Search for “best WebDAV app iPhone” and you get App Store listings and blog posts from 2012. That doesn’t help when you need to decide today which app connects your iPhone to your Nextcloud, your Synology NAS or your Hetzner Storage Box. We compared twelve apps using App Store data from November 7, 2026: pricing model, privacy label, streaming, photo backup, certificates, iPad and Mac versions. One of them is ours; we’ll tell you where it leads and where it doesn’t.
The short version
- You need an app: Apple’s Files app only speaks SMB. WebDAV isn’t an option under “Connect to Server”.
- One-time purchases still exist: FileBrowser Professional ($14.99), FE File Explorer ($4.99) and WebDAV Nav+ ($3.99) cost once and declare “Data Not Collected” in the App Store.
- Subscription trap: Documents by Readdle is free until you need Plus, which the store text puts at $9.99 a month. GoodReader costs $6.99 plus a Pro Pack subscription.
- Tracking: WebDAV Manager, WebDAV Navigator and My WebDAV declare advertising identifiers in their privacy labels. Seven apps in this comparison carry “Data Not Collected”.
- Stream, search and back up without a middleman: WebDAV Browser is the only WebDAV-only client with AirPlay, Chromecast, text recognition in search and a camera backup that iOS 27 runs in the background. One server is free.
At a glance: which app for whom
View, stream, search and take offline what’s on your NAS, Nextcloud or Storage Box
WebDAV-only client with a player (AirPlay, Chromecast, subtitles), search with text recognition and offline files. One server free, no data collected.
SMB at home, SFTP at your host, S3 in the cloud – all in one app
FileBrowser Professional
$14.99 once, more than 20 connection types, folder sync and camera backup. The Mac app costs extra.
As cheap as possible, several protocols
FE File Explorer
$4.99 once, SMB, WebDAV, SFTP and FTP, AirPlay, no data collected. The video player is basic.
WebDAV only, nothing else
WebDAV Nav+
$3.99 once, streams with range requests, supports client certificates. Sync is manual only.
A movie library with MKV, HEVC and subtitles on your NAS
Infuse
The best player for big libraries. AirPlay, Google Cast and cloud streaming require Pro ($16.99 a year), though.
Nextcloud with share links, Talk and Deck
Nextcloud app
Free, open source, no data collected. Criticized in the forums for years over background upload and Files app integration.
Why the Files app isn’t enough
On a Mac you type a WebDAV address into Finder and you’re in. On an iPhone, the Files app offers only SMB under “Connect to Server”; Apple added that protocol with iOS 13 and hasn’t added anything since. Enter https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/… and you get “There was a problem connecting to the server”. That isn’t a server error, it’s a gap in the system. So you need an app that speaks WebDAV itself – ideally one that does more than list folders. How to get server URL, app password and certificate right is covered in our guide to setting up WebDAV on iPhone and iPad. This article is about the question before that: which app.
The comparison table
Eight apps that connect to any WebDAV server. Where a developer only claims a feature without documenting it, we say so; where we couldn’t verify something, you get a question mark instead of a guess. Prices are from the US App Store on November 7, 2026.
| Criterion | Our appWebDAV BrowserViovenia | DocumentsReaddle | FileBrowser ProStratospherix | FE File ExplorerSkyjos | OwlfilesSkyjos | WebDAV Nav+Schimera | WebDAV ManagerAdam Taguirov | GoodReaderGood.iWare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | one server free; Premium price in the App Store | free; Plus subscription, $9.99 a month per store text | $14.99 once | $4.99 once | free up to 3 connections; Pro $12.99/year or $29.99 once | $3.99 once | free; Premium $4.99 in-app | $6.99 plus Pro Pack from $3.99/month |
| Stream video straight from the server | yesSRT, Picture in Picture, AirPlay, Chromecast | not verified | yesAirPlay, Chromecast, subtitles | yesAirPlay | yessubtitles | yesrange requests, AirPlay | not verified | not verified |
| Offline files | yesmark files individually | partlylocal copies | yesfolder sync | partlyfolder sync per user reports | partlyfolder sync with Pro only | partlymanual only | not verified | yesAuto Sync as add-on purchase |
| Automatic camera backup | yesPremium; iOS 27 uploads in the background | not verified | yesup to two destinations | not verified | yes | no | not verified | not verified |
| iPad features | yessidebar, multiple windows, keyboard | partlyiPad layout | yesSplit View, drag and drop | yesmultiple windows | yesmultiple windows | not verified | not verified | yesmultiple windows |
| Mac version | yesnative Mac app, same purchase | partlyiOS app on Apple silicon Macs | partlyseparate Mac app, $14.99 extra | partlyseparate Mac app, extra charge | yessame purchase | no | partlyiOS app on Apple silicon Macs | partlyiOS app on Apple silicon Macs |
| Self-signed certificates | yesremembered, alarm on change, own CA | not verified | not verified | not verified | not verified | partlyclient certificates | not verified | not verified |
| Privacy label | Data Not Collected | Linked to you: contact info, usage | Data Not Collected | Data Not Collected | Linked to you: identifiers | Not linked: identifiers, diagnostics | Linked to you, third-party advertising | Not linked: usage, diagnostics |
| Minimum iOS | 26 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 17.6 |
| Languages | 14 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 1 (English) |
Legend:yespartlynonot verified
As of November 7, 2026, US App Store and developer websites. Privacy label = the “App Privacy” section in the store, declared by the developer.
