Comparison

FileBrowser vs Files Protection

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

FileBrowser

Access and manage files across your home computers, network drives, and cloud storage. Upload, download, copy, and edit documents directly from your device, with built-in viewers for various file types and streaming capabilities.

Highlights
  • Connect to computers, NAS, and cloud storage
  • Upload, download, copy, and move files
  • Multi-tabbed browsing and split-screen support
  • Edit documents in-place
  • Built-in viewers for documents, photos, and media
  • Stream movies and music with AirPlay/Chromecast
  • Annotate PDFs and images
Read full description

Use your iPad or iPhone to connect to your home computers, network drives and cloud storage. Easily upload/download/copy files and folders from one location to another, and browse your content using a variety of built-in viewers. *** FileBrowser remains the best option if you're looking for a file manager that supports a variety of external connections and also integrates deeply with iOS - Federico Viticci - MacStories *** *** FileBrowser's setup varies for every device, and the automatic wizards work super-well. Charlie Sorrel - Cult of Mac *** Ultra-fast browsing of your computers. Faster than Windows Explorer or Mac Finder and our users agree! GET ORGANIZED FileBrowser gives you everything you need to keep your files effortlessly organized: Move, edit, delete, rename, copy, zip and unzip. Download files from the web and paste them wherever you choose. MULTI-TABBED BROWSING Our FileBrowser suite of apps are the first file management apps to support multiple tabs. Connect to many of your locations at once and switch between them with ease. Use iPadOS split-screen mode to drag & drop between multiple windows. CONNECT TO Windows, Mac, Linux, Time Capsule, NAS drives, portable WiFi drives, SMB, Samba. Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, WebDAV, FTP and SFTP. Link to the same cloud storage with multiple accounts, if you have more than one Dropbox account, for example. EXTEND THE FILES APP FileBrowser allows you to access all your connections from the iOS Files app and other apps that use this as their document chooser, bringing network access to those apps. EDIT IN-PLACE No more copying of documents between apps. Launch an app to edit a network document in-place, such as Word or Pages or any of the Office and Mac suite. Changes are saved to the original document automatically. BLAZINGLY FAST Create bookmarks to your favorite locations & folders. Use a single tap to connect and browse to a favorite folder. PHOTO VIEWER Browse your photos wherever they are stored and display them on your TV or projector using AirPlay or Chromecast. Easily flick through holiday snaps or use the built-in slideshow feature. STREAM YOUR MOVIES / MUSIC Stream movie files or listen to music, both with AirPlay™ and Chromecast support. Use our built-in viewers or stream video to other apps. DOCUMENT VIEWER View Microsoft Office, Apple Pages, Numbers, KeyNote, PDF, text files, source code, HTML, and many more using the built-in viewers. ANNOTATE PDFS AND IMAGES Use the built-in annotation tools for PDFs and images, or use the iOS annotation tools to add notes, drawings or highlight text. SECURITY AND ENCRYPTION FileBrowser securely stores your passwords in the iOS keychain and uses iOS encryption features to protect your local content. Protect local files using a password, TouchID or FaceID. CONNECT ANYWHERE Connect to your Mac or PC when away from home. See our website for details: https://www.stratospherix.com/setupvpn TOO MANY FEATURES TO LIST FileBrowser has many features that we would like to tell you about. Check out our website. You'll be amazed! https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser FIRST CLASS SUPPORT User manuals and help are available at stratospherix.com/support with how-to articles and videos. You can also email us for fast, friendly support.

About

Files Protection

Securely manage, view, and download files on your iPhone or iPad. Protect your sensitive documents, photos, and videos with a passcode and enjoy a powerful media player and document viewer.

Highlights
  • Secure file management with passcode
  • Document viewer for various formats
  • Powerful media player
  • File downloader with web browser
  • Dark mode support
  • File sharing via AirDrop
Features
Read full description

