Apple allows you to format external hard drives on iPhone and iPad

The mobile devices of Apple are becoming increasingly independent of the PC. iPhones and iPads that install the iOS 18 e iPadOS 18they will be less dependent on a computer for certain activities.

Discreetly, Apple added the function of format external media in Beta versions of operating systems. This allows the formatting of pendrives, external hard drives, SSDs laptops and memory cards anywhere.

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Format external drives directly from your iPhone or iPad

Kaleb Cadle, through his BytesBits newsletter, revealed this functionality this weekend. He showed how the “Delete” option appears when you long-press or right-click on external media in the Files app on iPadOS 18.

The feature takes the user to a configuration screen where you can name the drive and select the desired format, including “APFS”, “ExFAT” and “MS-DOS (FAT)”. The description in the app suggests “APFS” for Apple devices and “MS-DOS” for broad compatibility, if you also want to use the driver on Windows computers or cameras. There is also the possibility of encryption for drives formatted in APFS.

This is a big improvement for iPad power users, and it will be interesting to keep an eye out for further improvements to this functionality and others within the Files app throughout the iPadOS 18 beta cycle. It looks like Apple may be taking a similar approach to the way how they incorporated much of the Preview app’s functionality into the Files app via Quick Preview, but now with Disk Utility functionality.

iOS 18 could be released in September

This new feature is present on both the iPad and iPhone with iOS 18. It is part of the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates, announced at WWDC 2024which include new customization features and improvements to artificial intelligence from the company. However, for now, only Beta versions are available.

Betas are intended for developers and enthusiasts to tweak before the official release. The expectation is that iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will be accessible to everyone by the end of the year, probably in September, Apple’s traditional launch time.

Source: ByteBits