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I would like to transfer PDFs, MP3s, and MP4s from Ubuntu 20 Linux to iPhone 16, but I am struggling to find a way to easily do this, and I need your help.

On Android, I'm very used to connecting my phone to my computer with a USB cable, simply copying files over from my computer, locating them via the Files app on Android, and opening them with whatever app makes sense for the file type. I'd like to do the same thing with iPhone.

When I plug my iPhone into my computer via USB, I see two mounts in Files: "Documents on iPhone" and "iPhone". "iPhone" shows pictures and videos from my camera. If I try creating a folder there, I get an error: "Error while creating directory testing123. There was an error creating the directory in gphoto2://[...]. Error creating directory: -6: Not Supported".

In "Documents on iPhone", I see app icons for GarageBand, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Brave, and Firefox. If I double-click Brave or Firefox, I see a Downloads folder. If I try creating a folder there, I get an error: "Error while creating directory testing123. There was an error creating the directory in afc://[...]/Downloads. The connection was interrupted." At that point, I can no longer access ("This location could not be displayed. Sorry, could not display all the contents of "Brave": Unhandled Apple File Control error (2)"), and I have to remount.

Many recommend libimobiledevice and ifuse. I installed those on Ubuntu and can successfully mount my iPhone and copy files to it, but I can't see the files or access them from my iPhone.

I enabled Bluetooth and could successfully pair my iPhone with my computer, but I didn't see any option on either side to initiate a file transfer via Bluetooth, and https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/bluetooth-send-file.html.en says "Send Files does not work on unsupported devices such as iPhones."

I don't want to pay for an app to do what I think should be a very simple thing.

I don't want to use cloud services (such as iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive) because I don't want to upload gigs of data and then download gigs of data. Same applies to email and messaging.

I don't have a Windows or macOS computer to work with.

I don't want to jailbreak my phone.

How can I successfully copy PDFs, MP3s, and MP4s from Ubuntu 20 Linux to iPhone 16 and open them from iPhone?

stockunderflow
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  • https://askubuntu.com/questions/1422940/how-do-i-mount-an-iphone-on-ubuntu-22-04 – Rinzwind Dec 06 '24 at 15:16
  • Are there any SCP/SFTP apps for iPhone? (I know something about Android apps only). If yes, then you can use that for file transfer over your LAN. – raj Dec 06 '24 at 15:42
  • I use the basic version of Owlfiles - File Manager for free. When connecting via USB, see under "Documents on iPhone" (if this mount is successful, sometimes not). – Andra Dec 06 '24 at 17:23

5 Answers5

1

You can just use SSH for this.

  1. On Ubuntu, just install the server

    sudo apt-get install ssh

  2. On your iPhone, install some SSH client. I suggest Termius.

After that, on your phone, connect in your Linux using Terminus or another SSH client you preffer. In order to connect, you need to inform your Ubuntu IP and SSH port (by default, the SSH port is 22) and your username/password on your Ubuntu.

I like Terminus because is simple the file transfer. You can send files from your phone to your Ubuntu just like you can get files from your Ubuntu to your phone.

zx485
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Max Gontijo de Oliveira
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    As I'm writing this comment, there are 3 answers: Termius, KDE Connect, and Google Drive. Of those 3 options, Termius is the one that worked for me, so I'll accept this answer. File transfers are done via Termius's built-in SFTP support. No need to set up an FTP server on computer. Just need an SSH connection. – stockunderflow Dec 09 '24 at 17:17
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You can make use of KDE Connect to connect your phone with your computer over the LAN.

Install KDE-Connect on your iPhone (iOS 14.0 or later is required).

In Ubuntu (Gnome-Desktop) install the package gnome-shell-extension-gsconnect which is available for all currently supported versions of Ubuntu.

Start the application on both devices and pair them, you will get prompted to do so.

mook765
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  • With KDE Connect, I could transfer a PDF and see it in iPhone's Files app, but transferring a 20 minute video failed without reason. There's no progress indicator or ETA during transfers. – stockunderflow Dec 09 '24 at 17:12
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I am using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Noble with KDE Plasma 5 using dolphin as file manager. When I connect a iphone 7 to Linux, I were able to access(display) all the first layer folders, but just like you I can't actually write or read some of the folder such as Downloads or iTunes, but I can write to some app's folder such as VLC so I just write my files to the VLC folder and then move the file manually from the VLC folder to anywhere I want on iphone´s file manager.

james
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0

You can use VLC for iPhone. It has a feature where you turn on a server on iPhone which allows you to type in local IP address into your browser and do file transfer. On iPhone all files will be stored in VLC's folder. Use "Files" app on iPhone to transfer your files where ever else you want.

stopkillinggames.com
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-2

I use Google Drive to share files between my Apple computers and Android phones/tablets. If you store a lot of data on Google One, you can use the browser on your phone to download individual files. This would limit your bandwidth and phone storage to those files that you choose to copy.

Before adopting Google Drive, I used an Android app "Wifi File Transfer". I believe similar apps are available for the iPhone. Android Wifi File Transfer provides a File Explorer Interface with which to navigate the files on the remote computer. You can select files and directories for download/delete/replace.

I've remember that I occasionally use "Wifi File Transfer" to use the phone to copy files from my cameras, both of which have wifi.

clanmills
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    The OP stated specifically that he doesn't want to use any cloud services, so Google Drive is out of question. Also Android apps are not related to the question, as it's about IPhone. – raj Dec 06 '24 at 15:43
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    I respect the OP doesn't want to use Google Drive, however I've explained how Google Drive is viable without the restrictions stated about bandwidth the storage.

    I then explained how I did this before using Google Drive. Not only is that viable for the users phone, I found that additionally useful for working with the cameras that have wifi.

     – clanmills Dec 06 '24 at 15:51