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Will reinstalling the Files app remove data in other music apps?
Files has started just displaying “Content Unavailable” when trying to access anything on the iPad drive and sharing among apps using the “Save to Files” option also stopped working when trying to locate the file/folder within the sharing part...couldn’t find anything about this in Apple Support.
So as the subject question asks....will removing Files also remove data in other apps accessible via Files? Data like folders/files/sessions in apps like AUM, Loopy, AEM, or other DAWs?
Seems to me like files should still be around in the other apps, but just want to make sure before I try reinstalling and cry myself to sleep with lost files...
Comments
Testing for you right now. bbs
Ok - looks good, and I'm like 95% sure I've done this in the past too. I was having similar Files app issues on my phone, said eff it and deleted + reinstalled, it was fine. Files app is just a front end for your iCloud drive and local storage.
The ONLY caveat there though, and I can't really test this... is anything downloaded locally (ie, doesn't have the little cloud symbol on your file) may not be local anymore. It's as simple as just pressing it to redownload again though (so that it is local, if needed).
Just tried it on my burner ipad, a 2017 base model.
Before deleting Files app...
After deleting and reinstalling Files app...
The grocery list on the root (named text) has been spared and is intact.
However...
Have you powered it down and then back up?
I normally fix this issue with a hard reboot (press power and home until the apple appears).
But if re-installing the Files works, thid would be better.
Does it?
Apple prefers to create new "Emoyees" or something instead of fixing their OS.
Why would it be better? Is there some negative to doing a hard reboot?
Hey thanks for the help guys, looks like I’ve isolated a very mysterious cause of this...
I had tried powering down and back up the pad (@espiegel123) and a soft reset (or whatever it’s called when you hold down the power button until the swipe to power off thing is displayed, then hold the home button until back to the home screen) with no result, and then did get the hard reboot (@tja) to work.
However it quickly went back to not working as soon as I got online here to report the problem solved! Now it seems when it does start displaying that terrible “Content Unavailable” message both powering down and up the pad OR doing a hard reboot (what is the difference actually I wonder?) seems to temporarily solve the problem.
Now for the mystery...after a reboot Files seems to work fine, playing nicely with all the other apps, UNTIL I open Safari...seems somehow Safari has started to kill Files...anyone have any explanation for this? I don’t have any other browsers installed at the moment to test if it’s Safari specific but it doesn’t seem to be simply being connected to the internet. I can run a hotpot from my pad to other devices without killing Files. Just happens after opening Safari.
Thanks for testing out the original question @iammane and @AudioGus, I will likely try that next... But does your last screenshot @AudioGus show that it didn’t actually solve the problem in the end?
iirc system apps like Files aren’t actually deleted. If you “remove” it, it just gets hidden.
@ManWhoWouldBeStrings Since you think Safari may be causing this, you might take a look at Settings–>Safari, and see if there is anything unusual there, maybe Downloads. And try Clear History and Website Data. It could be that one bad actor (i.e. Safari) can cause the whole Files On My iPad process to fail.
Yah, it did not actually solve the problem for me. However I noticed that being a burner iPad I did not have the latest iOS and so I updated it and for the last few minutes Files App has been fine.
Now of course that would be a better solution!
Uninstalling and reinstalling an App takes mere seconds!
A Reboot generally takes a longer time, requires you to enter your password and possibly SIM PIN and a hard reboot also creates several debug files, IIRC.
And those make such a hard reboot even slower and also may slowly fill up your disk space.
Anyway, i understood that deleting the App cannot fix the problem?
Update: Safari is not actually the culprit...it seemed to be at first but now I’m continuing to have the problem after rebooting even without opening Safari. And I tried checking the settings and clearing history and website data as suggested by @uncledave with no luck. Rebooting makes things work for a short while, which at least is giving me the time to get in there and copy files over to FileBrowser which I prefer anyways, and then from there can backup to an external wireless drive. But it seems to be working for shorter and shorter intervals. But...
I just found this thread about this topic in case anyone stumbles upon this while having the same issue...https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/28737/files-app-content-unavailable-due-to-unknown-error
There’s a significant amount of side-track loathing about Apple and it’s apps in that thread but near the end it seems a few users started solving the problem by isolating certain apps with many files and removing them then reinstalling. @tja, seeing you were active on that thread, I’m wondering did you ever end up getting a more legitimate answer from Apple about this? And so does the hard reboot continue to solve the issue for you for a workable amount of time?
I recently starting using a new DAW so I’m wondering if the new memory usage of that app combined with the old stuff has overloaded what is kind of a pathetic limit of Files.
Working on that now, will report back if I figure anything out there.
In my experience, too many files in a single folder causes issues. Keeping the number of files in one folder to under 2,000 has eliminated problems for me.
I would also keep an eye out for files with unusual characters "!^#...", etc. in the name. This shouldn't be a cause for problems but often is in many apps and file managers. Also, very, very long file names.
Those last two are just guesses. The first is a confirmed issue, especially with external drives.
@ManWhoWouldBeStrings As @wim already wrote, my main solution so far, was to hard reboot and make sure that folders do not have too much content, in regards to the number of files.
Contrary to Wim, i would be very happy if i could have 2000 files in a folder.
In my experience, it only got better when i stayed below 100 files!
This may be 200, but 500 or 600 definitely made problems!
Apple is ... i spare you my comment.
@wim and @tja it’s strange because while I have some quite large files in some folders I can’t think of any single folder that has more than even just 200 files in it at the moment...will have to look around closer, after hard rebooting of course... [EDIT: oooh...wait...so would that also include anything I have in the File Browser app as that also appears in Files?]
