I am a new user, but tried searching first for the solution. When I take a photo on my iphone, the file name is something like IMG_1234.JPG. But when I copy that photo to the iXpand the app changes the file hame to some long gibberish name like 83X27022-C3ED-48E9-D17$L0$001-photo.JPG. I have turned off automatic backup but that did not correct the issue. Any help? Am I overlooking something obvious? Thanks
autobackup has to change the file name so it can do incremental backups. any file that was backed up using auto backup you would need to go to each one and manually rename the file.
You can you the copy files option to manually select and copy the files from the iOS device to the iXpand and the original file names will be retained.
Hello. Yes I tried that. I turned off auto backup. I manually copied the photo using the app. The file name still gets changed to that long multi character file name on the iXpand drive. The file on my phone (I did not delete it) kept the original file name.
You are correct. it seems something changed in the latest app. I tested and am now seeing the same thing you are in the latest app but on my other iphone where I have not updated the app the original file name is still used after the copy files option. I have opened a support ticked with their support. maybe we can get an explanation soon.
Hi guys I am also experiencing the same problem. I have the latest version iXpand, iXpand flash 3.0. My iphone se is running on iOS 11.4. I know auto backup always create random files names but now it is doing the same when manually copying photos or videos to the iXpand flash device. This is very frustrating as the files are not in timely order and when backing up from the ixpand device to my computer, which I use as the final backup, is just a mess. I hope SanDisk tech team can see this post and fix the problem. I have seen some other chats suspecting this is not a problem but the new feature future following new verions SanDisk will offer, then the company should publically notify its users. Hope we hear soon from SanDisk. Thanks
apparently somebody at SanDisk thought this was a great idea. Not sure why anyone would think this would help their customers? I received this today from SanDisk:
Thank you for contacting SanDisk® Global Customer Care.
I would like to inform you that In the latest iXpand Drive app release we have changed the functionality of manual file copies. When a file is copied the file name will be changed. We will share your feedback with the product team. We strive to improve our products and functionality and your feedback is extremely valuable.
For any further assistance please refer to the Incident ID: 4648994
Thank you for your kind cooperation!
Best regards,
Jake K.
SanDisk® Global Customer Care
I received the following reply from technical team:
Dear App,
Thank your for contacting SanDisk.
Unfortunatelly, the files were automatically renamed by iXpand Drive App, this is due to default configure.
We are very appreciated your feed back and suggestion, and we will pass them to our technical department, we will try our best to improve the function of the SanDisk iXpand Drive App. And we are devoting to creating a better user experience.
Thank you for supporting SanDisk.
Best regards,
Zhengyang J.
SanDisk® Global Customer Care
I replied and said the response is not helpful as they just re address the problem I already know. All I want to know is if this is a bug/problem they will fix in the next update or it will continue this way. Within a few minutes I got another reply:
Dear App,
Thanks for your reply.
We have escalated your issue to our headquarters, they will try to figure our a solution.
Once the solution comes out, we will let you know immediatelly and SanDisk will make public announcement on website and App updating page.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Zhengyang J.
SanDisk® Global Customer Care
Hopefully they will sort it out soon.
Same problem. If htis was deliberate on the part of SanDisk, they have rendered my iXpand drive useless. Too bad, as I depended on this as a way of getting photos off of my iphone. Looking for alternatives, any thoughts?
it seems like it was a deliberate change. Open a support ticket with sandisk support and let them know you would like to see this changed back to the previous functionality.
I am looking elsewhere for a solution. I cannot trust them to not mess with my data going forward.
Seems that the file renaming is a deliberate change Sandisk made. Their reply as below:
Dear Ken,
Thank you for contacting SanDisk Global Customer Care and providing us the feedback. I understand your concern.
Please be informed that in the latest iXpand Drive app release we have changed the functionality of manual file copies. When a file is copied the file name will be changed. This is not a bug, this functionality change was by design. We will share your feedback with the product team. We strive to improve our products and functionality and your feedback is extremely valuable.
Please reply to this email should you require further assistance. We are glad to help!
Best regards,
Matt T.
SanDisk® Global Customer Care
Very disappointed and very curious to know if their R&D can explain the benefit of this change.
It is not a problem. That is the nature of free enterprise. I simply purchased another brand (iDiskk) that does not have this flaw and pitched the SanDisk product. Thank you for your help.
Yes, please do not change the original file name when copying to the usb drive. Many people rely on that IMG_xxxx name for their own purpose. For example, I use the number to tell if I am missing a file from the sequence number. If you insist changing the filename is a “nice” feature, please make it an option so the user can pick the behavior. Thank you for listening.
Please, please keep the original IMG_1234.jpg file names! I depend on this file naming for keeping all my photos in some kind of sane manner. This change makes the iExpand drive essentially useless to me, and renders the camera in my iPhone much more difficult to integrate with my existing thousands of photos from a variety of digital cameras. This litttle change has destroyed this iExpand product for me.
At the very least, this should be made an option.
And now I have the problem of lots of files in my iExpand with these garbage names, which I may have to rename manually. I anxiously await not only a fix to the iOS iExpand app, but also an automatic way to undo the damage that has already been done.
What was the reason for this change, which is far worse than the problem it might have been trying to solve?
Hi all, I aslo have had this problem since noticing it in mid June after updating iXpand app to 5.0.1on iPhone X running iOS 11.4. I called and takked to support. at that ime the first person I talked to had no idea what I was talking about and did not know anything about it. He gave me some bugus advice (I think not his fault but standar solutions to try to fix) Delete app and reinstall. Did nothing. Then he suggested to reset and do Firmware update- can only be done on a PC running windows and I have all Mac stuff and iPhone. The firmware update is really old and has nothing to do with newer app. The name change happend after that latest App udate He sent me up to a higher level of support. I wrote to Steven 6-24-18 explaining all and included screen shots of everything. no one know anything. Now i read on this forum that it is a “deliberate change” done by Sandisk. As has been mentioned by someone in the forum this also makes my iXpand disk useless to me too. I use to put movie files on my iPad so I can watch whenever I want. Now all the files are the long string of letters, number and symbols so I have no idea what the list is. Really STOOOOOPID. I really do not want to have to go and buy another brand of lightning _ USB flash drive to work with iOS devices. This is really bad PR from Sandisk by not addressing this stupid issue all of their making. Jeff
As unbelievable as this is, Sandisk takes responsibility (as others have been told) for making this change, rendering the flash drive useless for transferring photos, unless having each of your unique file names changed to a totally unrelated 40 character mess of numbers and letters is what you desire. Shame on them for such a move without disclosing this. I’ve wasted my money here. Ugh.
They changed it back in app version 5.0.4. I would recommend updating the app.
drlucky - thanks for the info!!
I’m a new user and use version 5.0.10. It still has the same problem and makes the iXpand and software useless. Can’t use it as a backup or transfer tool because it is nearly impossible to match the files. I’m talking about hundreds of photos and videos.
@drlucky wrote:
autobackup has to change the file name so it can do incremental backups. any file that was backed up using auto backup you would need to go to each one and manually rename the file.
You can you the copy files option to manually select and copy the files from the iOS device to the iXpand and the original file names will be retained.
the app changes the file hame to some long gibberish name like 83X27022-C3ED-48E9-D17$L0$001-photo.JPG. I have turned off automatic backup but that did not correct the issue. Any help? Am I overlooking something obvious? Thanks
