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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020
My camera doesn't have wireless capability and I needed a way to transfer shots to my phone on the fly for sharing. This was a good solution, plus it lets me use the phone for OTG storage/backup as well. And, it also gives you an external storage option if the phone is full.
Works like a charm.
**What follows is a very long, but hopefully useful, PSA that began as a way to address older reviews here complaining about issues that may no longer apply. I might have had more time on my hands than originally anticipated since writing this review - you will note the date - and so through subsequent edits, it has evolved somewhat. If you're experiencing any of the issues listed below, may I suggest exploring the procedures and notes outlined for them, and/or making use of the Internet by doing your own research. Perhaps this will clear up a few recurring misconceptions as well.
For reference, none of these problems were present with my setup as of Jan. 2020 - iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 13.3.
UPDATE 12/2020: Currently working with iOS 14.3. I can also verify that this works with iPad 7th Gen.
• Complaint: iOS 13 will not read the card.
• Status: If this was true at the time of release, I guess the updates have taken care of it. Fully functional in both directions for me.
• Complaint: Transferring decreases file size.
• Status: Same as above, not true with my setup. So far, I have used both the Photos app and the Files app (depending on the file) to transfer .CR2 (Canon raw), .jpg, .jpeg, .heic, .png, .gif, .rtf, .pdf, .pages, .txt, .m4a, .wav, .mp4 and .mp3 files in both directions with absolutely no degradation, processing or alteration of any file. All perfect, verbatim copies. That's actually what one should expect, as there is no software in this adapter. It’s just a card reader - a wire with connections - and all that should happen is that the file gets copied to a new location. If this is happening, the problem has to be in your settings somewhere. I'm guessing here, but maybe try Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC, and if Automatic is selected, change it to Keep Originals.
• Complaint: Can’t transfer files from iPhone to card.
• Status: False. Again, works in both directions. I am aware that this contradicts what it says on the Apple support page - welcome to the Internet - but I do this all the time. Here's how: Select a photo or photos to be exported. Hit the Share icon, scroll down and select Save to Files to pull up the locations browser. Select the card or a folder on the card, or even create a new folder in that location by long-pressing the folder or hitting the folder+ icon at the top, give it a name and then select that new folder. Hit Save and wait for the transfer to finish. Voilà.
Note: If you haven't explored the locations browser of the Files app, it might become apparent by its structure that Files is essentially the iOS version of Finder on a Mac. The On My iPhone/iPad section is where, if you wanted to, you can save, access and use files on your device independent of an app's library.
• Complaint: iPhone forces you to import to Camera Roll and not a specific album.
• Status: False. There is an "Import to:" option just above the thumbnails on the Import screen. You can either select an album you created in Photos beforehand, or create and name a new album right from the Import screen. The Camera Roll does display all photos from all albums, but you can manage all photos you've categorized into albums from their particular albums, as well as add or remove albums as you see fit.
Caution: removing an album does not delete its photos. An album is nothing more than a virtual "container" for categorizing the photos within the Camera Roll. If you’re done with an album and want to get rid of it AND its photos, it would be most efficient, not to mention wise, to delete the photos while they’re in the album first and THEN dump the album. Otherwise, you’ll have to delete them by picking them out in the Camera Roll, wherein lies the way of tedium and self-recrimination.
Also note that if you want to reclaim the storage space the deleted photos occupy, you’ll then need to delete them from the Recently Deleted folder.
• Complaint: You have to import all the photos from the card.
• Status: False. The importer gives you the option either to select/deselect all photos on the card, or to manually select as few or as many individual photos as you like. The importer also gives you the option to keep or delete the photos on the card after the import is complete.
• Complaint: Will not import computer-edited photos.
• Status: False, with conditions. See Photos app notes just below.
