I-easydrive was an app designed to help you solve a lack of memory on an iPhone by expanding your storage with an external hard drive and allowing you to share files between iOS devices, including between iPhones, iPads, and Macs, to save space.
I-easydrive allows you to transfer and backup data to an external hard drive using the Lightning connector.
Unfortunately, i-easydrive is no longer available on the official Apple App Store. It is not recommended downloading apps that are not available on the app store, even if you can find outdated versions of those apps on third-party download sites.
That is because if Apple removed the app from the App Store, it is probably for a good reason. Perhaps the app has security flaws that can endanger your privacy or online security, or perhaps it is no longer compatible with updated iOS versions.
Unfortunately, based on reports from users, it seems i-easydrive is no longer working, even if you manage to find the app and/or USB drive for sale somewhere online. Fortunately, there are a number of alternatives that are great as well.
Today, I will be showing you the best i-easydrive alternatives for adding storage to your phone, expanding your memory, and sharing files and data between iOS devices. Let us get into it.
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Best I-easydrive App Alternatives
1. SanDisk iXpand Drive
iXpand is probably your best bet if you are looking for an i-easydrive alternative. Like i-easydrive, it comes with both an external iXpand drive and an app, and the two work together seamlessly to allow you to back up and preserve your data.
Like i-easydrive, the iXpand USB drive connects to your Lightning port, and it works with any iPhone that supports Lightning connections. When connected, the hard drive gives you a lot more space, and you can also use it to automatically back up data to the disk.
The disk works with all computers, so once you have the data backed up to the disk, you can transfer it to your computer. Alternatively, you can download data to the disk from your computer and then download those files from the disk to your phone.
That is because, in addition to the Lightning connector, the flash drive also features a USB 3.0 connector, allowing you to connect it to any PC, not only Mac devices.
One of the amazing things about iXpand is that it allows you to password protect specific files. That way, you can give the flash drive to a friend, so they can download certain files, while keeping other files on the drive private.
Alternatively, you can password protect files if you are afraid you will lose the hard drive.
You can play videos and movies stored on the flash drive directly from the drive, without needing to download them to your phone (i-easydrive lets you do that as well). That way, you do not have to download those files to your device and use precious memory space.
The iXpand flash drive is a SanDisk product, which means you can trust that they will be safe.
There are some caveats to know about. For example, you will need an iOS 11 or higher to use this app, and you will have to buy the flash drive separately (it doesn’t come automatically with the app).
You will need a Windows 7 or higher or a Mac OS X 10.8 or higher. The flash drive is also compatible with Chrome OS (Chromebooks).
The flash drive has a storage capacity of 32 GB.
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2. SanDisk Connect™ Wireless Media Drive
One of the problems with a product like i-easydrive is that you need the physical drive connected to your phone for it to work. That can be annoying if you don’t know where you put it, for example.
The SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive aims to solve this problem. It works just like i-easydrive, but it does not require you to physically connect a flash drive to your phone.
Instead, the phone connects to the device wirelessly. You don’t need an external router; the device will create a Wi-Fi connection that you can secure with a password, and then you can connect your phone to the device’s wireless network to start transferring data back and forth.
You can store media files on the wireless drive, just like on a physical drive, and then connect it to your phone and view photos, albums, videos, and movies on your phone when they are really stored on the external hard drive, without downloading them to your phone.
You can also upload files from your phone to the device to free up space.
The device actually has a space for an SD card slot. That means you can easily expand its memory capacity and provide additional external storage expansion for your phone.
You can connect up to eight phones to the wireless media drive at once and stream HD videos on five of them at once. That is something that you can not do with an external hard drive that physically connects to only one device at a time.
You will need to keep the external wireless device charged for it to work. However, with a single charge, it can provide up to eight hours of continuous streaming, so if you are not streaming that long, it can easily last for a few days or longer, depending on your usage.
How far away can the device be? It works up to 150 feet away, so you can leave it in one place in your room without worrying about misplacing it.
The reason this app is not the first on this list is that it is sometimes buggy. The core idea and app are great, but those bugs could be improved.
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3. Kingston MobileLite
Kingston MobileLite is another wireless alternative to i-easydrive. Instead of attaching a physical flash drive to your device, you can connect your device to the external wireless device, allowing you to view and organize your photos and other media files.
You can also share content directly from your device to the wireless media device to free up space on your iPhone.
You can also connect up to three devices to stream video and movie content to those devices at once.
A Kingston MobileLite device is required and must be bought separately.
4. iDiskk Pro
iDiskk Pro is an excellent alternative to i-easydrive if you are looking for a more traditional, physical flash drive alternative. The flash drive has two connections:
- A Lightning port connection, allowing you to connect it to any iPhone that has a Lightning port.
- A regular USB 3.0 connector, allowing you to connect the drive to a regular PC or Mac.
With these two connectors, you will be able to transfer files easily from your computer to your iPhone and vice versa. You will not need an internet connection, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi connection to do so.
When plugging the flash drive into your computer or phone, you will be able to edit the media files, organize them (for example, you can delete files you don’t want), and download or upload files from or to the flash drive.
You can also play music and videos stored in the flash drive when it is connected to your device. Similarly, you can back up your contacts, so you don’t lose them.
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5. FSharing File Manager Explorer
The FSharing File Manager Explorer app takes wireless sharing and storage expansion to a whole new level. Instead of requiring a third-party external media drive to send files to or download media from, you can use this file explorer to transfer files to and from your device to your PC or Mac directly.
How does it work? FSharing uses the SMB/CIFS transfer protocol, which works with almost all devices.
