, would you really want Facebook or Google snooping through all your documents!?)
However, that doesn't mean Apple has not come up with a method for the app to have access to a file outside its sandbox. One way would be to pass an anonymous file handle to the app via the system extensions architecture. Of course, that file handle would come from the user selecting a file via a "Files" sheet (a.k.a. Document Picker), or dragged from the "Files" app. The app itself would still have no way of accessing anything outside its sandbox, but the user could "grant" access indirectly on a file by file basis.
Do you know if the file system that will be viewable through "Files" for iOS 11 will allow for the omnidirectional movement, transfer, and sychronization of files over USB-to-Lighting with other devices (cameras, BD/DVD-RW (<yup, I wrote what I wrote), macOS Finder/Windows Explorer/Linux, etc) ***WITHOUT*** having to use the desktop iTunes app?
Basic local file transfer over USB between devices should be a default function now that a high-level file system is being made available. This would make it exponentially quicker, more tactile, more productive, and more secure than mindlessly interacting with cloud-based file management systems that leave users in the lurch when connections are interrupted. Failing that, Files for iOS 11 is not a true file management system but yet another mechanism of incremental lock-in to Apple and the cluster**** of cloud cover that you have no control over.
*USB-to-Lightning
The "high-level" file system is not being made available. Files allows the user to manage and organize their own files and documents, either locally and/or on various cloud drives. Whether support for external peripherals (file transfers) is available, is unknown, but I don't see why that couldn't be added at some point in time. This is a beta of a version 1.0 product, so have a little patience.
In computing, the term "high-level" means that which is most relatively accessible and most natural to the most laymen of users. I am not expecting /root or anything near it.
After over a decade of many examples by mobile OS competitors of how to do a user-accessible file system in the most basic fashion, is expecting the default file manager of a modern OS to support external file capability being impatient? It's a basic concept that's older than DIRED.
Thank you. That answered my questions. Looking forward to iCloud Sharing. That will really come in handy.
Thanks for the great article! I'm curious, would iCloud sharing for folders work amongst other iCloud users? For example, could I share a folder full of vacation pictures with anyone with or without an iCloud account, allowing them to collaborate and add to the folder?
As a wildlife and travel photographer, I have been waiting for iPads to be able to load RAW files from an SD card or camera, so that I can use Adobe LR or PS in areas where I have no internet connection, and therefore cannot use the Cloud.
I have contacted Apple Technical Help in UK and asked if IOS 11 Files app will be able to access such files on a SD card in a card reader or still in the camera, when the SD card reader or camera is connected to the iPAd, via the USB adaptor. They tell me that the new Files app will be able to do this.
Has anyone else had this capability confirmed?
I was able to copy or alias files in iCloud drive - created a new folder and then copied files (or aliased, I'm not 100% sure) into it via drag and drop: press on the file, drag it, use my other hand to navigate to the folder, drop it on the folder!
Question...Is there an option to create a 'sync' folder? For instance, I use BOX for storing some files. I decide I want one of those folders to be syncd with my iPad. This would allow me to use the files in that folder while I'm offline, but would synchronize when I'm back online.
Right now the Documents app by Readdle allows that and many other features.
GoodReader also has that feature and I use it frequently, particularly on my phone for temporary things like, say, a PDF of a detailed campus map that I can load before a visit, or a Metro map when I'm underground and can't get a signal. It would be great if Files gets that functionality.
I use Apple Notes for things like that. I have separate state and country Note folders prefixed with "travel: " (so they sort/group together) and save maps and articles within.
I am hoping for an API that enables us developers to access all those cloud services via one interface. Is the Files app already using such an API internally?
In my app I would prefer to use one Apple API (FilesKit? :) ) to access Dropbox, Box, iCloud Drive, etc. It would save all the work of interfacing to those services directly. We also could support all services without extra effort. Currently we devs need to decide which services we include and which we drop, to limit the cost.
And finally, any future services would be supported automatically, too.
Hi, I wanted to know what happens when I tap to launch an app from the Files app? Does the app picker launch, copy that file to the parent app to open and edit? I'm hoping for a "file" driven system where the parent app will no longer need a copy of the app and will instead read and write from the source directory other then it's own. Thanks!
Hi, I wanted to know what happens when I tap to launch an app from the Files app? Does the app picker launch, copy that file to the parent app to open and edit? I'm hoping for a "file" driven system where the parent app will no longer need a copy of the app and will instead read and write from the source directory other then it's own. Thanks!