Automate copying/back up all video and pictures taken - Moto X Q&A

I have a Moto X with Republic Wireless 4.2.2 and am wondering how I automate the following...
Anytime I shoot a video or take a picture on the phone I would like to have the phone automatically make a copy of the file to a different (specific) directory on the phone for backup purposes. I would also like to know if I can do this without rooting. I'm pretty sure I can make a script or something to do it, I just don't know how I would have it act upon seeing a new file created. Also I would prefer it operate in the background without any notifications.
Thanks

EntityPacket said:
I have a Moto X with Republic Wireless 4.2.2 and am wondering how I automate the following...
Anytime I shoot a video or take a picture on the phone I would like to have the phone automatically make a copy of the file to a different (specific) directory on the phone for backup purposes. I would also like to know if I can do this without rooting. I'm pretty sure I can make a script or something to do it, I just don't know how I would have it act upon seeing a new file created. Also I would prefer it operate in the background without any notifications.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure how to do that but you can always backup to google +. It won't share the images unless you ask it to. I've found it quite useful for a phone that only has 16gb of storage.

brian Marshall said:
I'm not sure how to do that but you can always backup to google +. It won't share the images unless you ask it to. I've found it quite useful for a phone that only has 16gb of storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I'm not sure having two copies of an image or video on the same device gives you any real redundancy. However letting them sync with G+ gives you a reliable backup.

Why would you backup the same image or video onto the same device? All you're doing is using more storage, of which is limited.

Thanks guys but I want to do what I said specifically. Nothing more, nothing less. The automated part is optional. I would be fine with having to hit an icon to kick off the process.

EntityPacket said:
Thanks guys but I want to do what I said specifically. Nothing more, nothing less. The automated part is optional. I would be fine with having to hit an icon to kick off the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use rsync to do this. Android doesn't come with it, but you can install it by following instructions here: http://linux.wxs.ro/2011/08/05/rsync-your-android/. There's probably also apps in the play store that provide rsync.
'rsync -a --delete /src/ /dest/' will keep the directory /dest/ in sync with /src/
create a shell script with that in it, and you should be able to schedule it using tasker, or there are apps out there to create icons for shell scripts.

Thanks that's more what I'm looking for. Would that require rooting the phone?

Yeah....I don't get it. 2 sets of the same pics on the same drive is no fail safe at all. If you have a problem where you can't access the regular gallery stored pics, I doubt you'll be accessing the other folder either. Seems pointless?
Are you sure what you want to do is really what your trying to do?
Flashing roms or whatever won't wipe your pics by accident. And if for some strange reason your pics get wiped, chances are your backup pics will get wiped at the same time, since they are both on sd card.
Plus you'll have 2 sets in your gallery. Unless they are put in a backup apps file....which again...will be wiped along with your pics if something happens to your sd card folder.
Makes no sense.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

EntityPacket said:
Thanks that's more what I'm looking for. Would that require rooting the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The instructions indicate that you should copy it to /system/xbin/ and set the permissions to allow execute access. In order to be able to write to that directory you will need root.
In order to execute the command, you will not need root access. Assuming you're copying to someplace you have write access to.
I haven't tried this, but there's a "busybox non-root app" in the play store that contains rsync. You should be able to install that, and then you'll have access to rsync.

Look at bittorrent sync. You set it up to back up a specific folder or folders on your phone and using torrent technology, you can have it back up to your PC. I use it for exactly this purpose. All my photos of my kids and videos are automatically backed up to an external hard drive.

Related

Uninstall of Apps does not remove all related files!

