Using 2018 iPad Pro with 13.1. I've found that with mp4's greater than around 4.5GB on external storage that the Files app can't play the video itself nor does it share it well with other video apps (nPlayer, Infuse, VLC). If under 4.5GB, Files can play the video and share it correctly. Video files that work have thumbnail icons while videos > 4.5GB have generic video icons. The videos I've tried are encoded 264, about 5000kbps bitrate, and not 4k. I've tried this with USB drive on hub, a Samsung 500GB T5 SSD connected directly, and an SD card in a reader, all formatted exFAT.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Files can't deal with videos > 4.5GB on external storage
- Thread starter sparksd
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I noticed Files.app has problems with large files in general. I tried to copy an 8GB mkv file from an SD card to VLC as a test and when I hit "copy" on the file, Files.app locked up and the phone started acting strange; I had to reboot it. I couldn't find a way to actually copy the file.
Looks like I'm going to continue using iTunes to put large mkv files in VLC.
I hope they fix it; it's almost a joke that Files.app can't deal with 8GB files when Apple is selling phones with half a terabyte of storage.
Looks like I'm going to continue using iTunes to put large mkv files in VLC.
I hope they fix it; it's almost a joke that Files.app can't deal with 8GB files when Apple is selling phones with half a terabyte of storage.
Here are tips: iPadOS does not handle exFAT well. I found when I copy large files from exFAT formatted drive, file will fail to copy most of time.
If I formate the external drive to Apple File System, then it will copy no problem.
I don’t think iPadOS File app is ready for prime time, at least it is in no comparison with Finder or Windows Explorer.
I don't own a Mac so Apple File System is a no-go. I'll have to wait for a fix.
Just to be sure, I've just formatted one of my USB drives as exFAT and thrown a 7.2GB .mp4 file on there as a quick test.
So far the film has been perfectly fine in the Files app, directly from the 32GB USB drive.
Could it be the medium which is causing the problem? I've not had time to try an SD Card, but I can try that out tomorrow, I have the Apple SD to USB-C adapter. FWIW, the USB drive I'm using just now is of the multi-connector type, so it's connected directly to the iPads USB-c port (iPad Pro 12.9 2018 running iPadOS 13.1).
So far the film has been perfectly fine in the Files app, directly from the 32GB USB drive.
Could it be the medium which is causing the problem? I've not had time to try an SD Card, but I can try that out tomorrow, I have the Apple SD to USB-C adapter. FWIW, the USB drive I'm using just now is of the multi-connector type, so it's connected directly to the iPads USB-c port (iPad Pro 12.9 2018 running iPadOS 13.1).
I tried four different devices with multiple, different files - SSD direct connect with USB-C, USB A on USB-C hub, SD card in USB-C card reader - and same problem on all of them. If the file is less than 4.5GB, it works fine. I tried to copy a 4.7GB file from external storage and Files locked up and I had to force close it.
Edit - I also tried USB connected through the Apple USB/HDMI dongle.
Edit 2 - I also see the exact same behavior on my 10.5 Pro, using an exFAT SD card and the Apple card reader.
Edit 3 - I also see the exact same behavior on my XS Max, using a different exFAT SD card and the Apple card reader.
Edit 4 - Same video files that don't work with Files do work with Lightning uSD card readers with associated third party apps on 10.5 Pro on 13.1 (these card readers have proprietary interfaces and don't show up in Files - they have their own apps).
Last edited:
Pretty much I think it is first time Apple open up support for external storage. This would take time for iOS to mature. iOS is different from MacOS or Windows where file support is matured already. This could take few iOS version for File.app matures
Really frustrating as I was looking forward to an attached external storage solution for playing videos on the road but it looks like I'll have to stick with the wireless FileHub. As to maturity - support for external storage is well-established technology. I'm retired now but in the past I've led OS development and know this functionality is not that fundamentally difficult to implement.
Plus, iOS is in many ways just macOS with a different shell. Now there are many more differences than that of course, but if you had access to a Terminal shell on iOS, file navigation through it works just like a Mac, and the OS level FileManager is no different with these files than it is on a Mac, so this is the way the Files app specifically does things, not the underlying OS. If I were to guess I'd say it's something to do with Apple not knowing how fast the external storage is, so trying things in the Files app to ensure seamless playback of large files by loading the whole thing (or at least most of it) into RAM, failing with too large files. But that wouldn't explain it working with different file systems, assuming they don't have weird branches.
I understand APFS is out of the picture since you don't have a Mac, but maybe you could try with HFS+. There are Windows drivers made by Apple for read access, and third party read-write tools.
It's not just an issue with playback within Files, it also fails on copying the files or trying to share them with other apps.
There are 3rd party tools out there but not as freeware and I don't find my need so compelling as to purchase anything. I have a wireless solution that has worked for years and will continue with that until Apple gets its act together. In a way, this reminds me of their iPad mouse/pointer device implementation in 12 (Typo edit - meant 13) - really, guys, your vaunted design team sat down and came up with this? It doesn't seem their heart is really into these kinds of functionality.
