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So does this mean the end of apps like ES File Explorer?[1] I use that app all the time to manage downloaded files and to transfer local files to my NAS / S3 bu
by aclelland 8y ago
So does this mean the end of apps like ES File Explorer?[1] I use that app all the time to manage downloaded files and to transfer local files to my NAS / S3 buckets it'd be a very sad day when that sort of functionality becomes impossible.
[1]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en_GB https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.a...
- pengstrom 8y agoRegarding ES File Explorer: I used it heavily years ago, but with every new version I felt it became scrummier and sleazier and was not comfortable to continue, even with its impressive features. Is the paid version much better?
- ljcn 8y agoGhost Commander and Total Commander are good alternatives. The former is on F-Droid.
- sorenjan 8y agoI also used ES before it was sold, and I've heard nothing but bad things about it since. I find Solid Explorer to be a much better option now. Mixplorer is good too, and free. Cx File Explorer looks good too, but I haven't tried it.
- aclelland 8y agoYeah, I had almost stopped using the free version because of the user-hostile UX they kept pushing but they had a sale a few years ago and I picked it up then. It's like a completely different app, all the cruft like ads and pushing other apps is completely gone. You're just left with all the good stuff and those features generally all work well.
- bloopernova 8y agoI recommend X-Plore https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatg... (I am not affiliated with the creator) I like its column-based view of the filesystem, and the wifi server that you can open a web browser to and upload files from your laptop/desktop. Some of the features are paid, but frankly $5 for an app really doesn't bother me much as I try to donate at least that to the different open source projects I use a lot.
- PascLeRasc 8y agoI'm sure there are a lot of useful technical features, but I can't get past that UI. That has to be one of the ugliest app layouts I've ever seen [1]. There's just so many unnecessary elements. [1] https://lh3.ggpht.com/-aGrlHAFIEPCk-tusiw91bH6sn-YfzS5pNo-ngVICROBZITt32bfIFgYFf6S_-iJiA=w720-h310-rw https://lh3.ggpht.com/-aGrlHAFIEPCk-tusiw91bH6sn-YfzS5pNo-ng...
- bloopernova 8y agoFor sure, it can definitely be described as "quirky". My initial reaction was much the same as yours. That said, once I tried copying/moving files around, I was sold on the 2-column layout. I recently got a new phone, which meant moving my custom ringtones and notification sounds to their correct locations. With Google Drive I downloaded them, then using X-Plore I moved them to the ~/Notifications and ~/Ringtones folders. That was fairly easy to do - you find the destination in the right hand column, then swipe back to the left column, select the files for moving, then choose copy/move. It's kind of like the column mode in Finder on OS X, which I really wish I had on Windows 10.
- AdmiralAsshat 8y agoI fled ES File Explorer years ago after they started filling it with adware bloat.[0][1] I've used Amaze File Manager ever since, and I have no complaints.[2] [0]https://www.androidpolice.com/2015/11/28/after-adding-a-bunch-of-bloat-to-the-free-app-es-file-explorers-3-pro-version-will-take-some-of-it-it-away/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2015/11/28/after-adding-a-bunc... [1]https://www.androidpolice.com/2016/05/10/es-file-explorer-updated-with-super-shady-speed-charging-adware/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2016/05/10/es-file-explorer-up... [2]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amaze.filemanager https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amaze.file...
- _zg4q 8y agoTo everyone looking for a decent file manager for Android, please check out MiXplorer[0]. I just discovered it and was immediately impressed with it's features and functionality. Some of my favorite native features: * Packing/unpacking 7z and Zip/Zip64 (splitted-encrypted), TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, WIM, Lizard, LZ4, LZ5, Zstandard. * Root access for all advanced operations. * SAMBA, FTP, SFTP, WEBDAV supported as well. * Intuitive, unlimited tabbed browsing. * Very pleasing, nice-looking, easy to use interface (I know this is silly, but as much as I like Total Commander which is good I always felt it's interface was a little clunky.) * Developer is very active and receptive to feedback. Give it a try, it's free on XDA with a paid version on the Play Store[1] with at the time of writing, only 5 and 4 star reviews. [0] https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1523691 https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1523691 [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mixplorer.silver https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mixplorer....