Amazing how such incredible pieces of technology can be thwarted by something like too many files in one folder, or even better, a long file name that is just too exciting that it required a few special flamboyant exclamation marks...but then again, Apple...
Apple thinks, it needs to re-invent everything, even most basic stuff that any and all other operating systems have solved 10, 20, 40 years ago.
And, Apple always prefers Form over Function or Stability, therefor we will get more and more Emojiees and Animojees or what they are called instead of a working and stable file manager.
My 2017 base iPad which had (has?) this problem barely has any files on it. As I mentioned earlier it is OK now after doing the latest iOS update, but I recall this happening before. Do an iOS update/happy dance only for it to come back. I personally don't think there is a magic bullet for this on the user end and Apple just needs to up it's game. Maybe / hopefuly 14 has it more or less nailed. Out of curiosity what device are you using and sorry if I missed it in the thread.
At least we’ll be able to more expressively whine about it then...😢😭😥😓😰😪😤🤯. See how useful that was?
Does that include files embedded in folders within other folders? Meaning if I have 1000 files in folder A and 1000 files in folder B, and folders A and B are in folder C...am I above this magical limit? Or were you able to just create more folders and split things up to solve the problem
FWIW - I keep the bulk of my files on Dropbox or iCloud Drive. There is no need for me to keep a lot of stuff on my iPad other than what I am currently working with. Why would I need 2500 kick drum samples on my iPad? I typically work at home with good wi-fi available. If I'm not at home my working files are on my iPad. I've stopped using any third party file managers because I just don't need them except I have iFiles available for uncompressing certain types of files and I rarely need to do that. I never have any problem with the Files app. It works fine for me with all of the apps I use, mainly Auditor and Zenbeats when it comes to samples/audio files. I'm just pointing out that there is another side to this story and that it's more likely there is another issue involved than "Files is a bad app".
I only ever noticed it when there were too many files in a single folder. Sub-folders didn't seem to matter. I tested over and over to see what the magic number was, and it was somewhere over 1000 for sure.
IMO the problem with file handling on iOS isn't Apple's lack of competence, it's lack of will. They only begrudgingly finally added files support when competition from Android began to force them to. Same for external access. I'm sure they would have preferred to keep access to the file system sandboxed, making their security job easier. I'm sure they would have preferred to never supply external drive access to allow them to continue to charge outrageously for expanded internal storage on the higher end models.
Like someone once said "Never do anything well that you don't want to do in the first place." They will probably continue to improve the files app, but not any more than they are forced to by the market. IMO.
Oh, and yes, files in File Browser can hose up the files app in just the same way as files outside it.
@AudioGus I’m on a 2016 iPad Pro 9.7inch, running on iOS 12.0 as I’ve been afraid since updating from 11 to try it again, though many here have reassured me 13 is ok, buuut then again I’ve seen others say things ran less efficiently for them after updating...anyways I can’t actually update for now where I am (in the mountains in northern India, for the foreseeable future as international flights are still mostly grounded) as I have no access to a wifi connection which I understand is recommended, so trying to get by with what I’ve got for now as best as possible. Pretty frustrating though as it more or less happened suddenly and really impedes some of my workflow when trying to move things around...
What did this contribute?
You do not have many files and see no use for them, which is fine.
But it's a fact that either the Files App or some other part of the OS is heavily broken, even if you personally don't have this problem or can avoid situations were that could happen.
If iPads finally should be usable like a PC, Mac or Laptop, the damn OS needs to work and to be stable.
I'm sure that even the oldest DOS versions could handle many thousand files in directories.
Ahh sorry to hear, yah that could be a gamble going to 13 on that device so I don’t blame you. Would really want to ask around first.
Mountains of northern India sounds pretty cool, would love to see that!
Um. If you're on iOS 12 then there is your problem. There's not really any further need for troubleshooting regarding the files app. You will have to deal with it being pretty broken ... sorry to say.
I see your point, but at the same time, IMO if an app that is supposed to be for accessing and managing files on the device requires one to mostly keep things in the cloud...I’d say that’s not a very good file managing app... And as not the entire world lives in places with reliable good wi-if, it’s a bit obnoxious. I really can’t rely on storing anything I will need in the cloud with where I typically spend my time, and only really ended up diving into the iOS world (very happily) when I thought I was sure I wouldn’t need to...
Hahaha ok well I guess that’s.....good...news.......? At least no more troubleshooting. But to be fair Files has been working fine, no problems for the past few years, or whenever it was that 12 came out, only suddenly kicking the bucket.
Fwiw. the overwhelming majority of iOS users never encounter this issue.
Willing to test?
I need to seek the right file for testing this, wait.
OK, easiest way i know:
Download this to AudioShare : http://content.audulus.com/Audulus-Old-Forum-Patch-Collection.zip
At best, create a new directory, call it "TEST".
Tap on the file to extract the content.
This is fast and AudioShare can handle this perfectly.
Then open the Files app, enter the "TEST" folder in the AudioShare provider, and bammmmm:
Yes, i just did that myself to make sure that it still does not work.
This happens for me on all devices and versions of iOS / iPadOS and for anything that contains more that 100 or maybe 200 files.
If the link does not work, i can share a link to the zip file on my OneDrive, just ask.
And to add to this, often this results in the whole Files App not working anymore, always and everywhere getting this error and requires a hard reboot to fix.
Sounds to me that it's more of a 'Audio Share File Provider Problem' since if I load the mentioned zip-file to folder directly in Files.app it extracts without any problems...