Open Radar

 
Summary:
As a user, I would like to replace my MacBook with an iPad.

I'm a frequent traveler: I have a MacBook with enough disk space to store all my files and photos locally, so that I can edit them on the go. iCloud and iCloud Drive then sync them up as soon as I'm back online.

I bought an iPad with enough flash storage to hold all my data locally for times when I'm offline. I can choose to keep a downloaded copy of all my photos on the iPad for offline use, but I cannot do the same with the Files app.

The Files app, to this date, doesn't provide a mechanism to force all files to be kept on the device for offline use. It's as if the Files app always works in "Optimise iPad storage" mode, without the option to "Download and Keep Originals" (like the Photos app).

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Put iPad / iPhone in Airplane Mode.
2. Try to open a file that has never been opened before.


Expected Results:
On iPads / iPhones with enough storage, the file should always be available locally even if it was never opened before.

Actual Results:
The file is unavailable. The Files app shows an alert telling me that I'm offline. I can't work on my document.

Before a flight, I have to plan which files I may need and open them one by one so that they get cached.

Since there's no mechanism to tell the operating system to always keep my files on the device (like I can do with Photos), I have to hope that iOS' cache eviction policies don't end up deleting the file from my device.

Version:
12.1.1 (16C50)

Notes: