You thus cannot use it to bump up your iPhone or iPad's storage capacity. The biggest limitation Apple enforces is that no other app is even aware when it's plugged in. The iXpand app is the only way to get to anything stored on the drive. The company also provides a security program for Windows and OS X on the drive itself. On plugging it in to any iOS device for the first time, it will trigger a prompt taking you to the App Store to download SanDisk's iXpand app. You'll also need at least iOS 7.1 on your Lightning-equipped iOS device. It will work with any PC running at least Windows Vista and any Mac with OS X v10.6 and above. The iXpand Flash Drive is available in capacities ranging from 16GB to 128GB. You'll want to keep an eye on the activity LED which will turn red when you need to charge the drive. This is important to know because you might not notice it at all when regularly shuffling between PCs and iOS devices, but you could run out if you use it on an iOS device exclusively for a long time, such as if you use it only to back up photos and videos on a long trip. Apple does not allow accessories to drain power from an iPhone or iPad's Lightning port, so the drive will only charge when plugged in to a PC (or you'll need to use a wall charger). One of the reasons for the iXpand Flash Drive's bulk is that it has a battery, and it will simply not work if it runs out. On the whole, we would have preferred a smaller, less awkward design. This made for some very awkward gymnastics when trying to hold our test devices, and we weren't able to lay them flat on any surface or prop them up either. While we found that this was true and convenient in one way, it results in the iXpand Flash Drive hanging out the bottom and at an angle. SanDisk told us at the device's launch that the flexible stalk design was chosen so that iPhones and iPads wouldn't have to be removed from cases with narrow Lightning port openings. It's heavy enough that you'll feel it in a pocket, but not so much that it will make any difference when tossed in a bag. There's a tiny activity LED on the right side but otherwise really not much else to see on the device itself. The construction quality is top-notch, with polished metal shining through on the edges much like it would on current Apple products. There's a regular full-sized USB connector under the plastic lid on top, and you can plug the iXpand Flash Drive into any PC or Mac, though it will block ports on either side thanks to its width. The iXpand Flash Drive is made of metal, which the company hopes will appeal to iPhone and iPad buyers. It's actually on the end of a flexible rubber stalk so you can lift it out to plug the drive into your iOS device. The first thing you'll notice about it is the Lightning connector recessed into the front of the body. The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is fairly bulky much larger than the similar Strontium Nitro iDrive USB 3.0 which we reviewed earlier this year. Note that it does not magically add more storage to an iPhone or iPad itself - so you can't think of it as an iOS equivalent of a USB pen drive. The iXpand Flash Drive does two major things: it helps you carry more data around than your iOS device(s) can store, and it helps you copy files to and from PCs and iOS devices without going through iTunes. SanDisk is one few companies trying to help users get around this problem. Buyers balk at the massive margins Apple charges to step up from the lowest storage option on each of its devices, but often wind up feeling remorse a year or so down the line when they have to start deleting photos, cutting back on apps and carrying less music. The lack of expandable storage has always been a thorn in the side of iPhone and iPad users, while microSD cards and even USB-OTG drives are standard features of the Android landscape.
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