Hello!
This is a question for @urszula or anyone else with a test Kompakt.
I’m super excited to get my North American Kompakt, and I have a question about managing the files on it, like notes, music, ebooks, etc - can I do it using the files app on my iPad if I connect it via USB-C? Will it show up as an external “drive”?
Backstory:
I use an iPad as my primary computer for the same reason I’m getting a Kompakt - I find PC’s and MacBooks distracting and mentally “noisy,” whereas my iPad can be made quiet using screen time settings and asking my partner to enter a passcode to block the App Store and schedule access to the endless distractions of the interwebs for when I need to do the adulting!
Thank you!
I’m also interested to know this as I also only use an iPad. I’m hoping transferring pictures from phone to iPad will be simple enough for somebody who is becoming more out of touch/uninterested with the latest tech such as AI etc.
Corrected my old statement (saying it is possible, sorry!)
When you connect Mudita Kompakt to a Windows or Linux PC using a USB-C cable, it mounts as standard internal storage. You’ll see familiar folders such as Music, DCIM, and so on.
Unfortunately, this does not work with iPadOS or iOS. The Kompakt doesn’t show up as an external drive in the iPad’s Files app, as Apple’s system doesn’t natively support Android-based file access via USB-C.
Notes are stored inside the Kompakt’s Notes app database - they’re not saved not stored as individual files in the file system, so even on PC or Linux, you won’t see them in folders. More on that
Just wanted to add to the convo to say I use the iPad as my main computer as well and I still haven’t heard back from Mudita or Urzula about allowing us to download a Mudita Center app to use with the Mudita Harmony 2 clock. So, I’d like to add this to the conversation. Would be wonderful if Mudita developed an actual app. I know the whole idea is to get away from this, but I’m talking about a functional sync system that is on the Desktop. I’d like to be able to sync for updates, music files, etc. on my iPad and connect it directly from usb-c to the clock.
@muxbree I’ve pinged our team about this again. Unfortunately, I am not an iOS user AT ALL (never had any Apple product), so I don’t know how that would function. Does iPad only get apps from the Apple store? how does that work?
Our team has clarified that Mudita Center is a computer app and our devices don’t connect to Apple iOS or Apple iPadOS. This, unfortunately, means that connecting Mudita devices to an iPad or an iPad Pro with the intention of connecting to Mudita Center will not work.
@thurakanda Light phone, as well as Remarkable and Airdroid has a Web-based Interface. You can manage your device using a browser on any device. Most network devices also use this. I think this is what you are looking for.
Because we chose more secure and controlled way of managing Kompakt,
and we have Mudita Center team with desktop app established -
We did not introduced using Wi-Fi for any device and file management. In consequence - we do not have web based interface.
Thank you, Urszula! Yes, at least here in the States, the app must be in the app store to use.
Edit: I read the message later and Im dissapointed, but I cant do much about it. I will simply have to wait until I can afford a desktop to do this. Thank you for passing on the message and letting us know!
Thank you for letting me know! Will the Kompakt be able to access an external drive, like a thumb drive, via the usb-c port? The SD card could be a viable option for transferring music, ebooks, and photos to and from the mudita, but if it can access external drives via the USB-C port, it’d be a lot easier (wouldn’t have to remove the case and SIM card tray).
@motherskunk In general, when Mudita Kompakt is connected via cable to the computer, you will see the classic internal memory where there are folders such as music, dcim etc.
If the internal memory can be easily mounted on a computer as an internal memory, I am not sure why it cannot be done on ipad. (Just curious, I am not an ipad user either.) Is it because USB-C is just for power purpose on these devices?
iPad users should probably be able to transfer files via an SD card, so there is no need to buy a computer just for that IMO, even if I it will not be as convenient as cable connexion.
That was my thought, too. One way or another, I’ll test these things all out when I get mine and report back. I was wondering if the same thing would be possible using a thumb drive attached to the USB-C port, rather than an SD card, since that’ll be more accessible with a case on.
I found this short on YouTube that answered some of these questions: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vWHz63KHlNQ
In short, the Kompakt will recognize external drives plugged into the USB-C port, meaning that, if the Kompakt doesn’t dock like an external drive when plugged into the iPad, an external drive could be used as the go-between for file management. I.e. plug the drive into the iPad, put files on it, plug drive into the Kompakt, put the files where you want them, and vice versa.
As promised, now that I’ve received my Kompakt, I can answer my own questions and report back!
When plugging the kompakt into my iPad, it does not recognize it as an external drive. While I’m sure I could use a USB-C thumb drive to manage files, I’ve taken to using Signal, which I’ve sideloaded, to just send them wirelessly via the “Signal Note to Self”, as I have signal on the Kompakt and Beeper (connected to Signal) on the iPad.
Side note: there’s an app called BugJaeger that’s available on iOS and android that can be used to wirelessly sideload apps. It’s an advanced tool that can probably pretty easily brick your device if you do the wrong thing, but it was very easy, fast, and painless to install aurora store apk using BugJaeger on my iPad. That said, I have been hacking, rooting, jailbreaking, and whatever else-ing my phones for over 10 years, so I have some idea what I’m doing. I recommend using the free version of BugJaeger… while it’s a good app that worked very well for me, the developer appears to be a bit of a jerk to the people who use it, both in his responses to their reviews and in the FAQ on the website (you’ve been warned… lol).
Side note 2: The free app “One Calendar” available on the aurora store syncs with iCloud calendar, for those of you who use an iPad as your main computer, like I do.
Also, to make my Kompakt even quieter, I used BugJaeger to disable org.chromium.webview_shell, so that links do not open on the Kompakt. I don’t want access to the web on my Kompakt - I’m happy to copy and paste stuff in Signal and then open it on my iPad. This seems to work so far!