The iPad Videos App

[tomarseneault]

Hi all,

The Videos App came standard its a nice little app for playing videos but it's a huge pain in the a**. I have about 200 videos in on an old iPad 1 that I want to move to my new IPad 3 but nothing seems to be able to see them. I can't "send" them via email or FileManager Pro (the app has no way to do that). I bought SimplTransfer, which said it could easily transfer videos, but I could not see any of my videos. I heard back from their support and they said third party apps could not access the Videos app. I found a page that said transferring videos was easy if iPhoto was installed, another wasted $15 bucks, it did not see the videos either and it's made by Apple, not a third party app.

Of what godly use is this thing? It like a write only memory, things go in but they don't come back out. Also web searches seem to ignore this app as it is not mentioned any where I can find.

In iTunes they show up in the Movies tab for "On This iPad" but they only play if the iPad is hooked up and I can!t find a way to move them to the iTunes Movies library.

It 6 in the morning and I have spent $20 bucks and 7 hours on this. I'm tired, frustrated and not a little pissed off. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tom Arseneault

P.S. FYI the videos are not porn they are Cisco and Juniper networking training videos, get your mind out of the gutter there's only room for me.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[Mickey330]

Apologies for asking the obvious - but what happened when you tried to use iTunes to transfer those videos? As in, use iTunes to move the video to iTunes from the iPad1, then connect the iPad3 to iTunes and then move the videos over.

Or, when you set up that iPad3, did you set it up using a recent backup of the iPad1? Cause, by doing that, you essentially make the iPad3 a mirror of the older iPad, which means the videos should have been there. You still can do this: make a backup of the iPad1. Then, connect the new iPad and, in iTunes, select "Restore from Backup." iTunes should do its "magic" and, hopefully, the videos will be there.

Again, apologies if you tried either one of these, but, since you didn't mention it....

Marilyn

 

[LannyC]

You're right, the Videos app is essentially worthless. Mine hides in an Unused Apps folder, along with Clock, Game Center, and Photo Booth.

There are plenty of free video players in the App Store that are more competent and flexible than the Apple app. Try GPlayer or VLC. Use iTunes to transfer videos from your computer directly into VLC.

This post handcrafted from 100 percent post-consumer recycled electrons.

 

[tomarseneault]

Apologies for asking the obvious - but what happened when you tried to use iTunes to transfer those videos? As in, use iTunes to move the video to iTunes from the iPad1, then connect the iPad3 to iTunes and then move the videos over.

Or, when you set up that iPad3, did you set it up using a recent backup of the iPad1? Cause, by doing that, you essentially make the iPad3 a mirror of the older iPad, which means the videos should have been there. You still can do this: make a backup of the iPad1. Then, connect the new iPad and, in iTunes, select "Restore from Backup." iTunes should do its "magic" and, hopefully, the videos will be there.

Again, apologies if you tried either one of these, but, since you didn't mention it....

Marilyn

Hi Marilyn,

It was the first thing I tried, but I must be missing something obvious. I sync the iPad and I see the videos listed in "On This iPaf" and "Movies" from the left panel, but what do I do then? There is a "Add To..." button which brings me to a screen with the iPad media on the right and it looks like the iTunes libraries on the left but when I select "Movies" from the library and try to drag the iPad Movies to it nothing happens. How exactly do I transfer them?

No I did not build the iPad3 from the backup of the iPad1, which probably would have been a good idea at the time but the new iPad has too much of its own data now to do that. Or am I over thing Restore? Note: I had a current backup of both iPads so I figured I'd give it a try, figured as worst I can reset the iPad3 to factory and restore it from backup but videos did not follow transfer.

More frustrated than ever!!!!

Tom

 

[twerppoet]

To the best of my knowledge there are only two ways to get videos into the Videos app on the iPad. You either download them directly to the iPad from the iTunes Store, or you sync them from a computer using iTunes (on the computer). To the best of my knowledge there is no easy way to copy movies from the Videos app to iTunes or another iPad. It was not designed to be a Movie library/storage app, only a place you could sync movies for viewing, mostly iTunes movies.

In other words, always keep your copies. This is true of all files stored on an iPad. A mobile device is a terrible place to keep your only copies of important files. Even if they are easy to transfer off, it's probably the most fragile device/place you could keep them.


Knowing where you got the movies from is key.

If they are on the computer, and still stored in iTunes on the computer, you'll see them in the Movies library (iPad does not need to be connected). To sync them to the new iPad, connect the iPad to the computer using the USB cable, select the iPad in iTunes so that you see the various sync settings tabs tat the top (Summary, Music, Movies, etc). Select the Movies tab and select the movies you want sync, and sync.

If the Movies are not in iTunes on the computer (you deleted them or they disappeared for some other reason, you'll need to find the originals and import them into iTunes again before selecting and syncing them.

There is a 'small' chance that you can use the Transfer Purchases feature to copy the movies back to iTunes on the computer from the iPad 1. Usually this only works with stuff purchased in iTunes, and I've never tried it with Movies, but it won't hurt to try. Well, not much anyways.

With the iPad connected to the computer, in iTunes, go the View menu and make sure the Sidebar is turned on. Right click on the your iPad's listing in the sidebar and choose Transfer Purchases. Hold in mind this will copy any and all iTunes and App Store purchases you've made on the iPad, provided they are not already on the computer.

