iOS is a closed system. Each application runs in its own silo’d environment. Applications cannot access file management features. You’ve heard it all before.
While all of that makes iOS more secure and faster than platforms like Android, it also makes it limited in some special ways.
Let’s download a file for example. You’ll go to Safari or Chrome on your phone, tap a file to download it, and if it’s something like a document, it’ll be downloaded, but you’ll have to immediately transfer the file to an app to download it. see, otherwise the file will be lost forever. There is no real “download” or “downloader” feature in iOS. For this we need to turn to third-party applications.
Note: Android phones give you direct access to your downloads, right from the file explorer – just like the Downloads folder on your computer.
Best: Mercury Browser
Mercury Browser (a free basic app – $0.99 for Pro version) is one of the best third-party browsers for iOS. If you’re adamant, it can easily replace Safari for you. Here is a summary of its features.
- Sync history and bookmarks from Firefox and Chrome
- Feature rich download management with resume support
- Supports downloading any file type – music, video, PDF, Office documents, etc.
- ad blocking
- Search, bookmarks, switch user agents and more.
Anything that can be downloaded, will be downloaded.
How is downloading in Mercury different from Safari?
As I mentioned above, Safari and Chrome don’t have dedicated download managers. For example, let’s say I visit a website that lists free downloadable songs or podcasts and click on a link that says Download MP3.
What is going to happen? Safari will display a new page and start playing the file again, but it won’t actually be downloaded to local storage. This can be seen in the screenshots below.
Now, when I visit the same page in Mercury Browser and press and hold the link, I get the message Download link select. Tapping that immediately starts downloading in the background. I can access current downloads by tapping Menu icon and select Files.
I can download multiple files at once, pause and resume downloads, and access completed downloads. What’s more, the app has built-in previews for media and documents, so I don’t even need to jump to another app to open files.
But I can if I choose. Long press on a file gives me the default iOS share menu. Here I can open files in any supported application.
As I am using iOS 8, I have access to the sharing extension. This means I can upload files directly to Dropbox, save documents I’ve downloaded to Evernote, etc.
Alternative – Downloader for iOS
Downloader is a simplified version of Mercury Browser but it is full of ads – both banner and pop-up ads. All the app contains is the “downloader” section of the Mercury Browser. On the surface, it might be enough.
But I recommend staying away from such single-purpose apps. Firstly, they are not designed and optimized as well as complete browsers. And second, pop-up ads really ruin the experience.
It would be worth it if they offered something extra, something the Mercury Browser doesn’t. But alas, they don’t.
How do you download files on iOS?
What do you use to download files on iOS? Do you think Mercury Browser will be an upgrade for you? Let us know in the comments below.
Top images via Shutterstock
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