It turns your iOS devices into a shared Wi-Fi network that you can connect to and use for the purpose of transferring files or streaming media between all connected devices.
You don’t need to download any third-party apps on your PC or Mac. All you need to download is the FSharing app on your iPhone.
You can protect your files with a password to prevent unknown strangers from accessing the shared network you created. Alternatively, you can share files in Read-Only mode so that people can view the files but not edit them.
You can open files shared from remote servers without actually downloading them to your device, using the unique transfer protocol the app employs. That allows you to save space; you can also open files stored in cloud platforms like Box or Dropbox.
Basically, FSharing allows you to do whatever i-easydrive allows you to do. You can download files, organize your media, stream music and videos, open pictures and PDFs across devices, and a lot more.
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6. Phone Drive Lite: File Manager
This i-easydrive alternative turns your iPhone into a hard drive, allowing you to share files directly from your iPhone to your Mac without attaching any physical hard drives.
By skipping the step of attaching the hard drive to your phone and later to your computer, you will save time compared to using i-easydrive.
You can also connect to multiple cloud accounts and manage all your cloud based files in a single application. You can also view and manage files directly in the Phone Drive Lite app.
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7. iUSBPort
iUSBport is an interesting i-easydrive alternative because it does not limit you to a flash drive produced by a specific company. Instead, it expands support for all USB drives; using the app and the accompanying HyperDrive iUSBport, you can connect any USB to your iPhone and read and share files.
How does it work? The HyperDrive iUSBport supports all traditional USB drives, regardless of the company that produced them.
You connect your iPhone to this HyperDrive port via a wireless Wi-Fi connection. The HyperDrive port acts as a sort of bridge between the USB drive and your iPhone.
What can you do once you connect your iPhone to the USB drive via the HyperDrive “bridge?” You can do pretty much everything you would be able to do with i-easydrive.
For example, you can transfer files or back up files to the USB drive from your phone to clear up space. Alternatively, you can stream music or videos that are stored on the USB drive to your phone without downloading them to your phone first.
It’s a unique and interesting idea, and I think many of you might find it useful, despite occasional bugs that the app might experience.
8. Save2Data
Save2Data is another interesting i-easydrive alternative because it works not only with the Save2Data USB drive but also with the Save2Data card reader.
In other words, you can insert an SD card into the card reader and then attach the card reader to your iPhone. Once you do that, you will be able to read and view the files on the SD card in the Save2Data app.
That makes sharing files across devices easier. For example, if you have an Android device as well, and you use the SD card to get files from the Android device, you can then use the Save2Data card reader to move those files to your iPhone.
9. PQI iConnect
PQI iConnect works with an iConnect mini flash drive. It has some useful features that make it a great alternative to i-easydrive, such as fingerprint recognition technology to protect your data and ensure nobody else accesses it.
Like i-easydrive, PQI iConnect allows you to manage, edit, and view your files and media in the app once the flash drive is connected to the Lightning port.
Not only that, but when it is attached, you can take pictures with your phone’s camera and have them saved automatically to the flash drive, so you don’t use up space on your phone.
You can also back up your existing files and photos to the flash drive to save space on your phone.
10. IPEN – Universal File Manager
This i-easydrive alternative is quite unique because the flash drive it works with is a pen that opens up in the middle, revealing a USB flash drive. It’s pretty cool, really, and it is certain to make a great discussion topic when hanging out with friends.
Since the flash drive is a pen, it is easy to clip to your shirt pocket, for example, so you don’t lose it.
There are some downsides of this pen USB drive, however, one being that when it is plugged into the device, you can only use it in vertical mode. It doesn’t switch to horizontal view, according to reviews.
Otherwise, you can do pretty much everything you can do with i-easydrive, including backing up photos and other media files.
11. iMediaOut
iMediaOut is an i-easydrive alternative that does not require you to buy an external hard drive or use a cable. Instead, after downloading the app and configuring the Wi-Fi network correctly, you will be able to play files from your iPhone directly on your Mac or PC.
It works with any major web browser, including Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox. You will be able to view your iPhone’s videos in your web browser on your PC without downloading them.
Alternatively, you can upload, download, and transfer files across devices. You can even send texts or URLs to your iPhone to view later.
iMediaOut has excellent reviews, with reviewers saying that it works much better than many similar apps, which often experience bugs or are difficult to set up.
12. iShowDrive
The iShowDrive app works with the iShowDrive flash drive reader. You can use an SD card in the reader and then connect your phone to the reader wirelessly, so you can read files from the SD card, download files, and back up media.
You need to have the iShowDrive flash drive reader to use this app. One of the advantages it has over i-easydrive is that it is wireless.
Wrapping it Up: What Is The Best I-easydrive Alternative?
The truth is that any i-easydrive alternative is better than i-easydrive, because i-easydrive seems to have gone out of business, and its app is no longer supported by the official Apple App Store.
However, keep in mind that there are three types of i-easydrive alternatives mentioned in this article:
- Apps that work with physical flash drives, just like i-easydrive
- Apps that work with wireless flash drives. These have the advantage of being wireless, but that can also lead to additional bugs and connectivity problems.
- Apps that turn your phone into a virtual flash drive itself and allow you to connect it to your PC without any third-party devices.
The third option might be the best way to save money. However, you won’t be able to back up files to a third-party drive like you can with the first two options; you can only transfer them to and from your PC.
Therefore, I think the best i-easydrive alternative is iXpand. It is very similar to i-easydrive, except that it is a much higher quality product.
Benjamin Levin is a digital marketing professional with 4+ years of experience with inbound and outbound marketing. He helps small businesses reach their content creation, social media marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising goals. His hobbies include reading and traveling.