Tuesday, March 20, 2012

iPad file management *stil* sucks

So the author of the book mentioned in the last post was kind enough to send me an ePub copy.
I remembered that if you plugged in the iPad, and dragged the file into the Library area on iTunes, it would turn up in ebooks automatically. Except it didn't.
So I tried via Dropbox. Then I downloaded it in GoodReader on iPad. Well, GR could not read the file. Sigh.
So I tried the Dropbox app on the iPad. It could not open the file nor suggest an app to open it with (a normal ePub). But I was offered to copy the link.
So I tried Safari. And downloaded the file. And Safari downloaded it, and suggested that iBooks may open it. I clicked OK, and lo, it opened in iBooks! Zippidy doodah. I don't know what I did right. This is ridiculous, which non-geek would know to try all those options?

Short of the long: after two years I still think iPad file management really sucks.

And this is not even taken into consideration that after last big software updare, several important app have had all their local files wiped! GoodReader, Kindle App, DC Comics...
I know there's been changes in where app are allowed to keep their files, but seriously, Apple, this kind of thing is really *not* okay. In most cases I can re-download the files, but that's a waste of my time. And what if I got the file from a place which no longer exists, one way or another? (And no, the files are not in the backups. It seems that if they're gone from the iPad, backup assumes they should be gone. (Not that I have any clue how to look at the backups directly).)

3 comments:

ganesha games said...

Generally, emailing an epub to yourself works. I click on it and choose open in ibooks. I don't understand what went wrong with yours - I do it several times per day because I hate going through iTunes to transfer a small file.

sell cell phones online said...

I agree with you. Have they come up with an update?

desmo said...

Totally agree. As a pc user of many years who has just gone over to the dark side with the new ipad, I was amazed at how primitive the ipad file management is. The file management system seems to be the same one my daughter uses for keeping her bedroom tidy! It's not pretty and its not clever. I think I have made a mistake believing the apple hype.