iPhone 5: App to really get at the file system?

[jkauff]

I'm new to Apple and the iPhone 5. I've uploaded some files that just don't appear anywhere. I downloaded a couple of file manager apps, but they can't find them, either. Is there an app that will let me browse the entire iPhone file system, or at least the directories where my files might be hiding?

 

[TheStu]

Nope.

Uploaded from where to the iPhone?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

How did you upload them to the iPhone?

 

[Aikouka]

Only if you jailbreak your phone, which isn't possible with iOS 6... at least not that I've heard of.

Did you plug your phone into your computer and upload them to your DCIM (photo) folder?

EDIT:

Nevermind, someone posted this in another thread:
** removed because apparently it's not real. **

 

[Tyranicus]

Nevermind, someone posted this in another thread:
http://www.officialwire.com/pr/new-ios-6-jailbreak-iphone-5-iphone-4s-iphone-4-ipad-2-new-ipad-3/

That "jailbreak" is a scam.

 

[Aikouka]

That "jailbreak" is a scam.

Thanks. I haven't had the time to check it out (I literally just saw it in another post after I posted the initial part), so I removed the link.

 

[jkauff]

I uploaded files a few different ways: through iTunes, Dropbox, JustCloud, and via a Wi-Fi connection to an app. Some of the files show up, some don't, even in the apps where they're supposed to show up. None of my personal files show up in iPhone Search. I'm just looking for a normal file browser, but apparently Apple doesn't want people to browse for their files. It's not like I'm asking for root access, which I assume you can do on Mac OSX. Seems silly.

 

[TheStu]

The files through Dropbox should be in Dropbox. JustCloud I assume has an app. What files did you send through iTunes?

You are correct, Apple doesn't want you to have file system access. They would like you to forget that such a thing as a 'file system' even exists. Files are held by the applications that create them, except for a few bucket apps. Photos is a bucket, Dropbox, Skydrive, etc.

 

[jkauff]

The files through Dropbox should be in Dropbox. JustCloud I assume has an app. What files did you send through iTunes?

You are correct, Apple doesn't want you to have file system access. They would like you to forget that such a thing as a 'file system' even exists. Files are held by the applications that create them, except for a few bucket apps. Photos is a bucket, Dropbox, Skydrive, etc.

Turns out there are a few Windows apps that let you browse the iOS file system. I tried them out and one of them, DiskAid 5, was actually pretty good. The files I transferred with Dropbox and JustCloud were there--just not all in the folders I expected them. The non-video non-music file I transferred with iTunes apparently never made it to the phone.

Apple is a strange company. They want to shield their users from things like "file systems", but their OSs are built on Unix, which is as open as it gets if you really want access to the geek stuff. Not on the iPhone, though.

Anyway, problem solved. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[runawayprisoner]

iPhone uses a different filesystem so of course it wouldn't normally mount to any other OS.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for a multi-OS utility is to do this, there's iFunBox.

The rationale behind it (even for unjailbroken iPhones, iPods, and iPads) is that it allows you to directly access the Documents folders of apps and back up your own game save files, documents, databases, downloaded data, etc... manually. That's best in case you want to wipe your device clean and don't want to restore from a backup made by iTunes.

On a jailbroken device, iFunBox can access any folder. On a vanilla device, it can only write to the Documents folder inside each app.

 

[HeXen]

why would a typical user need access to the file system?

 

[runawayprisoner]

why would a typical user need access to the file system?

Well, like I said, manual backup of game saves and documents in apps that don't support iTunes File Transfer.

It's handy in case you want to do a complete wipe of the device but you still want to keep your old game progress. Infinity Blade and such games are typically pretty... tedious if you have to replay them from the very beginning.