Solved I would like a (WIN11 Compatible) iPhone (IOS) expansion drive that will allow music access.

Hi.

I am wondering if anyone here has a USB type device that successfully allows an iPhone (13 Pro) lightning connector to access & play music. Also of course accessibility from Windows 11 for loading music onto the device.
I was seconds away from pressing Buy Now on Amazon for an SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe, but the reviews wern’t positive about media access and playback. At best it’s only good for backing up photos.

Any recommendations that I could review would be appreciated, thank you.


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antspants said:

iPhone

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I don't have an answer for you sorry but, is the iPhones USB a C connector or is it the older I think lightning connector?

Maybe ask in a Apple Community?

Flashorn said:

I don't have an answer for you sorry but, is the iPhones USB a C connector or is it the older I think lightning connector?

Maybe ask in a Apple Community?

Official Apple Support Community

Find answers with millions of other Apple users in our vibrant community. Search discussions or ask a question about your product.

discussions.apple.com

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Hi Flash. It’s a lightning connector (iPhone 13 Pro) I should of mentioned that, thanks!
These phones aren't cheap in Australia. A standard iPhone 14 pro could cost me upward of AU$1,400. An iPhone 15 Pro 256GB, AU$2,000. There’s no way I’ll be upgrading to a USB-C iPhone 15 anytime soon.

Edited my post, thanks

Flashorn said:

Maybe ask in a Apple Community?

Official Apple Support Community

Find answers with millions of other Apple users in our vibrant community. Search discussions or ask a question about your product.

discussions.apple.com

Click to expand...

Will do, thanks.

When in range of my local network, I share files between my ipad and Windows. However these are all text files. I haven't tried it with music but it should work the same on an iphone.

I believe you can use a flash drive by using a lightening to USB (or USB3) camera adapter. Connect external storage devices to iPhone


OR a lightening to USB CABLE. LIKE THIS

glasskuter said:

When in range of my local network, I share files between my ipad and Windows. However these are all text files. I haven't tried it with music but it should work the same on an iphone.

How to Access Windows Shared Folders from iPhone & iPad - OS X Daily

Do you want to access specific files and folders on your Windows computer right from your iPhone or iPad? Thanks to the built-in Files app, it’s fairly simple and straightforward to connect to SMB file servers which includes shared Windows folders on a network. This feature was added to the...

osxdaily.com

I believe you can use a flash drive by using a lightening to USB (or USB3) camera adapter. Connect external storage devices to iPhone

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightning-USB-Camera-Adapter/dp/B014VGHG0U/ref=sr_1_3?crid=10SXGB53SV8MP&keywords=lightning+to+usb+camera+adapter&qid=1698109774&sprefix=lightning+to+usb+camera+adapter%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-3

OR a lightening to USB CABLE. LIKE THIS

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightning-USB-Cable-0-5/dp/B0149QE3KS/ref=sr_1_3?hvadid=409994477213&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9027000&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6821311215168343274&hvtargid=kwd-470590301503&hydadcr=24602_11409286&keywords=lightning+to+usb+adapter+iphone&qid=1698109576&sr=8-3

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Thanks for the links, to be honest, I didn’t even consider an adapter.
I can access my PC from outside with a bluetooth speaker, but it’s something I’d like for when I travel. My phone can hold a lot of albums but only a fraction of the albums that I have. My listening moods vary from hour to hour, so as much choice as possible would be great. At the end of the day, I can be happy with only phone storage if I have to be.

I’ll take a look at your links this morning. Much appreciated @glasskuter

Hey @antspants this special SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is designed especailly for it..It looks like no adapters are required with it.

