Score:0

Can you connect an iPhone to your Ubuntu media sharing?

cz flag

I'm curious if I can connect an iPhone to the network to view my computer's files through the IOS Files app or if there's another application I could use. I just want to be able to view the folder's like I could if I was connecting from a PC.

To clarify I'm using the default Media Sharing option from settings and I can connect to it fine from other machines, I just want to know if it's possible from an iPhone.

in flag
Yes, you can do this quite easily. Open your Files app, tap the circle in the upper-right (with the ellipsis inside), choose "Connect to Server". From there, you can enter the IP address of your Ubuntu machine and — if required — credentials. Your shares will then be listed and available.
cz flag
Okay I tried that but I'm having issues, how exactly do I find the IP address for my machine I need to use? I'm seeing a few different ones.
Terrance avatar
id flag
`hostname -I` from a command line should tell you.
Score:1
in flag

Here's a quick little step-by-step to accomplish your goal. Feel free to skip the items you've already done.

1. Set Up Your Shared Directories

The first order of business will be to create some shared directories on the Ubuntu machine. For this example, I'll be using an Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 system and performing every step via the GUI.

  1. Open Nautilus Nautilus & Downloads
  2. Select the directory you would like to share, right click, and choose "Properties"
  3. In the Properties window, select the "Local Network Share" tab and fill in the settings accordingly: Local Network Share Settings
  4. Press "Create Share"
  5. Close the Properties window and confirm that you have a little share icon next to the directory you have just configured for sharing: Sharing Downloads

2. Determine Your IP Address

There are a couple of ways to determine your computer's IP address. One is using ip a via the terminal, which will give you something like this:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 08:00:27:85:1a:af brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.100/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global dynamic enp0s3
       valid_lft 76045sec preferred_lft 76045sec
    inet6 2402:6b00:3ed9:f300:a00:27ff:fe85:1aaf/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute 
       valid_lft 266sec preferred_lft 266sec
    inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fe85:1aaf/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 08:00:27:fd:77:ad brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.56.101/24 brd 192.168.56.255 scope global dynamic enp0s8
       valid_lft 446sec preferred_lft 446sec
    inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fefd:77ad/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Here I can see I have 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.100, and 192.168.56.101 assigned. The first address is localhost and the third is a VirtualBox host address. The IP that other computers on my home network need to use will be 192.168.0.100.

If you prefer to use the GUI, then:

  1. Click on the network icon in the upper-right corner of your desktop Network
  2. If you are using a wired connection, choose "Wired Settings". If you are using WiFi, choose "Wi-Fi Settings".
  3. From the settings page, click on the gear next to the connection: Network Settings
  4. Note your IP address: Wired Values

3. Configure Your Phone/Tablet

For the sake of this example, I'll be using an iPhone running iOS 14.6. The same steps can be used on an iPad with a similar iOS version.

  1. Open the Files application
  2. Tap the circle with the ellipsis in the upper right corner, then choose "Connect to Server": Files - Connect to Server
  3. Enter the IP address and the name of the share that you wish to connect to and press "Next": IP and Name
  4. Enter your credentials and press "Next": Credentials, Please
  5. Browse your files: Browse

Apologies for the larger-than-necessary images.

ikhvjs avatar
sy flag
Thanks for sharing. Would you also share how you do with Wi-Fi setting? I didn't manage to make it with Wi-Fi setting.
Manby avatar
in flag
Just a note - the credentials you enter into your iOS device in step 3.4 must be those of a registered Samba user. You can create Samba users with the following command: `sudo smbpasswd -a Username`, replacing `Username` with an appropriate name.
Score:0
dm flag

I know this is an old question, but I’ve figured out a solution: install “DuckDuckGo" as its "downloads" folder will show up inside the afc protocol file manager, copy and paste a file(s) of your choice in that folder, then open DuckDuckGo on your device, search something, tap on the 3-dot icon at the bottom right corner, choose downloads, then select the files you copied. Those files can then be saved to a cloud or whatever; it just won’t let you save in photos for whatever reason.

karel avatar
sa flag
Where (on what device) did you install DuckDuckGo?
mangohost

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