# Access files on iOS

**URL:** <https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026>\
**Category:** MacOSX and iOS\
**Created:** [December 6, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026 "2022-12-06T11:23:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leehu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/leehu/32/3280_2.png) [@leehu](https://forum.juce.com/u/leehu)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/1 "2022-12-06T11:23:14Z")

</div>

Hi, I’m trying to fetch some files off iOS for an app.

I have the “File Sharing Enabled” in Projucer and when I run the app I can see the folder for the app appear in Finder when connecting to the iPad, but no files ever appear, even though they are there on the iPad.

Anyone any ideas? thx

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ttg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/ttg/32/14456_2.png) [@ttg](https://forum.juce.com/u/ttg)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/2 "2022-12-06T12:19:03Z")

</div>

I think more details would be helpful. if you can provide steps to reproduce with one of the JUCE examples, that would be best.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leehu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/leehu/32/3280_2.png) [@leehu](https://forum.juce.com/u/leehu)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/3 "2022-12-06T12:31:41Z")

</div>

Hi. I don’t think there are any juce examples that do this. Are you aware of any that allow you to save files to a device and then access them externally? thx

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leehu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/leehu/32/3280_2.png) [@leehu](https://forum.juce.com/u/leehu)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/4 "2022-12-06T20:41:05Z")

</div>

So, I discovered what my issue was and it’s because it’s an AUv3 plugin.

For a normal standalone app, docs are stored in:  
**/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application**

which is accessible from files on iOS and also via Finder on Mac, for an AUv3 app it’s:  
**/var/mobile/Containers/Data/PluginKitPlugin**

which isn’t.

Can a plugin access the documents folder of the equivalent standalone app in any way?

Thx

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ttg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.juce.com/ttg/32/14456_2.png) [@ttg](https://forum.juce.com/u/ttg)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 6:48am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/5 "2022-12-07T06:48:50Z")

</div>

> [@leehu](#):
>
> Can a plugin access the documents folder of the equivalent standalone app in any way?

No. What suggested many times on the forum is AppGroupId. So you’ll end up with a ‘shared’ folder across the AUv3 and the Standalone.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kunz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f19dbf/32.png) [@kunz](https://forum.juce.com/u/kunz)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 7:29am UTC](https://forum.juce.com/t/access-files-on-ios/54026/6 "2022-12-07T07:29:52Z")

</div>

I also experienced the same. I always get a path in the sandbox if we request a special location in the juce::File.  
But you can load files from public folders in the AUv3 with the iPad file browser. This shows me that it is possible to read files outside of the shared folder when you have the right path. While writing files is only possible in the shared sandbox folder.

For me, it looks like there should be a way to read files outside the sandbox also from the AUv3.