FilesProtection is a file manager, document viewer, video, downloader, and more for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch. Using FilesProtection is easy. Just long-press on a file or folder icon to display a popup menu. Simply tap your selection and you’re ready to go. You can tap on the screen to copy, move, delete, unzip, create folders and so on. There’s no need to worry about the security of FilesProtection, either. Your files can be accessed remotely with a password or locally with a master passcode. No one but you will see what’s in your FilesProtection. √ DARK MODE - A beautiful new dark color scheme that delivers a great viewing experience especially in low-light environments √ Capture video & photo √ File Manager! - Create new folders?- Copy, delete operations - Long press to popup menus - Support multi-selection mode - Import photos/videos from the system album - Export files to photo gallery - Support to unzip file - Copy file to clipboard - Paste file from the clipboard √ Share files via AirDops, carry them around with you, and share them with your friends. √ Powerful media player! - Support avi/flv/rmvm/rm/mov/mp4/mp3/wma/m3u8... - Support playing the audio file - Show snapshot of videos √ Privacy Protection - Provide a secure private passcode to keep your secret files 100% privately. Your files are ONLY stored in your "Files Protection" and no one can touch them except yourself! - Hide files/folders - Hide image/video thumbnail - Recovery mode √ Download and browse files and documents on your iPhone, iPod or iPad like on your computer.No limits on storage or downloads! - Web-browser like Safari with bookmarks - Simply tap on the link to download √ Document viewer ! - Support plist/word/excel/ppt/pdf/txt/page/number/html/jpeg/epub/chm- unzip (.zip file) - Open files with other apps - Open files from other apps *** IMPORTANT NOTE: This app DOES NOT support downloading of audio or video content or any other related functionality. The downloadable content must be NON-audiovisual which includes pdfs, docs, xlsxs etc... *** √ Contact with me: ichitech89@gmail.com

Screenshots

FileBrowser4 screens
Files Protection4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Files Protection at Free against FileBrowser's $7.99. Files Protection also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). FileBrowser's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Files Protection is free to download; FileBrowser costs $7.99 up front. Files Protection sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. FileBrowser asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for FileBrowser against 4.6 for Files Protection. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FileBrowser has 5.6K ratings behind it against 601, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of FileBrowser's written reviews are positive against 58% of Files Protection's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FileBrowser ships an update every 5 weeks, Files Protection fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
FileBrowser versus Files Protection: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFileBrowserFiles Protection
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (5.6K ratings) — better4.6 (601 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews — better58.3% of reviews
Number of ratings5.6K — better601
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB77 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperStratospherix LtdBinh Tran

Customer experience

FileBrowser

All ratings5,642 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews1,157 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral6.1%
Negative11.8%

Files Protection

All ratings601 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive58.3%
Neutral15.3%
Negative26.4%

User reviews

FileBrowser

From 5.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great file manager
  • 🚀 Powerful and versatile
  • 🔒 Secure access to files
  • 💡 Excellent integration with iOS Files app
  • 👍 Reliable and stable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 SMB connection issues
  • 🐛 Misleading directory caching
  • 🐛 Video playback problems
  • 🐛 Buggy UI changes
  • 🐛 Inability to rename photos

Files Protection

From 601 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔒 Strong privacy and security features
  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 💾 Effective file storage and organization
  • 🎯 Good for hiding sensitive photos and videos
  • 🔄 Regular app updates

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes after updates
  • ⚠️ Data loss after app deletion or reinstallation
  • 🔐 No password recovery mechanism
  • 🚫 Video loading failures
  • ⚡ Slow performance and loading times

Bugs and requests

FileBrowser

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Copy and paste functionality broken after update
  • Inability to access iCloud files
  • Crashes when accessing large files
  • Thumbnails not generating properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for AV1 video codec
  • Improve audio playback controls
  • Implement a recycle bin/trash feature
  • Add option to loop video playback
  • Improve video scrubbing and seeking

Files Protection

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes 7 seconds after launch
  • Passcode authentication not working after updates
  • App force closes unexpectedly
  • Files disappear from app despite existing in device storage
  • Video import from library not functioning
Show 5 more
  • Touch ID feature disabled after updates
  • App crashes when adding new photos/videos
  • Password verification failing
  • Files visible in iPhone Settings despite password protection
  • App won't open after update notifications

Requested features

8 requests
  • Backup and restore functionality
  • Password recovery option
  • Touch ID/Biometric authentication support
  • Dark mode
  • GIF file support
Show 3 more
  • USB transfer capability
  • Cloud backup integration
  • Ability to change forgotten passwords

In-app purchases

None

FileBrowser

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Files Protection

One-time1
  • Remove Advertisments$1.99

Questions

Is FileBrowser free?
FileBrowser costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Files Protection free?
Files Protection is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, FileBrowser or Files Protection?
FileBrowser is rated higher. FileBrowser averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.6K ratings, while Files Protection averages 4.6 from 601 ratings.
Do FileBrowser or Files Protection have ads?
Files Protection shows ads; FileBrowser does not.
Which is updated more often, FileBrowser or Files Protection?
FileBrowser ships an update every 5 weeks, and Files Protection fortnightly. Most recently, FileBrowser was updated on September 24, 2026 and Files Protection on September 22, 2026.

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