NOTES ON IMPORTING TO PHOTOS APP (including computer-edited photos):
According to Apple, "Apple camera adapters can import only content that was captured by digital cameras." Just as with the contention that you can't export to the card, this is demonstrably false. To date, I've successfully imported these file types (photo and video) from an SD card into the Photos app: .CR2, .jpg, .heic, .png, .gif, and .mp4. My Canon only creates .CR2 and .jpg, and my iPhone does .heic, so what about the other three, which I loaded to the card from my computer even after editing with Photoshop? Well, despite what Apple says, Photos can import any compatible image file from the card, and will do so as long as the following two conditions are met:
1. The file must be located on the card in the correctly labeled image folder, and within the properly structured folder tree, as follows: [card] > DCIM > [image folder]. The camera creates this structure when it formats the card. I suggest double-checking the card out of your camera, but with mine (Canon 5D Mark III), the stock path is: EOS_DIGITAL > DCIM > 100EOS5D. Additional folders sequence as 101EOS5D, 102EOS5D, etc. So, you just duplicate that structure if you create the folders manually. Note that the card can have any name you want, but the DCIM folder must be top level, and the image folder(s) within DCIM must follow the naming convention of 3 numbers (the first number cannot be zero) followed by any combination of 5 alpha-numeric and/or underscore characters, no spaces, not case-sensitive (i.e. 123ABCDE, 300AB_XY, 567_bcde, etc.). Photos will find, and look in, any subfolder or multiple subfolders of DCIM whose name follows that format, as long as it doesn't begin with a zero.
2. The format of the file name must also follow that of digital cameras: 3 alpha-numeric or underscore characters (again, any combination, not case-sensitive, no spaces), followed by an underscore, followed by 4 numbers in any combination (i.e. IMG_1234.CR2, _mg_0001.jpg, B_1_1234.png, etc.). Note that for JPEGs, Photos requires the file extension ".jpg", and will not read ".jpeg".
• Naturally, you can create the folder structure and/or rename files on the card as you normally would using Finder on a Mac or Windows Explorer on a PC, but you can also do it with the Files app on your device just like you would in Finder. Note that, unlike in Finder, you can't rename extensions with Files. Although, you can still view the full filename with the extension (along with camera and lens metadata if available) by long-pressing the file and clicking Info in the pop-up menu. Additionally, when using Files to rename a file on the card, you might then need to pull the card and reinsert it for Photos to see it or import it.
• WORKAROUND USING FILES: Because Files in iOS is basically the same interface with the card as Finder would be on a Mac, if Photos won't recognize image files on the card despite confirming the above, you can import the images straight into Files instead. Open the Files app and navigate to the card from the Browse page (folder icon in the bottom right corner). Follow the path through the DCIM folder into your image folder(s) as outlined above. Click the circled ellipsis icon in the top right corner, hit Select from the dropdown menu, and either select the desired photos or hit Select All at the top left. At this point, you should have 2 options:*
1. Import into Photos: Hit the Share icon on the task bar (bottom left corner) and select Save Image from the Actions menu (Save [X] Images if multiple selected). The images will then appear in Photos Camera Roll and you can manage them as desired.
2. Import into Files: Hit the Folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom to bring up the locations browser. You'll be saving under On My iPhone (or iPad), which is basically the user library section. Select the desired location just as you would in Finder, and hit Copy at the top right corner to save the photos there. To create and name a new folder to save in, either long-press the parent location and select New Folder when it pops up, or hit the folder+ icon at the top right next to Copy. You could keep them in Files for viewing or sharing, of course, but if you want to organize or edit them in Photos, you can then select them from there and Import them into Photos as outlined in the previous point above.
*For importing a single image, you can also long-press the file to bring up an actions menu that includes the same options.
• Another use for that workaround: Photos will recognize, import and export JPEG or raw files when shot separately, but if you shoot in "RAW+JPEG" camera setting and then import them with Photos, I've found that Photos will only export the JPEG copy of the pair. I don't yet know why it does that or if there's a way around this limitation, but I do know that it's problematic if you plan on accessing/transferring out your raws afterwards. However, Files will allow you to import RAW+JPEG images from the card as the individual files that they are, and then manage them separately in Photos after saving them in Files as outlined above. You could also avoid the issue by recording raw files on one card and jpeg on another if your camera has dual SD slots, but I don't have that option.
NOTES ON IMPORTING/EXPORTING USING THE FILES APP:
• Unlike Photos, Files will recognize the .jpeg extension, and Photos will subsequently display .jpeg files when saved from Files. (see Photos import condition 2 above)
• Also unlike Photos, Files does not require any naming or folder location conventions. You can locate all compatible files and folders on the card similar to the way Finder or Windows Explorer does. Note that (at least from what I can tell) this applies only to the card - other than what's in Files itself, you can't use Files to access the device's internal storage.