What stands out: the three one-time-purchase apps FileBrowser Professional, FE File Explorer and WebDAV Nav+ have been in the store for over ten years, are still maintained and never switched to subscriptions. Documents did exactly that and collects one-star reviews for it (“Without the subscription it’s no longer useful to me”, October 2026). And self-signed certificates, the second most common reason NAS connections fail, are documented by nobody but us.
What the apps cost
The one-time purchases are straightforward. It gets interesting with subscriptions: Owlfiles is free until you need a fourth connection or folder sync; Documents is free until you tap a Plus feature. The chart shows what the first year costs if you want the full version.
- Nextcloud
- $0
- WebDAV Browser (one server)
- $0, Premium in the App Store
- WebDAV Nav+
- $3.99 once
- FE File Explorer
- $4.99 once
- PhotoSync
- $5.99 – $12.48
- Owlfiles Pro
- $12.99 – $29.99
- FileBrowser Professional
- $14.99 once
- Infuse Pro
- $16.99/year
- GoodReader + Pro Pack
- $6.99 – $31.98
- Documents Plus
- $49.99 – $119.88/year
Documents Plus: $49.99 on the yearly plan, $9.99 a month per store text when paid monthly. GoodReader: $6.99 purchase plus Pro Pack $24.99 a year. Owlfiles Pro: $12.99 a year or $29.99 once. PhotoSync: Pro $5.99 once, Premium $6.49 a year. Nextcloud and ownCloud are free.
Our take: a subscription is fair when something keeps being delivered. For us that’s text recognition, Apple Intelligence answers and camera backup, which need work with every iOS release. That’s why everything a server needs day to day is free in WebDAV Browser: streaming, search, offline files, uploads. Premium pays for more servers and the features that compute on your device.
Privacy labels: who collects what
Since 2020 every developer has to declare in the App Store which data their app collects. For a file manager that knows your server credentials, that’s the most important line on the whole store page – and it shows up in none of the comparisons we found.
| Label | Apps |
|---|---|
| Data Not Collected | FileBrowser, FileBrowser Professional, FE File Explorer, Nextcloud, ownCloud, nPlayer, WebDAV Browser |
| Not linked to you (diagnostics, usage) | GoodReader, Infuse, Synology Drive, VLC, PhotoSync |
| Not linked, but advertising identifier for third parties | WebDAV Navigator (free version), My WebDAV |
| Linked to you | Documents (contact info, usage), Owlfiles (identifiers), WebDAV Manager (identifiers, usage, purchases – for third-party advertising, plus location) |
Two things follow: the free “WebDAV” apps at the top of store search are funded by advertising with a device identifier. And Owlfiles declares linked identifiers although the developer’s privacy policy promises “no analytics”. We can only quote the label, not decide which is right.
The apps one by one
Documents by Readdle is the best-known file manager in the store, with over 600,000 ratings in the US alone. It imports from WebDAV, cloud services and nearby devices, scans with text recognition and plays local media. Whether it streams video straight from a WebDAV server or backs up photos automatically, Readdle doesn’t document. The catch is the model: Plus subscription, VPN upsell and, since 2026, in-app ads for AI features, which is exactly what the latest reviews complain about. Privacy label: contact info and usage data linked to you.
