Beta testers of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 have discovered a new function in the Files app that could make life easier for mobile people in the future: for the first time, Apple allows you to manage the storage used in connection with iCloud yourself.
Advertisement
It will not be possible to take off in the future if you wish
Instead of hoping, as before, that the desired files from Apple’s servers will remain on the iPhone or iPad (or that they can be reloaded when there is cell phone reception/Wi-Fi), you can now specify that the files always remain on the device. There is also a new context menu called “Keep Downloads”. This is possible for individual files as well as entire folders.
Anyone who has ever sat offline on a plane or in a subway tunnel will really appreciate this function. Currently, some kind of “intelligence” on the part of iOS and iPadOS ensures that files remain available as needed (“offloading”). To ensure that files from iCloud are actually available, you must download them some time before your trip begins. If this happened several weeks or months ago, the file may have already disappeared from the device.
Controlling iCloud on a Mac is easy too
If you have activated automatic management of your iCloud data on your Mac – for example because there is not enough SSD space – you may be happy that macOS 15 aka Sequoia also has a similar feature. Here you can right-click in the Finder and select “Keep downloads” to ensure that no offloading takes place. Here too, in addition to individual files, entire folders can also be selected, which are always kept locally and offline.
Apple has recently improved its Files app on the iPhone and iPad elsewhere. Recently it has become possible to format SSDs, hard drives and SD cards directly via USB-C. This makes the app, known as Files in English, much more powerful as a file manager and you no longer need a Mac or Windows PC to set up external media if they are not already formatted.
(B.Sc.)
