External HD for iPad4

[bohaiboy]

I have seen adverts for wireless external portable hard drives. Haven't found much information on here. Is it possible to have a wireless portable HD store additional data, songs etc and have it communicate wirelessly with the ipad?

[rockmyplimsoul]

Although there are external drive solutions for the iPad, none of them allow use of music files with the native Music app on the iPad. See the "Ask iLounge" article on this from earlier this month:

Accessing a large iTunes music library from an iPad | iLounge Article

[alice04]

Who knows right? Maybe one day, there would be a wireless portable hard drive. But for now, hmm. I havent seen any yet

[kornchild2002]

There already is a wi-fi portable hard drive solution, it just isn't integrated into iOS and that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever happen. Apple keeps iOS closed and will ALWAYS continue to do so.

[sallenmd]

I am very satisfied with my 500GB Seagate Satellite. It has and app to play music and video and view pictures. Some find it awkward, but for me it is an acceptable tradeoff to be able to carry a large music and video library along with me on my frequent trips.

[alice04]

I agree with @kornchild2002
Apple will always be strict when it comes to all of their systems, etc

[Mr. Salty]

Originally Posted by alice04

Who knows right? Maybe one day, there would be a wireless portable hard drive. But for now, hmm. I havent seen any yet

I don't get the argument that it needs to be baked into iOS. This drive works well and has an iOS app that works well, doing everything the OP is asking for.

[kornchild2002]

It isn't necessary but a whole lot more convenient to have access to media using the default, built-in iOS Video and Music apps instead of having to launch a 3rd party app, browse for the media, and play it back. The music playback capabilities of Seagate's app leave much to be desired as well. It doesn't offer the same features as the Music app such as Smart Playlist automatic syncing, play count syncing with iTunes, etc. Its OK for videos but absolutely terrible for music and far from working "well."

It would be much, much better if media was playable through iOS itself with a little icon showing up next to each media file signifying that they are located on the external drive. Seamless integration is always, always better than having to rely on some other service. It's a series of extra steps that just seem unnecessary.

[rockmyplimsoul]

If someone can come up with an external drive that can use Apple's own "HomeShare" technology, essentially letting an external drive mimic an iTunes library such that you can stream music to your device's Remote app over Wi-Fi, then they'd have a winner.

But of course, Apple would have to open up the architecture to allow that level of integration. There are plenty of 3rd party AirPlay devices that you can stream music to, but I don't think there are any 3rd party HomeShare devices that you can stream music from.

[sallenmd]

"Seamless integration is always, always better than having to rely on some other service. It's a series of extra steps that just seem unnecessary."

Yes, Kornchild, but since as you say, Apple will never allow this and seems incapable of understanding why people want it, those of us who do are stuck using stuff like Seagate's app. And we will blame Apple's arrogance, rather than Seagate for our pain. Of course, it is possible that once Saint Steve has been in the grave a few more years, Apple will be more sensible and sell its own wireless hard drive that can integrate with the iPad music App.

I can't sync my library with iTunes anyway because I do not use that steaming pile of dung. I switched to MediaMonkey so that I can manage my 196,000-track library swiftly and easily. It's the playlists that I miss on the iPad.

[kornchild2002]

The inability of a company to provide a service shouldn't stop customers from wanting it. I want $1 million but I know that no one will ever give that sum of money to me. I want seamless integration of these external hard drive solutions into iOS but I know Apple will never give it to us.

[jpflatto]

In some ways, I prefer the Seagate app (I have both their 500 gb and their 1 tb) for my videos as compared to iOS. iOS does not allow folders anymore so there is no easy way to organize the videos on my iPad. With the Seagate app, I can view the videos in folders and keep them much better organized.

[kornchild2002]

Like I said, it isn't all that bad for video playback but it is a mess for audio since it doesn't work with iTunes play counts, playlists, or anything else like that. Video isn't that big of an issue (though it would be nice to integrate into iOS). However, the app itself is having problems opening other file types too such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, etc. This is also where iOS integration would be key as it would allow one to open said files with many different apps instead of being buggy under Seagate's.

[Sparkee]

Originally Posted by jpflatto

In some ways, I prefer the Seagate app (I have both their 500 gb and their 1 tb) for my videos as compared to iOS. iOS does not allow folders anymore so there is no easy way to organize the videos on my iPad. With the Seagate app, I can view the videos in folders and keep them much better organized.

Does this drive, or others like it, have the ability to copy photos from an iOS device?

Good information on these drives is hard to find. I'm planning a cross country motorcycle trip and will only be taking an iPad and iPhone along with my Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera. My 64GB iPad will hold a lot of photos but I would like another backup solution without adding to much more bulk. I'll probably end up using DropBox but I'll have to keep an eye on roaming charges if wifi is not available. I was wondering if the software allows uploading photos to the wifi drive.

[kornchild2002]

It's my understanding that the app, or any other apps offered by these external storage companies, are used solely to stream content from the drives. They do not have the ability to copy content to the drives since they have no integration with iOS whatsoever. It took a few minutes of Googling but that's the conclusion I've come to. I could be wrong though but I don't think I am.