Playing videos on iPad

[AlanMiller]

My father has just been given an iPad and wants to know if/how it's possible to play video files (.avi) from an external device. Initial research indicated that it was necessary to "jailbreak" the system to be able to bypass iTunes ... all sounded rather involved. Hopefully, someone might know of a free or Apple app to enable simply watching video clips from a USB stick or similar.

thanks
Alan

[BobH]

Howdy, Alan!

Not knowing about the new iPads, I wondered if the newer ones have a USB port. My old one does not. It consumes too much power (according to Apple) and drains the battery too quickly to use one.

An alternative might be to use the wifi features of the iPad to access video. Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix come to mind as possible sources.

Good luck!

[Rudi]

My father has just been given an iPad and wants to know if/how it's possible to play video files (.avi) from an external device. Initial research indicated that it was necessary to "jailbreak" the system to be able to bypass iTunes ... all sounded rather involved. Hopefully, someone might know of a free or Apple app to enable simply watching video clips from a USB stick or similar.

thanks
Alan

Hi Alan,

The iPhone/iPad models do not have a native USB port, however, there are adapters that allow you to use USB sticks with the iDevices. See this Google image page for many examples.

On the other hand, there is a new device called the iStick that, if you are prepared to source, can possible resolve your question. See this great article and video on the iStick; it looks like a winning device IMHO. As the video suggests, you can store files, music and video on it and even play it right from the stick. If you want to transfer the files to the iDevice, you can and then of course you can play the files from the native iPad apps.

[HansV]

Your father will also need an app to play .avi files - iOS doesn't offer native support for that. A free one is VLC for iOS.

[BobH]

Hmmm.

Like all things APple, that's a pricey item, eh?

[Mack21RC]

I can tell you what worked for me, what i did was this signed out of the Prime Video app on your iPad. Here's how to do it:-
1. Open the Prime Video app on your iPad.
2. Tap on the profile icon located at the top right corner of the screen.
3. In the profile menu, tap on the Settings icon (gear icon) located next to your profile name.
4. On the Settings page, scroll down and tap on "My Account".
5. Under "My Account", tap the yellow "Sign Out" button.

[JoeP]

There are numerous devices on Amazon which have both a USB and Thunderbolt connection. I can't vouch for any of them but if you need to get files from a PC to the iPad on an external device one of them may work. I just search for "iStick for iPad" at Amazon.