Learn what to do if you have saved some video files to an external thumb drive or SSD and they don’t play on your iPhone or iPad. You can connect a thumb drive or SSD (that draws less than 4.5 watts) directly to your iPhone or iPad’s USB-C or Lightning port, then access the video files on it in the Apple Files app or an app like VLC. Usually, it’s a smooth process, but if the videos don’t play, here are some quick tips to fix that. Note that in case the external drive isn’t even showing up on your iPhone or iPad , check out our other tutorial first. Get the correct app iOS can play MP4, MOV, and a few other formats. But if the movie file in question is MKV, AVI, DAT, or another format, you’ll need an all-rounder media app like VLC or Infuse to play it. After installing one of these apps: Tap the file, and it may open directly in VLC or Infuse. Tap the unplayable file or touch & hold it and select Quick Look . Then, tap the VLC or Infuse app name as shown in the screenshot below.…