- warmwaffles 8y agoLove this file explorer. I bought the paid version to support the dev.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y agoI got rid of it because of the spammy notifications. The native file manager from Oreo is good enough for basic operations now.
- Pxtl 8y agoI went through all the file explorer type things, and while none of them are as good as Old ES File Explorer, I've found that the ASUS ZenUI File Manager is by far the best (I know, surprising that ZenUI bundled app wins, right?)
- pmontra 8y agoI gave up on ES File Explorer many years ago. I don't remember what I used in between (file explorers are kind of commodities) but I'm using this now https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-File-Manager https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-File-Manager I think I could build it from source but I don't have an Android dev environment anymore so I installed the app from Google Play. It asks surprisingly few permissions: read/modify/delete content on the SD card and access to fingerprint hardware.
- jpindar 8y agoI've tried a few file managers and settled on Total Commander.
- novaleaf 8y agoi moved to Total Commander a few years ago, very happy with it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ghisler.android.TotalCommander https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ghisler.an...
- kstenerud 8y agoI bought the paid version before it was bought out. When I installed the free version on a friend's phone at a later date, it was unrecognizable. The paid version still looks like the old version, and works well.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- xorcist 8y agoNot really. Amaze is a decent file manager, follows material design, free/open source and available on F-droid. It also includes an ftpd so it's pretty easy to connect to it even from computers you can't install stuff on.
- gnomewascool 8y agoNot necessarily. File explorers (and other apps) can still ask the user for access to specific files and folders (including the storage "root "), via the Storage Access Framework (SAF), which gives the app a sort-of-like-a-file-but-not-quite handle on the files and folders within the given tree. That handle is probably good-enough for basic file management operations, like copying, moving or renaming files, but (from what I've read) if you want to, say, jump to the middle of a file, such as to read a specific file contained in the archive or seek to a specific position in a music/video file, it becomes very inefficient. If you want to read/write from a database (and need that database to be easily shared between different apps), then you also have a problem. If you use an app like Termux, which exposes the file system to standard unix utilities, and want to directly manage all your files with them, you're pretty much out of options.
- geofft 8y agoWhy doesn't the file proxy class have a seek or read-with-offset RPC operation instead of just handing you a stream of bytes? This isn't particularly novel for remote-ish file storage (SCSI supports this, NFS supports this, etc.) Re Termux, I actively don't want any app on my phone to have direct access to the rest of the files on my phone. The fact that desktop terminal apps (cmd.exe, Terminal.app, xterm, etc.) require this access is the root cause of a bunch of security difficulties in desktop OSes that are impossible to solve in a satisfying way. I want a little workspace (potentially multiple workspaces) for stuff where a terminal is the right way to work, but I don't want the ability for any app to cd into my Signal storage directory or my email client config directory and edit files there. As a result, I use iOS. If Android will get me the same security design plus the ability to call fork() so Termux works, I'd consider switching - it sounds like that's what they're doing.
- gnomewascool 8y ago> I want a little workspace (potentially multiple workspaces) for stuff where a terminal is the right way to work, If you don't give Termux the "storage" permission, then this is exactly how it works now. > Signal storage directory Signal stores its data in its private app directory, which is not exposed to either any other apps, even if you give them the "storage" permission, or to the user via MTP. The only exception is the optional back-up, which is stored (encrypted!) in the public app directory (accessible to MTP and apps having the "storage" permission), so that you can copy it to your next phone. (AFAIK Signal on iOS doesn't give you this option...). > email client config directory K-9 mail also stores its data in its private app directory. OTOH files that are not super-private, like books, audiobooks, music, maps or flashcards can be stored where they're easily accessible, manageable and processable by multiple applications (but even then, only applications that I grant the requisite permission).