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The Apple iPhone 6s supports 4K video and with that comes large 4K video files will just take a lot longer to transfer wirelessly to the cloud.  For those that don't want to upload their photos and videos to the cloud for speed, cost, or security reasons, SanDisk has a nice solution to move content in and out of the iPhone 6s using SanDisk's new and improved iXpand Flash Drive (2016).  

As soon as you connect the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) to the Lightning port of the iPhone 6s, you'll get a notification to install the SanDisk iXpand Drive App.

   

Once you open the App, the App will automatically update the firmware on the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

  

Right at the start, the App provides a short tour explaining all the benefits of using the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

  

  

The main screen lets your swipe through different main features of the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

  

  

On the top left of the App, you can select the photo icon to take pictures and videos with your iPhone 6s using the SanDisk App without having to go to iPhone's main picture taking screen.  On the top right of the App, there is a gear icon so you can change your settings.

If you select View Files in the home screen, you can see all the files in the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) as well as whatever is saved to the App in the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

  

If you select Copy Files in the home screen, you can choose 'Copy Photos from Phone' to quickly copy large number of files from the iPhone 6s to the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

  

  

  

  

  

  

You can watch videos directly from the iPhone 6s or iXpand Flash Drive (2016) using the SanDisk App.

  

While you are viewing files in the iPhone 6s or iXpand Flash Drive (2016) you can also directly move or copy them rather than going to the main menu's 'Copy Files'.  

  

Once you have selected a file, select the 'more options' in the bottom center of the screen and select 'Copy to Folder' or 'Move to Folder' depending if you just want to create a new copy or move the file to a new location.  Note if you use this method, you can only copy and move files within the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) and not to the iPhone 6s.

  

If instead you want to copy a video or photo to the iPhone 6s, select 'Save to Photo Library'.

 

Choosing this option will allow you to save the video or photo into the collection of photos and videos stored in the iPhone 6s.  Note this option doesn't work on files which are not photos or videos.

  

While exploring photos saved on your iXpand Flash Drive (2016), if you select 'More Options' on the bottom center, you can select 'Save Image' to save the photo to the SanDisk App on the iPhone 6s without it being added to the Photo Library that Apple manages on your iPhone.

  

If you select a file that isn't a photo like a music mp3 file, you can select 'more options' and choose 'Save to iPhone' to save the file to the SanDisk App on the iPhone 6s.

 

Unfortunately, one annoying bug with the SanDisk App is that once you select and play a mp3 music file, even after you have stopped playing the music file, the music file will start playing again by itself at various points when using the App.  You can see if the App is playing music by seeing the dynamic sound bars on the top right.

The iXpand Flash Drive (2016) also allows you to set up a secure password required folder.  On the SanDisk App, go to Settings and select Security to create a password for this secure folder.

   

  

You can also conveniently use your fingerprint to access the secure folder rather than typing in the password.  The secure folder will be initially empty when you create it. 

  

There are some restrictions in using this secure folder.  You can't move files directly into this secure folder using the copy or move functions described above.  

  

Instead, you need to select the lock icon above the word 'secure' at the bottom left of the App in order to save a file to the secure folder.

Also you can only save files which have already been transferred to the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) into the secure folder.  You can't directly transfer files from the iPhone 6s into the iXpand Flash Drive (2016).

As an aside, you can notice here with this SanDisk App bug that the music file has started playing again by itself.

 

The SanDisk App also has a backup function that allows you not only to backup your iPhone's Photo Library but also all the photos stored in your Social Media account as well.  You can also use the App to backup the contacts found on your iPhone.

SanDisk has greatly improved the user experience with the SanDisk iXpand Drive App and the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) compared to the initial version of the App and the original iXpand Flash Drive.  Despite, the App's super rich feature set, SanDisk has tried to make things as easy as possible for the average user.  Advanced users having to deal with tons of large iPhone photo and video files will appreciate the speed and flexibility that the iXpand Flash Drive (2016) provides compared to having to transfer everything over the cloud.