Movies downloaded directly form iTunes or Podcasts will need to be downloaded from there again. Most paid content should be free to download again. The new iPad (on iOS 5 and later) will have an optional Podcast app, which will work much better than the older method of downloading them to Music and then viewing them in Videos.



Other stuff of interest:

I don't know if there is an app (on iOS or computer) that will transfer from the Videos app. Most apps that will copy movies from one iOS device to another are referring to movies taken on the device, and therefor in the Photos app. When considering apps that 'might' do what you want remember to read the description carefully with this in mind.

Be sure you are running the most recent version of iTunes on the computer.

Good luck.

 

[tomarseneault]

To the best of my knowledge there are only two ways to get videos into the Videos app on the iPad. You either download them directly to the iPad from the iTunes Store, or you sync them from a computer using iTunes (on the computer). To the best of my knowledge there is no easy way to copy movies from the Videos app to iTunes or another iPad. It was not designed to be a Movie library/storage app, only a place you could sync movies for viewing, mostly iTunes movies.

In other words, always keep your copies. This is true of all files stored on an iPad. A mobile device is a terrible place to keep your only copies of important files. Even if they are easy to transfer off, it's probably the most fragile device/place you could keep them.

Knowing where you got the movies from is key.

If they are on the computer, and still stored in iTunes on the computer, you'll see them in the Movies library (iPad does not need to be connected). To sync them to the new iPad, connect the iPad to the computer using the USB cable, select the iPad in iTunes so that you see the various sync settings tabs tat the top (Summary, Music, Movies, etc). Select the Movies tab and select the movies you want sync, and sync.

If the Movies are not in iTunes on the computer (you deleted them or they disappeared for some other reason, you'll need to find the originals and import them into iTunes again before selecting and syncing them.

There is a 'small' chance that you can use the Transfer Purchases feature to copy the movies back to iTunes on the computer from the iPad 1. Usually this only works with stuff purchased in iTunes, and I've never tried it with Movies, but it won't hurt to try. Well, not much anyways.

With the iPad connected to the computer, in iTunes, go the View menu and make sure the Sidebar is turned on. Right click on the your iPad's listing in the sidebar and choose Transfer Purchases. Hold in mind this will copy any and all iTunes and App Store purchases you've made on the iPad, provided they are not already on the computer.

Movies downloaded directly form iTunes or Podcasts will need to be downloaded from there again. Most paid content should be free to download again. The new iPad (on iOS 5 and later) will have an optional Podcast app, which will work much better than the older method of downloading them to Music and then viewing them in Videos.

Other stuff of interest:

I don't know if there is an app (on iOS or computer) that will transfer from the Videos app. Most apps that will copy movies from one iOS device to another are referring to movies taken on the device, and therefor in the Photos app. When considering apps that 'might' do what you want remember to read the description carefully with this in mind.

Be sure you are running the most recent version of iTunes on the computer.

Good luck.

Unfortunately I got them from a number of different places and I didn't bother to keep off line copies because I always maintained a weekly backup of my iPad, silly me expecting a backup to "backup" things. Guess I'm stuck getting a third party player and trying to rebuild my library.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[twerppoet]

In general, things that you sync with iTunes (mostly media) do not get backed up. The assumption being that you've got it in iTunes already, so backing it up again would just be a waste of time and space.

Unfortunately Apple does not make it obvious what does and does not get backed up, and people who are familiar with computers, which generally back up everything, often find out, too late, that they shouldn't have thrown away the original.

Being old IT support, I don't really trust backups anyway. I tend to keep my important stuff in several places and in the original format; not compressed into some 'maybe I can get it back if everything works right file.' I do backups also
, of course. Belt and suspenders all the way.

Sorry you're finding out the hard way. Never trust an important file to just one place. Three is best: The one you use, a local backup, and another copy somewhere off site (cloud storage like DropBox or Box.com works well for this). This isn't about iPad's. It's about any computing device. Data is easy to lose.

Best of luck getting your videos back.

 

[Blue92]

Being old IT support, I don't really trust backups anyway. I tend to keep my important stuff in several places and in the original format; not compressed into some 'maybe I can get it back if everything works right file.' I do backups also
, of course. Belt and suspenders all the way.

Hmmm......

Sounds familiar.

I backup both my iPhone and iPad to iTunes, the iCloud and also keep copies of all original photos, documents, etc in a separate directory structure. In addition all data on my PC is backed up nightly to either a second hard drive in the box alternating with a backup to my network storage device.

Last PC crash took about two hours to completely restore to a new PC with all data in place. Software programs took another day or so to install from original installation media.

 

[twerppoet]

As much of a pain as it is, it still beats losing your work.

Someday, maybe, backups will be so reliable and transparent people won't even know they are happening, or even when they are used to restore data; but we're still a ways off from that little bit of utopia.

 

[Spugnut]

As much of a pain as it is, it still beats losing your work.

Someday, maybe, backups will be so reliable and transparent people won't even know they are happening, or even when they are used to restore data; but we're still a ways off from that little bit of utopia.

That day can not arrive soon enough. In the mean time we apply the backup at least twice rule.

Sent from my iPad using IPF