Just spent the best part of two hours trying to transfer a group of PDFs from my Win11 PC to my iPad... Worked out a 'fudge' in the end with the help of Mrs S who needs to do this much more often... but the whole process was as user-friendly as a cornered rat...
Before anyone says 'iTunes'... I explored that option and still got nowhere...
I wondered if Airdrop would work on a PC, but apparently not. A similar app is Airdroid, though I haven’t used it. Download the app to both devices and transfer over wifi. There’s a cost of course, but it’s cheap enough: https://www.airdroid.com/pricing/airdroid-personal/
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: A Rare Visit Here... getting an iPad to interface with Windows...
Mike Stranks wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:02 pmThat was my 'fudge'!!
If sending files via email or a dropbox type system is "tortuous" and a "fudge", you must have had a very charmed computer life to this point!
Glad you got sorted though.
Kwackman wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:28 pm
If sending files via email or a dropbox type system is "tortuous" and a "fudge", you must have had a very charmed computer life to this point!
indeed.
Also, I would not recommend iTunes on PC for ANYthing, it is the Work of the Devil.
Getting data in and out of an iPad to a PC is a horror, and it used to be much worse. I don't know if there is a way to directly connect it. I use Microsoft 365, but Dropbox works a bit better.
resistorman wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:46 pm
Getting data in and out of an iPad to a PC is a horror, and it used to be much worse.
I have to agree with this. I have forty years of tech experience and find the whole file management system on iOS very difficult. It just doesn't work for me. I'm not happy in an icon-only world; I like menus and text boxes!
I've found cloud storage (I use Box), Documents (by Readdle) and iCloud installed onto the PC will get me the results I need. I've also just bought a lightning to USB cable to experiment with transfer to a flash drive.
I seem to remember writing about my similar problems on a quick and foolproof way to transfer files from my iPad to my PC via a direct cable connection, rather than faffing about sending myself email attachments or download links, and subsequently discovered a PC app that let me do this.
Unfortunately, its name just doesn't trip off the tongue, so the last time I needed it I spent ages wading through folders trying to find it, and am currently doing exactly the same thing.
When I've found it again I'll post its name here - this makes perfect sense, since I next time I need it I can look up this post to see what it's called
OK - found it. It's AOMEI MBackupper Standard (Free version) - or at least it was, read on...)
It seems that others may have had the same naming difficulties as me, because when I just launched AOMEI MBackupper Standard 1.9.0, it informs me that a free update was available and on visiting the website it states:
"Starting from version 2.0, AOMEI MBackupper has been renamed to FoneTool"
Since it's designed for easy transfer of files between iPhone, iPad and PC, perhaps I'll remember this name more easily
So, belay that previous information - I'm actually now recommending FoneTool
Can I say again that whilst I haven’t tried the Airdroid app mentioned earlier (https://www.airdroid.com/pricing/airdroid-personal/) would appear to solve all these problems enabling two way drag and drop of files between iPad and PC over WiFi.
Can anyone comment on this? Could be the perfect solution.
Mike Stranks wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:52 pm
Meeting was this evening... Google Drive Offline was fine and I could access all the PDFs in a non-connected environment...
I use Google Drive myself as a low tech but workable solution - particularly as it shows up as a share destination in iPadOS, which makes it relatively easy to use.
ef37a wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 4:41 pm
Well, ****me! I don't know macs and I never had any kind of iThing but I always thought .pdf files were universal.
I've been using Drive for quite a while with no idea there might be a compatibility issue.
For instance, I upload from the PC to Drive on a browser, open the Drive app on iPad, download, then "open with/in..." a pdf app I was introduced to while studying, EZpdf.
Since the introduction of the Files app there are more options for storage and perusal on the iPad but I tend not to bother.
Posts:9639Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:00 amLocation: Manchester, UK
“…I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career” - (folk musician, Manchester).
Re: A Rare Visit Here... getting an iPad to interface with Windows...
iTunes has always been an abomination on a Mac. Can't imagine the torture with Windows!
I don't transfer stuff that often, but AirDrop (and the ability to copy/paste ) between Apple devices is really great if you're in a hurry. Overall, totally agree that the iOS filing system is so clunky! Adobe Acrobat I use for charts and things, and is always ok - but, still seems crippled by the OS.
ef37a wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 4:41 pm
Well, ****me! I don't know macs and I never had any kind of iThing but I always thought .pdf files were universal.
Dave.
The issue is, Dave, transferring them from a Win 11 machine to an iPad... you can't just drag 'n' drop... It's not the PDF format that's the problem... it's transferring any files in that direction...
ef37a wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 4:41 pm
Well, ****me! I don't know macs and I never had any kind of iThing but I always thought .pdf files were universal.
Dave.
The issue is, Dave, transferring them from a Win 11 machine to an iPad... you can't just drag 'n' drop... It's not the PDF format that's the problem... it's transferring any files in that direction...
I'm currently doing some experiments along the lines of, "What's the absolute minimum kit I can use to get an acceptable video record of an event?" Today's experiment was based on my iPhone 11...
"Easy-peasy" thinks me. "I transfer photos between the phone and my Win 11 machine all the time using a cabled connection."
But Apple thought differently. It wouldn't contemplate dealing with a 5GB video file either by cable transfer or upload to Googledrive.
A helpful little app called FoneTool got me sorted...
30 years ago I spent significant amounts of my working day working out how to get disparate computer system to talk to each other. Progress does not seem to have been so quick in this regard as it's been in other areas of computing...
Mike Stranks wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:50 pm
"Easy-peasy" thinks me. "I transfer photos between the iPhone 11 and my Win 11 machine all the time using a cabled connection."
But Apple thought differently. It wouldn't contemplate dealing with a 5GB video file either by cable transfer or upload to Googledrive.
A helpful little app called FoneTool got me sorted...
That's the little app I was recommending further up this thread - works great for me!
indeed. 
) between Apple devices is really great if you're in a hurry. Overall, totally agree that the iOS filing system is so clunky! Adobe Acrobat I use for charts and things, and is always ok - but, still seems crippled by the OS.