I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
May be the same answer as installers written for windows. If the developer didn't do a good job with cleanup, you get trash leftover you need to manually clean.
i agree with both above. i found devs dont do good with uninstalling and leaving folders left behind, i wonder if there is an app that clears them?
The best way is to realize what should and shouldn't be there and manually take care of it. To write an application to clean up after 50,000+ other applications that are messy. Would be a programming nightmare and I would not want to support such an application.
or someone could make some sort of app similar to those on pc, montors what and where files are being installed to so if uninstall doesnt take em out alteast you know where to look exactly.
Edit: better yet, the app itself can uninstall everything on the users request! now that would be an app i wouldnt mind paying a good buck for.
I agree, apps itself should uninstall everything with user consent.
Also I don't think a lot of us mind taking the manual route as long as we know what to delete ..
Any way to find out what files belong to what apps?.... or is it the same as on any unix/linux platform.
thats what i was trying to say. windows has a simple app that makes a txt file of all files being installed including registery. launch the app to monitor first, install like normal. in this case, the app itself will make a database of the app then the user can use that app to delete everything catched that was installed. that would be very nice. i find myself doing google search to see where files came from and when i see i uninstalled that i have to delete it myself. this would save me lots of time. i dont really worry about it though i have a list of apps i must install and with all the froyo i keep wiping the os to try new roms. until everything is stable ill worry then but for now im good.
garryvirdi said:
I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mean the directories on the sd card?
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my Nexus One
garryvirdi said:
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
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Sent from my Nexus One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have data that could be reused if you decide to use the app again. Settings, preferences, keys, notes, photos etc..
I do hope that the default folder for apps defaults to something like /sdcard/appdata/ instead of the root folder /sdcard/ (unless explicitly set)

