How to synchronize iPhone and iPad over the Internet without using cloud?

Part #2

Not all Apps have been released by the respective App Developers for the iPad platform. Again, this is a Developers decision made independently of Apple and is not necessarily a limitation of iPad.

Unless individual Developer's have the time, resources and motivation to release compatible versions of their App(s) for iPad, they simply won't be available.

iCloud

iCloud is primarily a synchronisation service that also maintains a copy of your files and photos in the Cloud. While it is possible to save files and photos independently to iCloud storage, while accessible from iCloud storage, such files won't be natively synchronised between your Apple devices.

By design Files and photos that are synchronised using iCloud services will be deleted from all devices and iCloud if manually deleted from any individual device - this, by definition, being "synchronisation" of devices.

Instead of using native iCloud synchronisation services, you might instead consider using a third-party File Manager App with your Apple devices. In so doing, you can back-up/synchronise your data (but not device settings) to a variety of external storage options - including iCloud, third-party Cloud services, external media devices and network storage. One App that comes readily to mind is FileBrowser Professional by Stratospherix:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/filebrowser-professional/id854618029

File Manager Professional also provides automation tools that can help automate management of your file storage.

You would be well advised to review the extensive online Manual and help files to determine suitability for your needs.

https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowserprofessional/filebrowser-professional-user-guide.php

diveactive wrote:

what more to throw the spanner in the works is cloud you cannot delete photographs on cloud without deleting them in every I forgot the word phone iPad desktop

iCloud Photos is a synchronization service. Ifyou add, edit, or delete a photo in one place, you are adding, editing, or deleting it everywhere.

You don't have to use iCloud Photos. But your thread title ("How to synchronize iPhone and iPad over the Internet without using cloud?") seems to imply that you are looking for some synchronization service – and you might find that other synchronization services work in a similar way.

Why don’t they just keep aperture? Aperture is still awesome

Aperture has been gone for a long time, and unless Apple is willing to sell or give away the source code, it's not coming back. I'm pretty sure that it had 32-bit components, and that the only way people were able to run it on Catalina and later – in an unsupported way – was with the use of a clever hack (Retroactive?).

I know they still got Intel but they did the job maybe a bit slower today but the good work horses by 27 inch iMac you now cannot get an iMac in 27 inch.

If I remember correctly. Apple discontinued the last 27" 5K Retina iMac in March 2022 - which is when they came out with the first Mac Studios and the first 27" 5K Studio Displays.

Unfortunately, the 27" 5K Studio Display, by itself, was $1599+ USD, and by the time you added a Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse, you were talking about as much money as a good 27" 5K Retina iMac used to cost. Except that you still had to buy the computer!

Since then, Mac minis have become more capable. Several third-party 27" 5K monitors have appeared, and some are much less expensive than the Apple one.

If you are looking for a replacement for a 27" iMac, you could consider a system consisting of

• A Mac mini (M6, M5 Pro) or Mac Studio (M5 Max).
• A 27" UHD 4K or 5K monitor. Add external speakers, a Webcam, and/or a USB microphone as desired/needed.
• A mouse and keyboard.

They need to improve pages so is as good as Word. As for photographs have it easy to synchronise your phone while they had it once before before they did away with it and that was Internet synchronising without having to use cloud

Are you referring to Photo Stream? That went away long ago, and isn't coming back. If I remember correctly, the Photo Stream feature only kept photos around for a maximum of 30 days.

causes so much stress can cannot afford subscriptions, especially for 2 TB cloud. I don’t think Apple realise how tight money is these days.

If you don't want to pay to store photos in iCloud, I believe that you can

• Turn off iCloud Photos
• Exclude photos from iCloud backups (or not make iCloud backups at all)

You will then need to import new photos frequently to your computer. Because if you let your phone go for a few months at a time without copying the photos, and something bad (theft, forgetting your passcode, etc.) happens, you could end up losing lots of photos.

Apple never offered internet syncing except through iCloud as far as I recall. If you want to use a different cloud syncing service, you are certainly free to do that. Google Photos is one option. You can also transfer your photos directly to your Mac.

If you bought the iPad from Apple, you have 14 days to return it if it doesn't meet your needs. It sounds like you should take advantage of that if you can.

Also, Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user technical support forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

diveactive wrote:

too much power, not enough flexibility anybody else so disappointed from buying an iPad like the iPad 11 M4 2 TB 16 gig gram keep on being told it’s the most powerful iPad going but I’m so limited I cannot use office 2024. I can’t afford to subscribe to anything anymore, I bought this iPad thinking it could do everything as everybody’s wrote up about the M3 M4 processor been more than you could ever imagine, but they’re so restricted so much you cannot do. You can’t get software for them for Photography like topaz which I bought it for in the first place

You say that you bought your iPad to run Topaz? Maybe you should have done some research first. Topaz Photo runs on Windows and macOS. Not on iPadOS.

Topaz Photo – System Requirements

As for Microsoft Office 2024, that also is designed for Windows and for macOS. There is a Microsoft Word app for the iPad, but I don't know if it is as full-featured as the desktop versions of Word. Furthermore, you tell us that you can't afford to subscribe to anything. The Microsoft Word iPhone/iPad app only allows free editing on devices that have small screens. I'm pretty sure that on a device with an 11" screen, it only allows editing with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Given the things that you wanted to run, a MacBook Air or Pro with a M4 or M5 chip would have been a much more appropriate choice than an iPad.

The answer to your primary question about synchronization of iPad and iPhone without iCloud is no.

The answer to rest of that word salad rant is that you should have done a bit of homework.

There's a lot here to unpack - and due to limitations in the length of reply that can be posted here, a constructive reply will have to be broken into separate replies.

So, starting with Microsoft Office...

You cannot install Microsoft Office for Windows PC or Mac (which, from your description, it may be reasonable to assume that you already possess a license) on your iPad. This is a commercial decision by Microsoft; this decision is completely independent of Apple.

However, Microsoft has released an Office 365 App in the Apple App Store both iPad and iPhone.

• Microsoft Office

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-office/id541164041

The Office 365 App for iPad is a “cut-down” single install App; this App does not replicate full MS Office functionality.  But this is not the end of the story. 

There are individual Microsoft Apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc. intended for iPad. iPad models with a screen size of less than 10.1” can access a restricted set of App features, including creation and editing of documents, for free. 

For iPad devices with a screen larger than 10.1”, the MS App’s require an active Microsoft 365 Subscription; be aware that the Microsoft 365 subscription allows you to install and use Microsoft's associated Apps on any compatible platform - this including Windows PC, Mac computers, iPad (and some for iPhone). If you don’t have an active Microsoft 365 subscription, functionality is limited to opening and reviewing existing documents.

All the Microsoft Apps for iPad can be found in the Apple App Store.

• Word

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-word/id586447913

• Excel

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-excel/id586683407

• PowerPoint

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-powerpoint/id586449534

• Outlook

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-outlook/id951937596

• Teams

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-teams/id1113153706

• OneDrive

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-onedrive/id477537958

• Authenticator

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-authenticator/id983156458

• OneNote

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246

In summary, MS Productivity Apps for iPad (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint) offer limited functionality without an Microsoft 365 Subscription - but only for devices with a screen size of 10.1” or less. Devices with larger screens only permit you to view (but not create or edit) an existing document. Full App functionality requires an active Subscription.

Send your feedback to Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple