iPhones and iPads will soon give you one less reason to use your Mac
Thanks to iOS and iPadOS 18, Apple mobile users will be able to reformat external drives without using a Mac.
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Credit: Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
- The first betas of iOS and iPadOS 18 include a new option in the Files app that allows users to reformat external drives when erasing them.
- Beta testers can currently pick between the APFS, ExFAT, and MS-DOS (FAT) formats, which serve different purposes.
- Picking the APFS format allows users to encrypt the external drive using a password of their choice and opt for case sensitivity.
Apple has been gradually boosting its latest iPhones and iPads by introducing fresh power-user features with every annual OS update, and this year is no different. The first betas of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 pack a new functionality that allows testers to reformat external drives when erasing them.
The ability to erase connected external drives using the Files app on iPhones and iPads has existed for a while. As Kaleb Cadle discovered, though, iOS and iPadOS 18 upgrade this feature by allowing users to pick between three formats instead of being limited to a default one.