• Exporting files to the card from On My iPhone in the Files app is a slight variation on the import process. Use the same steps for file selection (individual or multiple). You then have a few options:
1. Long-pressing an individual file will bring up the actions menu. You then either:
* Hit Copy, go to Browse, navigate to the location of your choosing on the card, long-press in the field and hit Paste. (hitting Share this time will give you Copy, plus other options not related to the SD card, so it's an unnecessary extra step.)
* Or, hit Move to bring up the locations browser and, hitting the folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom, follow option 2 of the Import to Files workaround outlined earlier, only this time navigating to your choice of location on the card.
2. Use the circled ellipsis for selecting single or multiple files, then either:
* Hit Share, then Copy, Browse and navigate to the location of your choosing on the card, long-press in the field and hit Paste from the pop-up menu and wait for the transfer to complete.
* As with the Move selection in option 1 above, hit the folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom, follow option 2 of the Import to Files workaround.
• In addition, you can export a complete folder, or multiple folders, with a slight alteration. Either 1) long-press on the folder and hit Copy from the Actions menu, or 2) hit the circled ellipsis icon in the top right corner to open the dropdown menu, hit Select, pick the folders you want, hit the Share icon and hit Copy from the Actions menu. Once copied using either of those two methods, go back to Browse and select the card. Navigate to where you want the transfer to go, and long-press on any blank spot in that field. Hit Paste from the pop-up menu and wait for the transfer to complete.
• Note that long-pressing on an item instead of the blank field will bring up an Actions menu for that item, and will not offer the option to paste your copied folder or files.
• It may not be as elegant as an Android device with an onboard MicroSD card, but it should be evident that this is a way to expand iPhone's fixed storage capacity for any file types that are usable with iOS apps, regardless of whether or not they have anything to do with a camera.
KEY CONCEPTS:
• An SD card is the just another form of external storage media. It's essentially a solid-state external hard drive.
• A card reader is nothing more than a way for your device to interface with the card, in the same way a USB cable connects a computer to a hard drive. Hence the parenthetical in the title of this review.
• In his 2007 introduction of the iPhone, Steve Jobs said that it was desktop-class applications and networking in a mobile device - meaning, literally, that it's a hand-held personal computer. With that in mind, as alluded to earlier, think of Files as Finder but scaled down for iOS.
Works like a charm.
**What follows is a very long, but hopefully useful, PSA that began as a way to address older reviews here complaining about issues that may no longer apply. I might have had more time on my hands than originally anticipated since writing this review - you will note the date - and so through subsequent edits, it has evolved somewhat. If you're experiencing any of the issues listed below, may I suggest exploring the procedures and notes outlined for them, and/or making use of the Internet by doing your own research. Perhaps this will clear up a few recurring misconceptions as well.
For reference, none of these problems were present with my setup as of Jan. 2020 - iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 13.3.
UPDATE 12/2020: Currently working with iOS 14.3. I can also verify that this works with iPad 7th Gen.
• Complaint: iOS 13 will not read the card.
• Status: If this was true at the time of release, I guess the updates have taken care of it. Fully functional in both directions for me.
• Complaint: Transferring decreases file size.
• Status: Same as above, not true with my setup. So far, I have used both the Photos app and the Files app (depending on the file) to transfer .CR2 (Canon raw), .jpg, .jpeg, .heic, .png, .gif, .rtf, .pdf, .pages, .txt, .m4a, .wav, .mp4 and .mp3 files in both directions with absolutely no degradation, processing or alteration of any file. All perfect, verbatim copies. That's actually what one should expect, as there is no software in this adapter. It’s just a card reader - a wire with connections - and all that should happen is that the file gets copied to a new location. If this is happening, the problem has to be in your settings somewhere. I'm guessing here, but maybe try Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC, and if Automatic is selected, change it to Keep Originals.
• Complaint: Can’t transfer files from iPhone to card.
• Status: False. Again, works in both directions. I am aware that this contradicts what it says on the Apple support page - welcome to the Internet - but I do this all the time. Here's how: Select a photo or photos to be exported. Hit the Share icon, scroll down and select Save to Files to pull up the locations browser. Select the card or a folder on the card, or even create a new folder in that location by long-pressing the folder or hitting the folder+ icon at the top, give it a name and then select that new folder. Hit Save and wait for the transfer to finish. Voilà.
