From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone
Friends are going on a summer vacation with toddlers who generally watch Netflix so to help them out, I'm lending them a spare iPad to watch movies.
The problem, of course, is Apple won't interoperate with the real world (namely, with Windows, Linux Android) but LocalSend will fix that issue.
Unlike Apple products, two apps that do work in the real world are
a. LocalSend (file transfer between platforms) <
https://localsend.org/>
b. VLC (video player on all platforms) <
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/>
I'm going to transfer the directory of large video files over Wi-Fi.
And I'm going to use LocalSend for the transfer even as VLC can do Wi-Fi. Knowing large files could be transferred over USB or over Wi-Fi using VLC
file transfer, but, from experience, I found VLC transfers a bit flaky.
Whereas LocalSend Wi-Fi transfer, for large video files, is more robust.
Why LocalSend is better than USB on Windows
a. No insecure Apple drivers
b. No iTunes untested bloatware
c. No MTP mode
d. No idiotic Apple DCIM folder restrictions
e. No "trust computer" Apple weirdness
f. No Apple-restrictive app-folder visibility issues
g. Works with any file type, not just odd formats Apple promotes
h. Transfers are fast (LAN speed, often 50-150 MB/s on Wi-Fi 6)
It's the closest thing to AirDrop/ShareDrop that works on all platforms.
Start with all devices being on the same LAN, connected only over Wi-Fi.
A folder named 'vacation' on the desktop containing 10 large MP4 files.
And 10 very small srt files.
1. Install the required apps
a. On the iPad, install "LocalSend" <
https://localsend.org/download>
b. On the desktop, install "LocalSend"
c. On the iPad, install "VLC" <
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/>
2. Connect LocalSend
a. Open LocalSend on the iPad and leave it open to be discoverable
b. Open LocalSend on the PC so that it can discover the iPad LocalSend
4. Send the videos from the desktop to the iPad over Wi-Fi on your LAN
a. On the desktop, in LocalSend, click "Send".
b. Drag the entire "vacation" folder into the desktop LocalSend window.
c. Select the iPad from the device list in the desktop LocalSend window.
d. On the iPad, tap "Accept" when the transfer request appears.
e. Wait for the transfer to finish (10 videos takes about 1/2 hour).
5. Locate the transferred files on the iPad
a. Open the native iOS Files app on the iPad.
b. Go to "On My iPad" > "LocalSend".
c. Inside this folder you will see a new "vacation" folder
Note: LocalSend saves files into a location that iOS treats as "external,"
so Move is disabled until we put the files into a writable app folder.
Worse, there is no "Save to Files" when you select srt amongst mp4 files.
This is Apple being Apple.
6. Copy the videos and srt files into VLC's folder
a. In Files, open: On My iPad > LocalSend > vacation
b. Tap "Select" (top right).
c. Tap "Select All" or select individual MP4 files.
d. Tap the "Share" icon (square with upward arrow).
You'll see Apple's idiotic set of sharing options, which are on my iPad
First row: AirDrop, Mail, YouTube, BookPlayer
Second row: Copy, Save 10 videos, Add Tags
You'd think you'd select "Save 10 videos" but that saves to Photos.
You'd think there would be a "Save to Files" but that would be too easy.
This is Apple being Apple (meaning they make everything simple harder).
You'd think if you select just one MP4 you could save it to Files.
But nope.
iOS treats MP4 as a "media item" and is only offering save to Photos.
It is NOT offering to save it to the Files system at all
.
6. Copy the videos and srt files into VLC's folder
a. In Files, open: On My iPad > LocalSend > vacation
b. Tap "Select" on the top right
c. Select only one MP4 file.
d. Tap the Share icon.
On my iPad, this gives two lines, of the following options:
line1: vlc, mail, notes, journal, freeform, youtube, bookplayer,
localsend, imovie, more (which brings up the same set).
Lin 2 is copy, save video, add tags, add to shared album
e. You'd think VLC is the right option, but that streams to VLC.
Because iOS thinks MP4 files are "media items", it prioritizes:
"Save Video" (to Photos)
"Open in..." handlers (like VLC)
And it hides "Save to Files" unless the app explicitly supports exporting.
LocalSend's sandbox does not support exporting MP4s to Files, so "Save to Files" is suppressed. But VLC does support receiving media via the Share Sheet, so iOS shows VLC instead.
Neither is what we want.
6. Copy the videos and srt files into VLC's folder
a. In Files, open: On My iPad > LocalSend > vacation
b. Tap "Select" on the top right
c. Select only one MP4 file.
d. Tap the Share icon.
e. In the first row of icons, tap "VLC".
Drat. That just streams the MP4 files in VLC.
And doesn't even pick up the associated SRT.
6. Copy the videos and srt files into VLC's folder
a. In Files, open: On My iPad > LocalSend > vacation
b. Tap "Select" on the top right
c. Select only one MP4 file.
d. Tap the folder icon (at the top right)
e. In the row of folder icons, tap the folder with "VLC" on the side
f. At the top right of the resulting window, tap the blue "Move" button.
g. You can do that for all of them by selecting "all" instead of just 1.
Whew. Apple makes even simple things harder.
Now let's find the files in VLC.
VLC on iPad shows the SAME physical files in different locations
i. Local Files = VLC's internal file browser
ii. On My iPad > VLC
iii. Videos = VLC's media library view
So this has finally enabled movies & srt from the desktop to the iPad.
1. Videos = media library (indexed)
2. Local Files = VLC's internal file list
3. Browse = actual iOS filesystem
Isn't the design of iOS wonderful?
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