Last edited:
Ah. Well I actually think that's implemented alright as an accessibility option. Keep in mind it's not meant as a main input form, but an option for people who're unable to operate touch properly but can use a pointer device. And it's meant to seamlessly work with software written exclusively for touch, without any expectations from devs to have pointer input in mind, and for that it works pretty well actually, even letting you map right clicks and other mouse buttons
My objection is to implementing it as an accessibility option rather than as a full-fledged pointing device option (which fulfills the accessibility needs in a better implementation). There is no additional overhead on devs if instead of a circle blob you have a cleaner pointer and instead of forcing enabling/disabling of AssitiveTouch you recognize when an associated device is attached. The Android implementation is a perfect example of what can be done.
UI designed for touch is vastly different from UI designed for pointers. But I see your point that when you add a pointer form anyway, even if your end goal isn't to make it a first class citizen, you might as well give it more of a pointer feel. That said it'd still be nice with a larger cursor target, so I think in that sense the circular cursor area makes sense, because button shapes and sizes are designed for finger sizes, so a larger pointer targeting area means you can hit things faster.
I haven't seen Android's implementation but I'm doing Android development for the first time these days (traditionally only Mac/iOS/Java/web), so I'll check it out.
Interesting. Reminds me of an issue I had two years ago with a Lightning uSD card reader for my 10.5 Pro. The app with it could not handle my mp4 files over 4GB but the vendor said they had no similar issue playing videos larger than that size - they did it all the time. I sent them one of my mp4's and they duplicated the problem but could see nothing in the file to explain why it wouldn't work. They eventually said that the problem was in a third-party library they were using and that they had no insight into it so they just refunded my money.
Additional info - I added my NAS as a share in the Files app and I have the same video files on the NAS. The videos stream from the NAS without a problem in Files so the issue is in the external storage connection. Looks like Files doesn't handle exFAT storage very well.
It’s very odd how, essentially the same setup, can experience such wildly different results.
I’ve also tried an external, desktop, USB drive as well and experienced no issues with that either.
The only difference between us would be the USB/SD hardware and of course, the file.
I don’t suppose it’s possible for you to share the file? And perhaps the makes of and USB/SD hardware you’re using? There’s always the chance I’ll have the same type in my ridiculous collection of external storage medium. I’d be curious to see the results.
Sure, I'd like someone to test this. I'm using -
1) Samsung 500GB T-5 SSD - direct USB-C connect and USB-3 connect via HooToo USB-C hub
2) Samsung SD card 128GB - connected via HooToo USB-C hub and Anker USB-C card reader; to 10.5 with Apple Lightning Card Reader
3) SanDisk 128GB USB-A flash drive - connected via HooToo USB-C hub and Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
4) SanDisk 16GB USB-A flash drive - connected via HooToo USB-C hub and Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
I can PM you a link to a 4.7GB video file uploaded to OneDrive.
Edit - all of the above are formatted exFAT.
Last edited:
Sooooo, I had a moment and while doing some tests of my own (another thread) I was able to test the following:
I had a 8gig 4K file (500 MBits/s) lying around, and so I tested it with 2018 iPad Pro and iPad 5gen
A) sandisk micro SD Extreme Pro 128 (exFAT, formatted in camera) + sandisk usb3 mobile mate reader via Apple dongle USB-C to USB 3 type A
- copy to iPAD ok, file intact (editable in LumaFusion, playable via Files app)
- direct playback from the card possible but very choppy
B) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure - direct connection to iPad
- system crash, iPad restarts.
C) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure connected via powered USB3 hub .
- copy to iPad ok, file intact
- playback from ssd possible and quite smooth, actually
C2) same as C above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 powered HUB and USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from ssd impossible (a still frame is displayed) - app hung after playback attempt.
A2) same as A above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from sd card possible but extremely choppy, sth like 2 fps, but the Files app did not hang.
Unfortunatley I do not have any exFAT ssd/HDD drives at hand (only SD cards).
However - I noticed that frequently changing the drives connected to the hub hung the files app. In one instance the app confused the ssd drive with a thumbdirve. Restart was required. I mean - WTF... all I'm missing here is the blue screen and a cpu fanspin for a full windows 2000 experience...
The hub test leads me to suspect that certain devices with higher power draw cause problems, so that may not be an entirely software related thing...
I had a 8gig 4K file (500 MBits/s) lying around, and so I tested it with 2018 iPad Pro and iPad 5gen
A) sandisk micro SD Extreme Pro 128 (exFAT, formatted in camera) + sandisk usb3 mobile mate reader via Apple dongle USB-C to USB 3 type A
- copy to iPAD ok, file intact (editable in LumaFusion, playable via Files app)
- direct playback from the card possible but very choppy
B) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure - direct connection to iPad
- system crash, iPad restarts.
C) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure connected via powered USB3 hub .
- copy to iPad ok, file intact
- playback from ssd possible and quite smooth, actually
C2) same as C above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 powered HUB and USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from ssd impossible (a still frame is displayed) - app hung after playback attempt.
A2) same as A above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from sd card possible but extremely choppy, sth like 2 fps, but the Files app did not hang.
Unfortunatley I do not have any exFAT ssd/HDD drives at hand (only SD cards).