FileBrowser Professional by Stratospherix is the Swiss army knife: SMB 1 through 3, SFTP, FTP, S3-compatible storage, OneDrive, Google Drive, Nextcloud, WebDAV. Plus streaming with AirPlay and Chromecast, two-way folder sync, camera backup to up to two destinations, and a Files app entry. $14.99 once, no data collected. Limits from the reviews: WebDAV with two-factor accounts at some hosts fails, large syncs abort, HEVC videos stay black. The Mac app “FileBrowser Pro” costs another $14.99.
FE File Explorer by Skyjos is the budget all-rounder: $4.99 once for SMB, WebDAV, SFTP, FTP and cloud services, multiple windows on iPad, AirPlay, no data collected. The video player is spartan, and Shortcuts for saving to a WebDAV server are missing according to a July 2026 review. The Mac app is sold separately.
Owlfiles, also by Skyjos, is the free sibling with a subscription: three connections free, then Pro for $12.99 a year or $29.99 once. It also speaks NFS and S3, streams with subtitles, backs up photos automatically and runs on the Mac as a universal app. Privacy label: linked identifiers.
WebDAV Nav+ by Schimera is the purist: WebDAV only, $3.99 once, streaming explicitly via range requests, AirPlay, client certificates, Bonjour discovery of servers on your network. Sync is manual, there’s no camera backup and no Mac app. The free variant WebDAV Navigator is funded by advertising with a device identifier.
WebDAV Manager ranks high in store search for “WebDAV”. Free with a $4.99 Premium purchase, iOS 17, 15 languages, version 3.0 from October 2026. The developer barely documents what the app can do technically; the privacy label is the most extensive in this comparison: identifiers, usage data and purchases linked to you for third-party advertising, plus location and user content. For an app that manages your server passwords, that’s a dealbreaker.
GoodReader has been the PDF classic since 2010 and speaks WebDAV, SMB, AFP, SFTP and FTP on the side. $6.99 purchase plus a Pro Pack subscription for features like Auto Sync, English only. Reviews from summer 2026 complain about ads despite having paid. As a WebDAV client it’s a bonus on top of the PDF editor, not the other way around.
WebDAV Browser: one server, everything included
We built WebDAV Browser because something was missing in all the others: the streaming, the certificate handling, the search, or a business model without tracking. What sets it apart from the other seven:
- Streaming instead of downloading. Videos start straight from the server, with SRT subtitles, Picture in Picture and resume – via AirPlay on Apple TV, via Chromecast on your TV. Your credentials stay on the device.
- Search that reads inside scans. One index across all your servers; on-device text recognition finds text in scans, images and PDFs, and results can show up in Spotlight. With Apple Intelligence you ask your documents questions and get answers with sources – none of it leaves the iPhone.
- Camera backup that iOS 27 takes over. Since version 1.4 the system uploads new photos and videos on its own, even when the app is closed; failed uploads retry automatically. Up to ten backups with their own folders, split by kind or album, every file verified on the server.
- Certificates with a memory. Self-signed NAS certificates are pinned by fingerprint on first connect, and the app raises an alarm if one changes. Since 1.4 it also supports your own certificate authority, client certificates, Digest and NTLM sign-in.
- Data Not Collected. Passwords live only in iCloud Keychain, there’s no tracking and no servers of ours in between.
- iPad and Mac at no extra charge. Sidebar, multiple windows, drag and drop and keyboard shortcuts on iPad; a native Mac app for macOS 15 or later in the same purchase.
And the honest other side: the app speaks WebDAV only, no SMB, no SFTP. It doesn’t appear as a location in the Files app; instead there’s the share sheet, folder sync from the Files app and Shortcuts. It requires iOS 26. And camera backup, folder sync, asking your documents and duplicate cleanup belong to Premium; free are one server connection, streaming, search with text recognition for up to 5,000 files per server, 20 offline files and uploads up to 500 MB.
Vendor apps and players: when they’re the better choice
Not every app in store search is a WebDAV client. The server vendors’ apps only talk to their own systems, and players only play – but in their niche they’re often the right pick.