I found this too.

glasskuter said:

Hey @antspants this special SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is designed especailly for it..It looks like no adapters are required with it.

https://everappz.com/docs/howto/how-to-play-music-from-usb-flash-drive-on-iphone-with-evermusic-and-ixpand/

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You are awesome, thank you @glasskuter
So it’s the app not the drive.
Bought the drive, bought the app, bought a speaker… 1hr Road trips to Byron Bay, all sorted

They don’t have that particular drive available in Australia for anything over 64GB. (The one that wraps under the phone, which would be perfect) I’ll get one if I have to but for now I am going to try the iXpand 256GB.

Thanks again

If this works for you let me know. I have a good collection of oldies but goodies on my PC. It would be a nice option to play my own collection through my ipad or iphone. The thing is my iphone uses lightening and my ipad pro uses usb-c. I would have to use an adapter. Also, do you have problem with battery drain when playing music or videos on iphone for extended periods of time? For some reason mine drains pretty fast. I can understand it on my ipad as it's battery is several years old but my iphone is less than a year old. I just thought faster battery drain might be normal.

glasskuter said:

If this works for you let me know. I have a good collection of oldies but goodies on my PC. It would be a nice option to play my own collection through my ipad or iphone. The thing is my iphone uses lightening and my ipad pro uses usb-c. I would have to use an adapter. Also, do you have problem with battery drain when playing music or videos on iphone for extended periods of time? For some reason mine drains pretty fast. I can understand it on my ipad as it's battery is several years old but my iphone is less than a year old. I just thought faster battery drain might be normal.

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The one I bought, has a duel connection. Lightning and USB-C.

I think every iPhone/iPad user has an issue with battery drain, especially after an update. Even connecting via cable or Bluetooth to the car tends to drain my iPhone, mine is also just over a year old.
My iPad has to stay connected permanently, my iPhone not so much. I was wondering about the battery drain, time will tell. I have looked at the twin lightning splitters you can buy but the reviews are always iffy. But for $10 it’s worth a try to see if I can use a drive and charge at the same time.

And remember, i’m on AU$ so AU$100 is probably two buck fiddy American lol



The splitter I mentioned

glasskuter said:

If this works for you let me know.

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Here is an update for you. The iXpand drive I bought is great. 1TB would be even greater. I would recommend this drive.
However, it sticks out, obviously. The wrap under drive would be so much better. I will be looking for a large capacity one as I can only get them at 32GB here in Australia.

The app, Evermusic, is a fail. I have followed all suggestions on their site. The app fails to read music from the iXapand drive. Something isn’t right. I have contacted their support twice with ample time for them to respond and they haven’t (Apparently all the one star reviews complain of this). But that seems to be how apps work now, sell them and ignore the purchaser.

I requested a refund from Apple this morning.

However, after inspecting the iXpand drive app (free) it allows you to play music from the drive through the app
The app must utilise the Apple Music app. From what I have placed on the iXpand drive, the iXpand app has categorised the music (I placed albums on the drive in album folders) The iXpand app also seems to access music from the phone itself. The app has all my playlists/albums that were already added to the phone itself, available to play through the iXpand app.

I have not inspected it thoroughly to explain how, yet.
These are screenshots from the iXpand app.

iXpand App, folder view (drive)



Music already on my iPhone

glasskuter said:

If this works for you let me know.

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Update 2 for U

The Sandisk iXpand drive heated up the iPhone 13 Pro running IOS 17.1 after about 8 songs played.
Not just warm, very hot. First the volume buttons, then the entire iPhone. I’ve posted on the Apple Community Forum and I am hoping for a response. I need to post on Wester Digital also.

antspants said:

iXpand drive heated up the iPhone 13

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Then I'd be returning that thing for a refund.

glasskuter said:

Then I'd be returning that thing for a refund.

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Possibly might have to. I just need to see how I can prove it happens or if there might be a fix for the drive, firmware or something. I’m currently unable to.

This heating up of the iPhone 13 Pro only happened that once. I’ve used the iXpand drive many times since and this hasn’t reoccured. Perhaps it was doing some kind of indexing? I added I did add 152GB of music to the drive So who knows.