OneDrive Save button and Folders grayed out on iPhone but other clouds are not

Ok, just got off the phone with Apple and this is the situation. The issue is (rather obviously) surrounding permissions. It appears that BOTH Apple and Microsoft made changes in the nitty gritty details (which haven’t been shared with me) regarding how iOS authenticates write permissions to OneDrive. Google, for example, have not made changes and so it still works but there’s every possibility that they may make the same changes if the changes are rooted in security. 

Apple’s stance is that they want their devices to be as secure as possible and, as such, they are currently unwilling to reverse the changes that they made. So, we are reliant on MS to get the feedback and, essentially, make changes in order to play ball with Apple. 

The best thing to do is to take this information and share it with as many people as possible and encourage them to make individual support calls to both companies until one of them gets enough that they are willing to back down. That being said, if it is a security issue and Apple are right, then the onus really is on MS to modify OneDrive authentication to align with the requirements that Apple now set for OneDrive (and all cloud services) to work with iOS devices.

Until then, work around are necessary but everything is possible, if in more roundabout ways, and ‘sharing’ on iOS devices and selecting OneDrive does work.

Go onto your social media and share this information and what needs to be done!

If someone from MS is monitoring this thread, please reach out to me as we need to make this an official support issue with MS.

I have sent the below via the OneDrive app Report a Problem facility. I encourage all iOS device users who utilise OneDrive to do the same - feel free to copy and paste. 

“Because of changes made by both Apple and Microsoft it is no longer possible to write to OneDrive via the Save to Files option in iOS. Sharing and selecting the OneDrive app still works but this is not always available e.g. if one wants to move a file from iCloud Drive to OneDrive utilising the Files app. 

I have spoken to Apple and they claim that the changes (first introduced in iOS 14.4.1) were based in security and, as such, they will not reverse the changes. So, it is up to Microsoft to update OneDrive to allow write authentication via the iOS Save to Files function. 

Can this please be done ASAP for the millions of iOS device users that also use OneDrive?

Feel free to contact me for more information.”

CreaghW - Thank you very much for your continued work on this issue!  I reported the problem this AM to Microsoft via the OneDrive App "Report A Problem".  I outlined what you had noted in your response, as well as added additional information noting that the "Sharing" workaround is not a viable substitute for fixing the "Save to File" problem.  The Sharing workaround does not allow you to save a file to a Subfolder within the OneDrive File folder and it does not allow you to rename the file before saving it.  I utilize many subfolders within my OneDrive Files Folder, thus the current workaround is costing me much valuable time having to "move things around" and rename them once they are in OneDrive.  

Please keep us posted on any further developments on your end and I will do the same.

I wrote this on the support survey feedback request from Apple:

“Apple made changes that effect EVERY single iOS device in the world running 14.4.1/2, preventing writing to OneDrive via the Save to Files feature in iOS and refuse to do anything about it, not even speak to Microsoft about it.

A change of this nature should require notification to all 3rd developers to allow them to make appropriate changes on their end but it appears that millions of Apple and OneDrive users do not matter in the face of childish competition between two of the largest companies in the world.”

—-

I’d like to state further, publicly, that I love the Apple ecosystem but Apple (like the rest) just get blinded by profit. How many people just unquestionably pay for more iCloud space when the default 5Gb gets used up? Because I have good technical knowledge, I have continued to manage to stay within this 5Gb for many years but it does really take understanding how some things work.

With a subscription to Office/Microsoft 365 you get a whopping 1Tb. I’m sure many Apple device owners are fine paying the few dollars per month to ensure that they always have the latest version of Office across all their devices (PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone...), especially when you get 1Tb included, essentially making the choice for people to consolidate on OneDrive and just utilise iCloud for backup of their devices - though it requires a little extra management of photos. It is nothing but sheer greed of Apple to not offer a decent amount of storage with the purchase of their expensive devices and just sit back and let people who aren’t quite so tech savvy (most, when it comes to really understanding how to manage photos and storage), especially when you consider the usual loyalty of Apple customers who quite often upgrade their devices diligently when they can afford it. Now they’re all caught in a greed war between two tech giants who forget that it’s us, their customers, who actually line their pockets.

Agree!  I could not have said it better.