| App | What it is | Price | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | Client for Nextcloud servers only | free, open source | Share links, end-to-end encryption, offline, photo upload; no data collected | Background upload and Files integration have been forum topics for years; iOS 26 bug in November 2025 |
| ownCloud | Client for ownCloud and oCIS only | free, one-time purchases $1.99–$2.99 | Certificate tracking with warnings on change, offline-first, search | Files app integration unreliable per reviews |
| Synology DS file | Client for DSM | free | Photo backup, offline files | Last update September 2025, 2.8 stars; streaming broken per a recent review |
| Synology Drive | Client for Synology Drive Server | free | Sync tasks, folder in the Files app, photo backup | Needs Drive Server 3.0.2 or later; limited offline use without the NAS |
| Qfile Pro | Client for QNAP NAS | free | Auto upload, offline, streaming | Background only with location services; weak search per reviews |
| Infuse | Video player with library | free; Pro $16.99/year or $99.99 | MKV, HEVC, DTS, every subtitle format, WebDAV as a source | AirPlay, Google Cast and cloud streaming only with Pro |
| nPlayer | Video player | $4.99 once | WebDAV, SMB, NFS, Chromecast, no data collected | Last update February 2025, Mac app sold separately |
| PhotoSync | Photo transfer | free in low quality; Pro $5.99 once | Backup via geofence or while charging to WebDAV, SMB, SFTP | Background run limited to three minutes, unreliable per reviews |
| VLC | Video player | free, open source | SMB, NFS, SFTP, Chromecast, AirPlay | WebDAV mentioned neither on the website nor in the store |
Rule of thumb: if you use Nextcloud with shares and Talk, take the Nextcloud app – and a WebDAV client alongside it when photo upload lets you down. If you have a movie collection with exotic codecs, take Infuse. For everything in between – documents, scans, photos and videos on a NAS or a Storage Box – a real WebDAV client is the better choice because it doesn’t tie you to one vendor.
Top tip
Before you buy an app, check three things on its store page: the date of the last update (older than a year means the next iOS version may break it), the “App Privacy” section, and the list of in-app purchases. “Free” with twelve in-app purchases is a subscription model, not a free app.
How to decide
- Do you need SMB at home or SFTP at your host? Then FileBrowser Professional (complete) or FE File Explorer (cheap).
- Is it about videos, photos, scans and documents on WebDAV storage? Then WebDAV Browser – streaming, search with text recognition and camera backup, one server free.
- Do you want WebDAV only for little money? WebDAV Nav+.
- Is your server a Nextcloud with shares? The official app, plus a WebDAV client for what it doesn’t do well.
- Movies only? Infuse.
Whatever you pick, avoid free apps with an advertising identifier in their privacy label. Your server passwords don’t belong in an app that’s funded by tracking.
Frequently asked questions
Can the iOS Files app connect to WebDAV?
No. Under “Connect to Server” the Files app only offers SMB; a WebDAV address returns a connection error. WebDAV servers show up in Files only when an installed app provides them through a File Provider extension – FileBrowser, FE File Explorer, Owlfiles and WebDAV Nav+ do that.
Which WebDAV app for iPhone is free?
Without ads and without tracking: WebDAV Browser with one server connection (streaming, search and offline files included), Owlfiles with up to three connections, and the vendor apps from Nextcloud, ownCloud, Synology and QNAP for their own servers. WebDAV Navigator and WebDAV Manager are free too, but declare advertising identifiers in their privacy labels.
One-time purchase or subscription – what’s common for WebDAV apps?
Both. FileBrowser Professional ($14.99), FE File Explorer ($4.99) and WebDAV Nav+ ($3.99) cost once. Documents, Owlfiles, GoodReader and Infuse use subscriptions or add-on purchases for the full version. WebDAV Browser is free with one server and offers Premium as a subscription for more servers and the features that compute on your device.
Which app streams videos from a NAS without downloading them?
WebDAV Browser, WebDAV Nav+, FileBrowser Professional, FE File Explorer and Owlfiles stream straight from the WebDAV server; WebDAV Nav+ and WebDAV Browser explicitly mention range requests. For large movie libraries with MKV and HEVC, Infuse is the strongest player, but AirPlay and Google Cast require Pro there.
Which app backs up iPhone photos to a NAS automatically?
FileBrowser Professional, Owlfiles, PhotoSync, the vendor apps from Nextcloud, ownCloud, Synology and QNAP, and WebDAV Browser (Premium). The difference is the background: most apps need to be opened regularly; since version 1.4 WebDAV Browser hands uploads to iOS 27, which finishes them even when the app is closed.
Does WebDAV on iPhone work with a self-signed certificate?
Only if the app explicitly supports it. iOS rejects self-signed certificates by default. WebDAV Browser remembers the certificate on first connect and warns about changes; ownCloud does something similar for its own server. For all other apps in this comparison the handling isn’t documented – the safest route is a real certificate anyway, for example via Let’s Encrypt straight from DSM.