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"OS storage management has improved with a user-visible "filesystem" and storage providers allowing edit-in-place, but there's still virtually no support for backup or rsync. The native iOS Files app is not a robust client for NAS storage. So far, the best option has been GoodReader (Russian devs) which implements robust sync (SMB, SFTP & more) within the app, along with optional in-app strong encryption that goes beyond iOS data protection."

Thank you - this is very interesting.

Although I am a (casual) iphone user (my iphone has never seen my real name or my real phone number and has never touched rsync.net) I was not aware of the user-visible filesystem nor was I aware of "Goodreader".

Does this user-visible filesystem allow me to just copy over my entire music library (which is files and directories, and no knowledge of apple/itunes/ios) and then let itunes browse it, locally on the phone ? Or do I still need to do complicated import tasks ?

> Does this user-visible filesystem allow me to just copy over my entire music library (which is files and directories, and no knowledge of apple/itunes/ios)

Sort of. Each app has the equivalent of a folder. You could use the Files app to copy a directory tree of music files from a remote server, into the folder of a music-playing app (e.g. Flacbox, Nplayer). Then all the files are "local" to the app. This assumes the copy doesn't fail, e.g. several GB over a flaky network, as the Apple-native Files app can't resume a copy, and will abort on every duplicate.

> and then let itunes browse it, locally on the phone ?

The on-device music app from Apple conflates downloadable iTunes-purchased files with streaming Apple Music. It does not play local files AFAIK. But you can use several third-party apps to play music & video.

The challenge is keeping the device and remote server in sync :) Hence GoodReader, which does a decent job of file synchronization within the constraints of a non-Apple app. It can also play music and videos, but doesn't have all the bells & whistles of a dedicated media app like nPlayer. But then those apps don't have file sync.

While apps (e.g. media players or editors) can edit-in-place or view-in-place files within other apps (e.g. storage providers like GoodReader), this doesn't seem to support the ability to maintain a continuous mirror view / symbolic link on a directory tree from GoodReader into nPlayer.

Other apps for an iCloud-free iPhone: 2Do (CalDav sync), local scraper/search DevonThink 2 Go (Webdav sync), Secure Shellfish (local access to remote files via SSH), HereWeGo (formerly Nokia offline maps), iCatcher (podcasts), Codebook (password manager with native sync to Mac), Kiwix (offline wikipedia/stackoverflow).

What I found is that many old apps have "password protected folders". Some video apps, some photos apps, some comic readers. This was to keep certain photos/videos/comic private. Many of those app expose all those "private" files via the Files app entirely defeating the purpose of having a password on them.

Those files should be marked read-only for the owner and the pubic files world readable.

In-app encryption can keep files opaque to Siri/Spotlight/Files. By default, Spotlight/Siri will index in-app content, which may (?) also be sent to iCloud.

Does PhotoSync-app allow me to view photos from other devices inside the iOS Photos app? I would like the photos from my Android phone to be viewable in the iOS Photos app on my iPad.

Not personally tested, but PhotoSync should be able to copy the Android photos to an iOS Album via WiFi. You will want to keep the photos separated in an iOS album, to enable future synchronization. Otherwise, your iOS photos could get copied to the Android device.

> So far, the best option has been GoodReader

Dropbox?

It's about flexibility. GoodReader supports both public clouds (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, SugarSync, Box) and open protocols (WebDAV, FTP, SFTP, AFP, SMB) for private storage. Then, after remote files have been synced to/from the iDevice, editing them in-place from other apps.

I don't use GoodReader, so can't say if it's exactly the same. But as of iOS 13, the Files app now supports directly connecting to external servers. SMB for sure, but can't find a definitive list of supported protocols.

You can also use Files to directly browse and access files from third party cloud services, although it requires you to download the service's app first[1].

[1] https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/connect-external-devi...

Perhaps iOS 14 is better, but the iOS 13 Files app is not a great SMB client. It doesn't deal well with intermittent connectivity, e.g. remote hosts connected by VPN, or USB wired ethernet. When it gets confused, the only solution is to reboot the iPad, as restarting the Files app is not enough. Unlike GoodReader, the Files app does not have bidirectional sync with remote servers.

It’s the same as in macOS, which hasn’t been good for years. Is it not just Samba? Did they write their own implementation of SMB?

No idea on implementation, good point that it's possibly reused code from macOS. But if various iOS apps have stable SMB clients, surely Apple can afford one? There's a possible business conflict between Apple's high prices for internal flash storage and their support for external storage.

Don’t forget Apple’s other conflict of interest: paid iCloud storage.

True, especially with the new Services bundles.

I came across the feature while using a beta of iOS 14, so can't speak to whether it's improved since iOS 13.

But my use case has involved connecting to a remote host over a ZeroTier[1] VPN, using an iPhone 6S. I haven't experienced the scenario you mentioned; most problematic issue I've had is sporadic latency spikes during folder navigation. I haven't really done any true stress testing of things, but it's handled transitions between wifi and cellular network without any noticeable issues.

Wait so does that mean I can plug and SD card reader or other usb mass storage device into my phone and copy files directly without a third party app?

Yes, using Lightning-to-USB adapter, at least for apps which support the iOS 13+ Files app.

Several apps (nPlayer, InFuse, LumaFusion) also support Samsung iXpand lightning/usb flash drives natively. With native app support, files can be played directly from the flash drive, without copying to the iPhone.

That was news to me until I pulled up that support article to add to my post, but looks like it!

Looks like there are two different USB adapters Apple sells, and the product page for this[1] one mentions it can be used for quite a few USB devices, including "USB peripherals like hubs, Ethernet adapters, audio/MIDI interfaces, and card readers for CompactFlash, SD, microSD, and more."

Biggest issue for both external HDDs and other devices appears to be power delivery, which can be alleviated by using a drive with external power or leveraging a powered USB hub between the phone/tablet and the USB device.

[1] https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2AM/A/lightning-to-us...