Open Radar

 
Summary:

It is very hard to provide satisfactory file transfer from either a Mac, Windows PC, SD Card, iPhone, or any other device to the iPad (or an app).

I know and share the reasons behind Apple's "hide the files" philosophy for iOS, but for some productivity apps, the fact remains that files need to be transferred. iTunes App file transfer is very lacking (and requires a sync connection, which rules out university computers etc), iCloud is unavailable for Windows (and its capabilities unnecessary for many apps), and everything else needs a lot of implementation effort. SD card or USB stick data cannot be read arbitrarily at all, which is a real shame.

Expected Results:

Sometimes, users want to transfer files from their desktop to an iPad app. As a developer, I would have expected some straightforward way to provide this (which requires less manual work from the user than iTunes documents directory sharing does), with both Macs and Windows PCs, and preferably without the need for iTunes to be installed or the device to be paired to the computer. Something straightforward like USB mass storage, or a framework for doing it over the net without having to go through the cloud (which makes things much slower for large files).

Actual Results:

If I want to give the user easy file transfer, I have to create a homebrew solution with sockets or ftp/http servers. This takes much more time than something as basic as getting a document to the iPad automatically should take.

iTunes file sharing is very inelegant. Just write down the steps required to explain to someone how to do it, and you'll see there's no simplicity anymore. (And it requires iTunes installed, and a sync. Both is not always practical, for instance on work or uni machines)

Regression:

Notes:

I don't think I am the only developer held back from providing even better productivity apps by file sharing limitations that actually make it harder for the user.