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External Drive Support

Use external storage to keep long recording videos off your iPhone or iPad internal storage.

caution

External drive storage saves the recorded video files only. Tracking data and scan data remain in the iOS app, so do not delete the app or its local data thinking everything has been saved to the external drive.

Before you start

  • Connect a physical drive to your device (USB drive, SSD, or SD card adapter).
  • Open Settings in Omniscient.
  • Go to Storage.

Set up external drive recording

  1. In Settings > Storage, enable Save videos on external drive.
  2. Tap Add an external drive.
  3. In the folder picker, choose a folder on your physical external drive.
  4. Return to the Record screen and confirm the external drive is selected.

Switch destination from the Record screen

On the Record screen, tap the storage indicator in the top-right HUD to open the storage picker:

  • This Device records to internal storage.
  • External Drive records to the selected drive folder.
  • Add Drive / Connect External Drive lets you add another drive.

Drive status and fallback behavior

If the selected drive is unavailable, Omniscient automatically falls back to internal storage and shows a warning.

Common fallback reasons:

  • Drive disconnected
  • Drive locked/unwritable
  • Not enough free space
  • No drive selected while external storage is enabled

Troubleshooting

  • "Please select a folder on a physical external drive..."
    Pick a folder on USB/SD external media, not iCloud or another cloud provider.
  • Drive appears connected but not writable
    Unlock the drive, check permissions, then reconnect.
  • Recording stopped for low storage
    Free up space on the selected destination or switch to This Device.