Note: If you haven't explored the locations browser of the Files app, it might become apparent by its structure that Files is essentially the iOS version of Finder on a Mac. The On My iPhone/iPad section is where, if you wanted to, you can save, access and use files on your device independent of an app's library.
• Complaint: iPhone forces you to import to Camera Roll and not a specific album.
• Status: False. There is an "Import to:" option just above the thumbnails on the Import screen. You can either select an album you created in Photos beforehand, or create and name a new album right from the Import screen. The Camera Roll does display all photos from all albums, but you can manage all photos you've categorized into albums from their particular albums, as well as add or remove albums as you see fit.
Caution: removing an album does not delete its photos. An album is nothing more than a virtual "container" for categorizing the photos within the Camera Roll. If you’re done with an album and want to get rid of it AND its photos, it would be most efficient, not to mention wise, to delete the photos while they’re in the album first and THEN dump the album. Otherwise, you’ll have to delete them by picking them out in the Camera Roll, wherein lies the way of tedium and self-recrimination.
Also note that if you want to reclaim the storage space the deleted photos occupy, you’ll then need to delete them from the Recently Deleted folder.
• Complaint: You have to import all the photos from the card.
• Status: False. The importer gives you the option either to select/deselect all photos on the card, or to manually select as few or as many individual photos as you like. The importer also gives you the option to keep or delete the photos on the card after the import is complete.
• Complaint: Will not import computer-edited photos.
• Status: False, with conditions. See Photos app notes just below.
NOTES ON IMPORTING TO PHOTOS APP (including computer-edited photos):
According to Apple, "Apple camera adapters can import only content that was captured by digital cameras." Just as with the contention that you can't export to the card, this is demonstrably false. To date, I've successfully imported these file types (photo and video) from an SD card into the Photos app: .CR2, .jpg, .heic, .png, .gif, and .mp4. My Canon only creates .CR2 and .jpg, and my iPhone does .heic, so what about the other three, which I loaded to the card from my computer even after editing with Photoshop? Well, despite what Apple says, Photos can import any compatible image file from the card, and will do so as long as the following two conditions are met:
1. The file must be located on the card in the correctly labeled image folder, and within the properly structured folder tree, as follows: [card] > DCIM > [image folder]. The camera creates this structure when it formats the card. I suggest double-checking the card out of your camera, but with mine (Canon 5D Mark III), the stock path is: EOS_DIGITAL > DCIM > 100EOS5D. Additional folders sequence as 101EOS5D, 102EOS5D, etc. So, you just duplicate that structure if you create the folders manually. Note that the card can have any name you want, but the DCIM folder must be top level, and the image folder(s) within DCIM must follow the naming convention of 3 numbers (the first number cannot be zero) followed by any combination of 5 alpha-numeric and/or underscore characters, no spaces, not case-sensitive (i.e. 123ABCDE, 300AB_XY, 567_bcde, etc.). Photos will find, and look in, any subfolder or multiple subfolders of DCIM whose name follows that format, as long as it doesn't begin with a zero.
2. The format of the file name must also follow that of digital cameras: 3 alpha-numeric or underscore characters (again, any combination, not case-sensitive, no spaces), followed by an underscore, followed by 4 numbers in any combination (i.e. IMG_1234.CR2, _mg_0001.jpg, B_1_1234.png, etc.). Note that for JPEGs, Photos requires the file extension ".jpg", and will not read ".jpeg".
• Naturally, you can create the folder structure and/or rename files on the card as you normally would using Finder on a Mac or Windows Explorer on a PC, but you can also do it with the Files app on your device just like you would in Finder. Note that, unlike in Finder, you can't rename extensions with Files. Although, you can still view the full filename with the extension (along with camera and lens metadata if available) by long-pressing the file and clicking Info in the pop-up menu. Additionally, when using Files to rename a file on the card, you might then need to pull the card and reinsert it for Photos to see it or import it.
• WORKAROUND USING FILES: Because Files in iOS is basically the same interface with the card as Finder would be on a Mac, if Photos won't recognize image files on the card despite confirming the above, you can import the images straight into Files instead. Open the Files app and navigate to the card from the Browse page (folder icon in the bottom right corner). Follow the path through the DCIM folder into your image folder(s) as outlined above. Click the circled ellipsis icon in the top right corner, hit Select from the dropdown menu, and either select the desired photos or hit Select All at the top left. At this point, you should have 2 options:*
1. Import into Photos: Hit the Share icon on the task bar (bottom left corner) and select Save Image from the Actions menu (Save [X] Images if multiple selected). The images will then appear in Photos Camera Roll and you can manage them as desired.
