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Files on iPadOS is a Mess
You cannot use the Files app for real workflows
I get it: the Files app isn’t Finder on the Mac. We all know it. What I want to contend here is that the Files app isn’t fit for purpose for an iPad, let alone as a rival to Finder or Windows Explorer. As we approach WWDC, I want to show how the Files app should be filed under ‘D’: dud.
The Hellscape of Files: The Evidence
Let’s start with a simple one: external file providers. Using external file providers (i.e. anything that isn’t iCloud or on-device storage) on the Files is a nightmare. Apple proudly proclaims the app’s ability to handle external file providers. The reality is not so rosy. Try taking a folder from Dropbox and plonking it in the favourites sidebar in the Files app. I dare you. Done it? You feel good, don’t you? Wait a few moments, maybe look out of the window, maybe go to another app on your iPad. Now return to Files. Annnndddd…the shortcut in your favourites bar has now gone. Magic! And by magic I mean ‘unbelievably annoying’. I could move everything from Dropbox to iCloud, but transferring things from a cloud provider is a bit of a nightmare, too because you have no idea how long it will take. Oh and just to really kick you where it hurts, if you wander away from Files when it is the process of moving everything, it will at some point stop the transfer. Leaving you with…
