So, you have an amazing video on your iPhone that you can't wait to share with your friends? Well, if it's larger than 25 megabytes, which most videos of any substance are, then you can forget about sending it via email.
And good luck sending a video that's longer than about three and a half minutes via iMessage or text, either: you're almost sure to get a "Message Not Delivered" notification there.
Fortunately, there are several ways to send large videos from your iPhone that work around these limitations. And the simplest of all is a built-in feature you've surely heard of called AirDrop, which has no file size limit.
How to send large videos from an iPhone
Sending large videos via AirDrop
You can send large files through AirDrop, which transmits data over Bluetooth. They'll need to be connected to iCloud, and have Bluetooth turned on.
1. Make sure the intended recipient is within a dozen feet or so of your phone (and that they have AirDrop enabled in their settings), then open the photo app and select the video to be sent.
2. Tap the share icon on the bottom left corner of the screen (it's a box with an upward facing arrow coming out of it).
3. In the AirDrop section, tap the name of the intended recipient. Once they confirm, the sending will commence.
Send large videos via iCloud
You can also use Mail Drop, another Apple program, to send large files over iCloud.
1. From the Photos app, select the video to be sent, then tap the share icon.
2. Tap the mail icon, and wait while your phone prepares the video.
3. Compose and send your email, then wait for a pop-up window saying, in part, "This attachment may be too large," and offering Mail Drop as an option. Tap "Use Mail Drop" to share the video via iCloud. The recipient can download it from the cloud shortly.
Share large videos on iPhone using Google Drive
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage system that you can access from your phone or computer. Once you upload a file to it, you can share that file to anyone with an email address.
1. Launch (or download and then launch) the Google Drive app on your phone.
2. Tap the colorful plus (+) icon in the bottom-right corner of the app.
3. Tap "Upload" on the popup menu, then hit "Photos and Videos."
4. Select the video to be uploaded and commence the process.
5. Once the video is uploaded, find it and tap the three dots next to it.
6. In the menu that opens, tap "Share."
7. In the field that says "People" at the top of the page, enter in any email you want to send the file to.
You can now go to the video in your Drive and share it with whomever you choose.
Read more coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:
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How to download files onto your iPhone, and where to find and open those files later
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How to recover deleted photos from your iPhone, through the Photos app, cloud storage services, and more
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How to backup your iPhone to iCloud, your computer, or an external hard drive
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How to easily delete all the photos on your iPhone at once
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