2. Import into Files: Hit the Folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom to bring up the locations browser. You'll be saving under On My iPhone (or iPad), which is basically the user library section. Select the desired location just as you would in Finder, and hit Copy at the top right corner to save the photos there. To create and name a new folder to save in, either long-press the parent location and select New Folder when it pops up, or hit the folder+ icon at the top right next to Copy. You could keep them in Files for viewing or sharing, of course, but if you want to organize or edit them in Photos, you can then select them from there and Import them into Photos as outlined in the previous point above.
*For importing a single image, you can also long-press the file to bring up an actions menu that includes the same options.
• Another use for that workaround: Photos will recognize, import and export JPEG or raw files when shot separately, but if you shoot in "RAW+JPEG" camera setting and then import them with Photos, I've found that Photos will only export the JPEG copy of the pair. I don't yet know why it does that or if there's a way around this limitation, but I do know that it's problematic if you plan on accessing/transferring out your raws afterwards. However, Files will allow you to import RAW+JPEG images from the card as the individual files that they are, and then manage them separately in Photos after saving them in Files as outlined above. You could also avoid the issue by recording raw files on one card and jpeg on another if your camera has dual SD slots, but I don't have that option.
NOTES ON IMPORTING/EXPORTING USING THE FILES APP:
• Unlike Photos, Files will recognize the .jpeg extension, and Photos will subsequently display .jpeg files when saved from Files. (see Photos import condition 2 above)
• Also unlike Photos, Files does not require any naming or folder location conventions. You can locate all compatible files and folders on the card similar to the way Finder or Windows Explorer does. Note that (at least from what I can tell) this applies only to the card - other than what's in Files itself, you can't use Files to access the device's internal storage.
• Exporting files to the card from On My iPhone in the Files app is a slight variation on the import process. Use the same steps for file selection (individual or multiple). You then have a few options:
1. Long-pressing an individual file will bring up the actions menu. You then either:
* Hit Copy, go to Browse, navigate to the location of your choosing on the card, long-press in the field and hit Paste. (hitting Share this time will give you Copy, plus other options not related to the SD card, so it's an unnecessary extra step.)
* Or, hit Move to bring up the locations browser and, hitting the folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom, follow option 2 of the Import to Files workaround outlined earlier, only this time navigating to your choice of location on the card.
2. Use the circled ellipsis for selecting single or multiple files, then either:
* Hit Share, then Copy, Browse and navigate to the location of your choosing on the card, long-press in the field and hit Paste from the pop-up menu and wait for the transfer to complete.
* As with the Move selection in option 1 above, hit the folder icon in the middle of the task bar at the bottom, follow option 2 of the Import to Files workaround.
• In addition, you can export a complete folder, or multiple folders, with a slight alteration. Either 1) long-press on the folder and hit Copy from the Actions menu, or 2) hit the circled ellipsis icon in the top right corner to open the dropdown menu, hit Select, pick the folders you want, hit the Share icon and hit Copy from the Actions menu. Once copied using either of those two methods, go back to Browse and select the card. Navigate to where you want the transfer to go, and long-press on any blank spot in that field. Hit Paste from the pop-up menu and wait for the transfer to complete.
• Note that long-pressing on an item instead of the blank field will bring up an Actions menu for that item, and will not offer the option to paste your copied folder or files.
• It may not be as elegant as an Android device with an onboard MicroSD card, but it should be evident that this is a way to expand iPhone's fixed storage capacity for any file types that are usable with iOS apps, regardless of whether or not they have anything to do with a camera.
KEY CONCEPTS:
• An SD card is the just another form of external storage media. It's essentially a solid-state external hard drive.
• A card reader is nothing more than a way for your device to interface with the card, in the same way a USB cable connects a computer to a hard drive. Hence the parenthetical in the title of this review.
• In his 2007 introduction of the iPhone, Steve Jobs said that it was desktop-class applications and networking in a mobile device - meaning, literally, that it's a hand-held personal computer. With that in mind, as alluded to earlier, think of Files as Finder but scaled down for iOS.
