If given a choice, I wouldn’t look beyond iCloud for my online storage needs. Unfortunately, Apple offers just 5GB of free iCloud storage in an age where even 50GB of base storage seems too less to accommodate the rapidly growing demands of users thanks to high-resolution photos and videos and powerful games. That’s why the need to look for third-party cloud apps like Google Drive (15GB free) and Box (10GB free) arises. So, if your iCloud storage is already full and you don’t want to upgrade to the premium plan (starting at $0.99/month for 50GB), give a thought to these noted offerings. Let me show you how you can add your favorite third-party cloud apps to the Files app on your iPhone and iPad.

While iCloud Drive remains the default option in the stock file manager app, users have the freedom to save their data in other cloud services. Though the process remains easy-going, Apple has slightly tweaked it in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. Therefore, I thought it would be better to make a short piece about it. Here we go!

  1. Under the Locations section, you should see the cloud apps that are installed on your device. Turn on their toggles.

Remove Unwanted Cloud Apps from Files App

If you ever don’t want to use any cloud app that you had added earlier, you can easily hide them in the Locations section.

Quicly Add and Remove Cloud Apps in Files for iPhone and iPad

So, that’s how you can use third-party cloud apps in the Files app. Considering iCloud may not fit everyone’s needs, it’s good that Apple has allowed the stock file manager app to work with other services as well. It makes the app more user-friendly. With the introduction of the latest iteration of iOS, the Files app has become even more powerful thanks to the addition of a document scanner and the native zipping/unzipping tool. Let me know your thoughts and where does it stand against third-party file managers.