[Q] Change application external write locations

I have been wondering if it is possible to modify where programs store their external data on the SD card, but have not been able to find an answer yet.
Example...
I have the program "FolderOrganizer" and it stores it's backup data to /mnt/sdcard/FolderOrganizer. Now what I would like to do is to clean up my SD card a bit by moving all my program saves to the /mnt/sdcard/Android/xxxxx folders. This way I know where all my backups, skins and etc are located at while keeping my file structure clean.
I have been using Root Explorer to poke around and see if I can find any indication of where these programs set their external save directories at (xml files etc), but I have not been able to figure it out yet.
I bet it is something easy that I am just missing. Can anyone help out or point me in the right direction?
djstaid said:
I have been wondering if it is possible to modify where programs store their external data on the SD card, but have not been able to find an answer yet.
Example...
I have the program "FolderOrganizer" and it stores it's backup data to /mnt/sdcard/FolderOrganizer. Now what I would like to do is to clean up my SD card a bit by moving all my program saves to the /mnt/sdcard/Android/xxxxx folders. This way I know where all my backups, skins and etc are located at while keeping my file structure clean.
I have been using Root Explorer to poke around and see if I can find any indication of where these programs set their external save directories at (xml files etc), but I have not been able to figure it out yet.
I bet it is something easy that I am just missing. Can anyone help out or point me in the right direction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... it's not something you're just missing... there is no standard and as a result it's almost impossible to achieve what you're aiming for. I too wish for the same, everything simply under <sdcard>/android/ ...
Some apps are hard coded in their code, some allow the user to select, some store in /data/data/xxx/shared_prefs/ - it's a lottery.
djmcnz said:
No... it's not something you're just missing... there is no standard and as a result it's almost impossible to achieve what you're aiming for. I too wish for the same, everything simply under <sdcard>/android/ ...
Some apps are hard coded in their code, some allow the user to select, some store in /data/data/xxx/shared_prefs/ - it's a lottery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. That is a bummer though, I was really hoping to be able to tell everything where to write to. I currently have a ext4 partition on my SD and that is where all my apps install to... if I can't tell the apps where to save on my SD partition, it would be nice to at least move it all to the ext4 partition.
There is crap all over on my SD card and my OCD is starting to kick in!
Yeah, I know the SD card can get messy... it's really stupid and annoying... Unfortunately, there is no SD card data saving guidelines for developers... and writing to an ext partition is completely out of scope for market apps because not all users have ext partitions... it would be nice, though, to have apps save data under one common folder... say /sdcard/data or /sdcard/Android... maybe we need to petition developers or Google!!
I agree with the saving to and ext partition. I just think it is silly that you can't at least specify a directory to save external data. I know some apps allow this, but I guess that if Google forced a change then everyone would have to change their code.
I wonder what would happen if you took out your SD and tried running those apps. Where would they write to then?
djstaid said:
I agree with the saving to and ext partition. I just think it is silly that you can't at least specify a directory to save external data. I know some apps allow this, but I guess that if Google forced a change then everyone would have to change their code.
I wonder what would happen if you took out your SD and tried running those apps. Where would they write to then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps that require the sdcard for storage will usually either give an error when run without an sdcard or just not work at all.
I am also pretty anal about my storage and neatness, and I have given up on my sdcard being organized. What I have done is create folders with capital first letters to bring them to the top of the listing when browsing by default sort, at least I can find what I want easily without sifting through all the data folders..
That is pretty much what I have done. I guess it it better than nothing. If I knew more about programming I would try and build something to look for and modify those paths. I just never really understood/got into the whole programming thing... that is why I ended up in Infrastructure. lol
djstaid said:
That is pretty much what I have done. I guess it it better than nothing. If I knew more about programming I would try and build something to look for and modify those paths. I just never really understood/got into the whole programming thing... that is why I ended up in Infrastructure. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you there, long time (20+ years) building and repairing pcs, 0- years programming.
As far as building something to modify the paths used by programs accessing the sdcard in Android, that seems a nearly impossible feat. Each program would have to be modified, requiring reverse-coding (baksmali) each one individually, modifying the code, and recompiling (smali). This would also require re-signing and reinstalling each application, making updating from the market impossible, and would take a lot of work.
Due to the fact that applications are "sandboxed" (so to speak) in Android, I wouldn't think there was a global %externaldata% path variable that can be modified from /mnt/sdcard to /mnt/sdcard/Android, I am pretty sure that path is set in each application.
Though, I could be wrong. However, it is worth noting that if it is a global variable, changing it would result in applications that are already properly coded to use /mnt/sdcard/Android/%appname% or /mnt/sdcard/data%appname% to instead attempt to write the data to /mnt/sdcard/Android/mnt/sdcard/Android/%appname% as they would append their string to the global variable.
I believe, all we can do is petition developers to use a more structured data path in their programs, and learn to live with disorder!
daveid said:
I believe, all we can do is petition developers to use a more structured data path in their programs, and learn to live with disorder!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lmao!
this is true though... at least I know that I am not alone. haha
I am definitely with you all on this. I found this post after having the same epiphany just now. There needs to be more structure to the use of external storage. These little things are what set our OS apart from say, the "forbidden" iphone...
I have actually tried digging into different apps to see where the store locations are set at and have had no luck. I guess if I knew how to program or at least modify that one part of the app I would have more luck.
Problem with that is if I modify something in an app and it gets updated, I would have to do it all over again. I guess that is the gift and curse of having such an open OS. I will post back here if I figure something out though. I have been digging into the Android OS a little more, but I am still having problems understanding how it all works underneath.