However - I noticed that frequently changing the drives connected to the hub hung the files app. In one instance the app confused the ssd drive with a thumbdirve. Restart was required. I mean - WTF... all I'm missing here is the blue screen and a cpu fanspin for a full windows 2000 experience...
The hub test leads me to suspect that certain devices with higher power draw cause problems, so that may not be an entirely software related thing...
Sooooo, I had a moment and while doing some tests of my own (another thread) I was able to test the following:
I had a 8gig 4K file (500 MBits/s) lying around, and so I tested it with 2018 iPad Pro
A) sandisk micro SD Extreme Pro 128 (exFAT, formatted in camera) + sandisk usb3 mobile mate reader via Apple dongle USB-C to USB 3 type A
- copy to iPAD ok, file intact (editable in LumaFusion, playable via Files app)
- direct playback from the card possible but very choppy
B) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure - direct connection to iPad
- system crash, iPad restarts.
C) samsung 850 ssd (APFS) in USB3 enclosure connected via powered USB3 hub .
- copy to iPad ok, file intact
- playback from ssd possible and quite smooth, actually
C2) same as C above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 powered HUB and USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from ssd impossible (a still frame is displayed) - app hung after playback attempt.
A2) same as A above but connected to ipad5 via USB3 Apple Lightning Camera Connection dongle (with power)
- copy to iPad ok, file intact (playback possible via Files app, also fairly smooth)
- playback from sd card possible but extremely choppy, sth like 2 fps, but the Files app did not hang.
Unfortunatley I do not have any exFAT ssd/HDD drives at hand (only SD cards).
However - I noticed that frequently changing the drives connected to the hub hung the files app. In one instance the app confused the ssd drive with a thumbdirve. Restart was required. I mean - WTF... all I'm missing here is the blue screen and a cpu fanspin for a full windows 2000 experience...
The hub test leads me to suspect that certain devices with higher power draw cause problems, so that may not be an entirely software related thing...
Good writeup. On the higher power draw - I got the same failures using an SD card in the Apple SD reader as with the other devices I tried. I was able to copy a 5+GB mp4 from a USB-C SSD to the nPlayer app via Files but the the resulting file could not be played. Files clearly needs a lot of work and was no where near ready for prime time on release. Really poor job by Apple on 13.x given this and all the other issues being reported and the rapid release of updates.
I've posted a similar story on reddit, which OP here alerted me too. I'll start of by saying exFAT was / is defintely part of the problem with larger video files. I couldn't get any file larger than 4.3 gb to transfer onto my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro 1TB with the Files App at all. I kept getting an i/o error. When I reformatted my Samsung 2tb 5t SSD to Mac OS extended, I could at least copy 20GB .mvk files to the SSD, and from there to the iPad using the Files App. So exFAT is part of the problem. But now we're talking about the inability of the Files App to copy our original large video files from a camera's SD card to an SSD or the iPad. Cut to the chase: the Files App is corrupting video files larger than 4.3 GB (bad checksum), not verifying the copy, and not catching the mistake. Thanks OP: Glad I'm not alone: Here is my post from today on Reddit:
I ran a MD5 hash of both files and verified corruption. Next I'll probably open both files with a hex editor and try to see where the problem lies, but I bet it's at a point where the file pulls past 4.3gb in size.
I ran a MD5 hash of both files and verified corruption. Next I'll probably open both files with a hex editor and try to see where the problem lies, but I bet it's at a point where the file pulls past 4.3gb in size.
Last edited:
Experienced a failed copy process from an sd card (exFat). The folder was 50+ GB, contained raw images about 30-50MB each, so this bug is not limited to big files. Files App showed an empty folder on the iPad Pro 11. It also would not load the contents when viewd on the SD card.
Clean install of iPad OS, apparently, helps with that - a bit...
So, after a clean install, the folder indeed copies with its contents (yay! a truly innovative feature), but if one tries to go to a different directory during that process, the visual representation of the folder vanishes. However, the copy process continues, without any indication other than the steadily shrinking "X GB available" info at the bottom of the Files app window. The folder shows up after the copying is finished.
There's another bug here - if one disconnects the SD card during the copy process, the folder never shows up, but apparenty it is there and takes up disk space. Copying the folder again will bring up a dialogue asking what to do with a folder name conflict (choices: replace/keep both/stop)...
in this state, the iPad os is practically useless for anyone who relies on storing and copying large amounts data using iPad and external devices via Files app (like images or video files)
Clean install of iPad OS, apparently, helps with that - a bit...
So, after a clean install, the folder indeed copies with its contents (yay! a truly innovative feature), but if one tries to go to a different directory during that process, the visual representation of the folder vanishes. However, the copy process continues, without any indication other than the steadily shrinking "X GB available" info at the bottom of the Files app window. The folder shows up after the copying is finished.
There's another bug here - if one disconnects the SD card during the copy process, the folder never shows up, but apparenty it is there and takes up disk space. Copying the folder again will bring up a dialogue asking what to do with a folder name conflict (choices: replace/keep both/stop)...
in this state, the iPad os is practically useless for anyone who relies on storing and copying large amounts data using iPad and external devices via Files app (like images or video files)