There are plenty of well-known and hidden features in Apple® iOS and iPadOS®. One of the hidden features is the ability for users to plug in an external USB drive and access documents directly within the Files app of iPhone® and iPad® devices running iOS 13 and newer. The capability of doing this, especially regarding the iPad Pro, is enormous, as it adds virtually unlimited storage capacity for things such as photos, videos, emails, documents and spreadsheets, games, and other personalized applications.
iOS 13 can read any standard USB device that has been formatted with a compatible file system, has enough power-to-device to allow it to work and is non-encrypted.
As we all know too well, standard, everyday flash drives are easy targets for breaches, theft, and loss of confidential and personal data. Even all of Apple’s technical wizardry can’t prevent that from happening. On the other hand, encryption technology can. Encryption is the most trustworthy means of protecting any and all sensitive data stored on a USB drive.