[APP][WINDOWS]ZOE Repair Tool

So maybe it's just me, but I've been taken off guard by the wipe features on the HTC One clearing /sdcard along with the usual user data a few times. It's a bit of a struggle to find your "happy place" after remembering a couple minutes too late that the bootloader unlock actually erases the media storage too...so much for that nandroid backup you made just in case
Luckily, these phones come with all sorts of backup options right out of the box - but these (DropBox image backup specifically) have a few "quirks" that don't really work in our favor. One that especially ground my gears was the fact that dropbox doesn't play nice with the ZOE's filename-based groupings. So now those 12 ZOE shots you had now show up as 252 individual files. Neat.
So, since I'm overall a very lazy person it's safe to assume I had little to no interest in manually renaming each and every one of these files to make my Zoe collections work again. Ain't nobody got time for that. That's exactly what I made this tool to do for me, because hastily writing a few lines of code sounded way more appealing than fixing all those files just hitting the delete key.
Now, I can't reiterate enough that I'm really lazy. That being said, this tool is poorly written. I even decided that it was easier to simply disable the ability to minimize it rather than bother messing with a crash bug related to that option. Don't worry though, there's still plenty of ways to make this program crash horribly.
So without further ado: I made a thingy, and I'm sharing this thingy that I made with you. In case you're stupid about backing up your media storage, like me.
DISCLAIMER: I AM AN AWFUL PROGRAMMER AND I PUT VERY LITTLE TIME OR EFFORT INTO THIS. I ALSO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE COAUTHORED THIS WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A BOTTLE OF VODKA. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK, MAKE BACKUPS, AND GENERALLY JUST BE READY FOR DISAPPOINTMENT. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THIS APPLICATION MAY OR MAY NOT DO.
Using this app is pretty simple.
1) Copy your defiled Zoe images to a new folder (I can't promise you that this thing won't screw up, so make sure to work with COPIES of the files!). I didn't trust this with my original backups and neither should you!
2) Open the application and choose the directory that you copied the files to.
3) All the JPG files in that folder will be listed in the upper list, these may or may not be in correct order because the backup function doesn't even name them in a way that always sorts correctly. Focus on one Zoe at a time and use the arrows to put the files from that set in the correct order.
4) Use Ctrl/Shift+Click to select all 20 images from that Zoe's set.
5) Once you've selected 20, the app will try to guess which MP4 file to choose in the box below. This feature is super basic, make sure to double check that it has selected the correct file, correct this selection as necessary.
6) Look in your phone's /DCIM/100media folder to see how high the file numbering goes for the images on your phone. There's a box on the application bottom-right to fill in a number. Type in a number that is NOT already associated with another image on your phone.
7) If everything is selected correctly, the "Rebuild my ZOE" button should become usable. Click it. It should (hopefully) tell you that it has finished working on the selected files.
8) Move the newly renamed IMAGXXXX_ZOEXXX files back onto your phone's internal storage.
9) Rinse and repeat until all your files are renamed appropriately to be recognized as ZOEs.
PS - This application was was written in VB2012 using the .net framework 4.5, if you get errors starting it, make sure you have this framework installed. Source code is available upon request if anyone actually wants to put time into making this suck less, but for me it's "good enough".
Looks very handy.. Thanks
sent from the HTC "one"
Tardeaux said:
I ALSO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE COAUTHORED THIS WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A BOTTLE OF VODKA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry... That little section made me choke! lol You're a funny guy. I can see this being a useful tool though.
Finding this made my day. Thanks man.
Thanks for this, huge time saver! The little preview is a plus to help weed out any accidental inclusions.
I'm glad you guys found this useful
I'm twice as glad that HTC changed the way the Zoes are saved in the new software release :good:

[Q] Whatsapp Backup

Hey,
Has anyone ever looked into how the Whatsapp Backup is stored? It can be used after reinstalling the app, but not after hard resetting/flashing/etc. So it should be stored on the phone, but not the normal isolated storage of the app since I can reinstall it and use the backup then.
Is there special access necessary or could other apps also access (and modify/export) this backup? I'm asking this because I hope to find a way to make a backup that really is useful, I almost only write via whatsapp because SMS cost way more than internet here. Thanks!
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
tfBullet said:
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I din't know files in the isolated storage keep being there after you uninstall the app..
I tried deploying an old Version (1.4) of Whatsapp and it replaced the current one, so it should use the same app id. I didn't find anything in the isolated storage, but the backup is still there when I reinstall it from the store. I'll try launching the deployed app first now.
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
tfBullet said:
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I have no real clue how to do that, the only thing I can is deploying apps and watching their isolated storage thanks!!
they used "messages.sdf" & "contacts.sdf" before, but then at some version they started to migrate this files into a database.. not shure where it gets stored, or if you can access it with simply browsing the IsoStoreage... ill make a quick test project to test out how or if we could access it..
EDIT: actually i was talking **** the .sdf files are already databases, and the data still resides there... and forgot to mention: even if you couldn't see the database files, you should see the user-picture thumbnails that reside in "cphotos/" + some-sha1-hashed-userinfo...
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Coweri said:
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but this is Windows Phone, not android..
@GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Since the data would have been deleted when the old app was removed (and since you can't sideload an app with the same Product ID as an existing Store app), no, that won't work (well, it didn't in WP7; I guess you could try again here; some things are somewhat less secure now than before).
th0mas96 said:
GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for a interop-unlock... thats the way to go in this case.
Until then, you can send your conversations to yourself by mail (option form the context menue)
GoodDayToDie said:
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GoodDayToDie, any news about this Whatsapp backup feature in Windows Phone? Is it possible to utilize this feature as an "ordinary" developer?
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be an explanation. But then the Whatsapp developers could easily offer a full backup, as on other platforms, linked to the phone number or something. Then you could restore the messages even after a phone exchange. But who knows what's in their heads ...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it doesn't seem to be online.. it backups pretty big chats extremely fast with 2 bars of GPRS, so it can't be via internet.. it even backups without connection at all. That's the weird thing.. how are apps even allowed to store files that keep being there after an uninstall?
There are a couple really sneaky ways you could do that; one that comes to mind is creating a fake "image" or "ringtone" or similar, serializing the data to it, and then looking for it the "first" time the app is run after installing. However, I'm definitely more curious now. There are folders which apps can request permissions to write to, but usually that's a trick limited to "second-party" apps (OEMs, etc.) and prohibited for third parties.
I've already looked into the code, as far as i can tell there is no online backup feature. it just stores the conversations in a database.
And to answer yout question schluff: no there is absolutley no way the usual developera to utilize this.
btw: @GoodDayToDie could you provide us the newest WhatsApp XAP (2.11.312.0)?
When I get the chance to extract it of my computer, yeah. It's really hard to get full FS access working these days, so I'm looking into other ways to access the install folders and storage of other Apps.
here you go
edit: I've changed nothing, so it's the whole install folder in this zip file
Thanks for the extraction! Obviously, I can't do anything with it
However, if anyone is interested in this too, in the following versions it seems to backup to the SD card, at least @Nazwzil8 reported so at twitter: https://twitter.com/Nawzil8/status/410486248156172288 he reported a lot about whatsapp, he seems a legit beta tester.

[Q] File manager officially confirmed?

