How to Put Movies onto Your iPad Without iTunes

The iPad is a great movie-watching device while traveling, but if you’re not a big fan of iTunes, here are some methods for getting movies onto your iPad without using Apple software.

iTunes isn’t terrible by any means, but it does slow down the process of putting movies onto your iPad. First you have to convert them into a format that Apple can recognize, if they aren’t already. Then you have to import them into your iTunes library, and finally you can sync them to your iPad.

There are methods that you can use that completely avoid iTunes, and while the iPad can only play certain video file types, you can download and install video players on your iPad that will play any file type you throw at it, getting rid of the need to convert movies to the correct file type in the first place.

There are a few methods you can use in order to get movies onto your iPad without using iTunes, some of which take a bit longer, while others involve using third-party software to quickly copy and paste movies to your iPad using the device’s file system.

Here’s how to transfer movies to your iPad without using iTunes.

Using a Cloud Storage Service

Perhaps the easiest way to put movies onto your iPad without using iTunes is by using Dropbox, Google Drive or other cloud storage service. However, it’s also a method that takes the most time.

This method requires you to have the app of the cloud storage service on your iPad, so if you use Dropbox, be sure to download and install the Dropbox app from the iTunes App Store. Furthermore, you can download and install the desktop app on your computer. Otherwise, you’ll be using the web ininterface.

To use cloud storage to transfer a movie to your iPad, simply just copy and paste the movie file into your Dropbox folder on your computer. Depending on the file size and the speed of your internet connection, the movie could take a few minutes to a few hours to sync to Dropbox.

Once it’s synced, you’ll then be able to access it in the Dropbox app on your iPad. From there, you either watch it directly in the Dropbox app or watch it in the Videos app on your iPad.

To watch the movie directly in the Dropbox app, you can begin playing it in the app if you have an internet connection. Otherwise, you’ll need to tap on the star icon in the upper-right corner and save the movie to the Dropbox app in order to watch it offline.

If you want to export the movie to your iPad and watch it in the Videos app on your iPad, you’ll need to tap on the Share icon in the upper-right corner and then tap on Save Video.

Using Third-Party Software

Perhaps the quickest and easiest way to get movies onto your iPad without using iTunes is taking advantage of some third-party software. Personally, I like iExplorer, which lets you view your iPad’s file system and add files to it if need be.

However, before messing with iExplorer, you’ll need to download a third-party video player. We highly recommend Player Xtreme HD, which is free in the App Store, and we’ll be using it for this tutorial.

After downloading and installing iExplorer (as well as Player Xtreme HD), plug in your iPad to your computer and fire up iExplorer. It should automatically detect your iPad.

Click on Photos & Videos, which will take you to a list of your iPad’s file system, similar to that on your computer, so you should be fairly familiar with how it works. From here, we’re going to drag and drop movie files into the file system so that you can watch them on your iPad.

Double click on Apps and you’ll be greeted with a list of apps that you have installed on your iPad. Next, scroll down and findPlayerXtreme. Click on the arrow just to the right of it and you’ll see a folder calledDocuments.

From here, drag and drop any movie file into this folder. Give iExplorer some time to transfer the movie. After it’s done, open up Player Xtreme HD on your iPad and you should see the movie appear in the app, from which you can begin playing it on your iPad.

You might be asking, “How is this any quicker and easier than just using iTunes?” That’s a valid question, and at times it’s not any quicker or easier, but if all of your movies are in a format that iTunes and your iPad don’t recognize, using iExplorer and Player Xtreme HD is the way to go, as there’s no need to convert your movies to an iPad-friendly format.

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