I don't know if anyone voted for new features for WP8, but if you did, you should get mail from admins that file manager is now available.
Check it here:
http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/f...ons/3365632-add-file-manager-to-windows-phone
Also I've got mail for disabling auto rotation:
http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/f...tions/suggestions/2282917-disable-auto-rotate
Anyone know what is all that about? If it's on some new update, it wouldn't say it's available now.
head0 said:
I don't know if anyone voted for new features for WP8, but if you did, you should get mail from admins that file manager is now available.
Check it here:
http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/f...ons/3365632-add-file-manager-to-windows-phone
Also I've got mail for disabling auto rotation:
http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/f...tions/suggestions/2282917-disable-auto-rotate
Anyone know what is all that about? If it's on some new update, it wouldn't say it's available now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news.
In addition to the update on uservoice (http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/file-manager-coming-to-windows-phone-8-2-12-2013/)
there is a report that it will be coming in WP8.1 in Q2 2014 http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/file-manager-coming-to-windows-phone-8-2-12-2013/
I'm on android but I will definitely check back on WP when this happens.
CSMR said:
Great news.
In addition to the update on uservoice (http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/file-manager-coming-to-windows-phone-8-2-12-2013/)
there is a report that it will be coming in WP8.1 in Q2 2014 http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/file-manager-coming-to-windows-phone-8-2-12-2013/
I'm on android but I will definitely check back on WP when this happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what you gonna do with the jpg file, move/copy where if only the hubs can open it? Useless feature.
djtonka said:
And what you gonna do with the jpg file, move/copy where if only the hubs can open it? Useless feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If MS implemented this feature so that the file manager would only show "hubs" and only allow you to move things in folders within these hubs, they would have to be real idiots.
A file manager means having user documents accessible by programs. Pretty much if you have one, you have the other. And ordinary people understand what a file manager is, so the request is always for a file manager, even though having a user documents folder accessible by programs is more important.
CSMR said:
If MS implemented this feature so that the file manager would only show "hubs" and only allow you to move things in folders within these hubs, they would have to be real idiots.
A file manager means having user documents accessible by programs. Pretty much if you have one, you have the other. And ordinary people understand what a file manager is, so the request is always for a file manager, even though having a user documents folder accessible by programs is more important.
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Click to collapse
As I have previously stated to all the QQ threads on this forum, windows phone does not need a file manager like windows 8 has.
As long as third party apps can asociate with the files they need to open, we will be fine, because developers can detect files on the phone very easily using the Microsoft API. The biggest problem is not the lack of a file manager, is the lack of permissions to allow third party apps to open files which are restricted by the system, like mp3 files.
If apps had full access to SD cards and the user file system, everybody would be happy.
Given how the API seems to be building around, this file manager will be restricted to hubs and third party apps will still not be able to open whatever files they want to.
On the other hand, they might give us a SDK update, but there are no news on the developer site...
Oh, I still disagree with that, quite a bit in fact.
Even leaving it limited to the "user" parts of the phone, there's lots of obvious cases for a file browser / manager.
* A simple one would be to provide an easy way to correct problems like duplicated files, renaming documents, copying a music file to the "ringtones" folder, and so on. Plus of course the ability to categorize and organize files using folders. Basically, the stuff you can do from a PC over USB.
* A little bit more advanced, but still pretty useful and obvious, would be the ability to open files (into whatever app the user wants) from a central location, rather than needing to go to the app first and hope that the app has a way to open the file. This is especially obvious when one considers downloaded files, which currently can only be opened once (by the app that you select at that time, which must then copy the file locally if it wants to keep it; no other app will be able to access that file unless you download it again).
* Another important need is to provide something that functions like the SD card for phones which don't have one. For an OS that doesn't require the presence of such a card, WP8 has a number of features which you can only use if you *do* have one. Example: using the standard MTP over USB access, if I want to add ebooks to my phone, I have to copy the ebooks to the SD card, then go into the e-reader app and tell it to load the books from the card. If I don't have a card, I'm screwed; there's no other way except to open them one at a time as email attachments or something similarly stupid. A universally accessible folder (even if it was read-only to third-party apps) for such content would make a lot of sense.
For those of you who say this feature would be useless, go and find a particular ringtone on your phone and share it with someone via Bluetooth, message, email or however you want heck use Skydrive and then come back and tell me if you can even navigate to the ringtones folder using Xbox Music.
---------- Post added at 06:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 PM ----------
sinister1 said:
For those of you who say this feature would be useless, go and find a particular ringtone on your phone and share it with someone via Bluetooth, message, email or however you want heck use Skydrive and then come back and tell me if you can even navigate to the ringtones folder using Xbox Music.
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Any one
From what I read on WPCentral, this was a mistake being marked as complete, so false alarm regardless.
P.S. I am in the camp of wanting a file manager/explorer.
Sadly, true. You can see that on the uservoice site directly... :-/
They will probably give a full file manager with windows phone 9 or something.
That's right.
The forum admin says that the thread's were mistakenly marked as accomplished.
Way go MS.Nice idea for fixing problems. ;(
Sent from my Windows Phone 8S by HTC using Tapatalk
I take it that no response to my question above means it's not possible to do on WP, Okay how about downloading a pdf file from an email or SkyDrive? The reasons for a native file explorer on WP is so obvious. Not everyone carries a tablet or laptop computer with them at all times just to be able to explore, rename, save or copy files on their phone.

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