[HN Gopher] Show HN: Material Files - Open Source Material Desig...
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Show HN: Material Files - Open Source Material Design File Manager
for Android
Features: - Open source: Lightweight, clean and secure. -
Material Design: Follows Material Design guidelines, with attention
into details. - Breadcrumbs: Navigate in the filesystem with ease.
- Root support: View and manage files with root access. - Archive
support: View, extract and create common compressed files. - NAS
support: View and manage files on FTP, SFTP and SMB servers. -
Themes: Customizable UI colors, plus night mode with optional true
black. - Linux-aware: Knows symbolic links, file permissions and
SELinux context. - Robust: Uses Linux system calls under the hood,
not yet another ls parser. - Well-implemented: Built upon the
right things, including Java NIO2 File API and LiveData.
Author : dreamingincode
Score : 71 points
Date : 2024-01-14 18:06 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| pmontra wrote:
| I've been using this for months and it works well.
|
| The reason I'm using it over the default file manager of my phone
| or others is that it's open source. It's a matter of trust.
|
| I install from F-Droid because if an app is both there and on
| Google Play it's pointless to give Google an easy way to know
| what I'm using.
|
| F-Droid got much better lately. Strange things don't happen
| anymore on updates.
| infamia wrote:
| This has been my go to file manager for years. It is the first
| thing I install on a new phone. It can even mount network file
| systems like ftp, sftp, and smb. I use the sftp and it works
| really well all things considered.
|
| edit: double bonus points because it is available on the privacy
| centric/open source app store Fdroid.
| wpwpwpw wrote:
| I second this
| tredre3 wrote:
| I've been using Material Files for a couple years now. I use SMB
| and SFTP access every day. I also use the FTP server to backup my
| devices once a month. It's a bit slow but still faster and more
| reliable than using USB! (I don't know why USB support is so bad
| on Android, transferring thousands of small files is unbearable.
| Maybe some devices have better support? Maybe it would work
| better if I used ADB?)
|
| I used to get it from F-Droid but I'm very thankful that the
| author took the time to put it on the regular app store as well,
| it's very convenient!
| m-p-3 wrote:
| I don't know why USB support is so bad on Android, transferring
| thousands of small files is unbearable. Maybe some devices have
| better support? Maybe it would work better if I used ADB?
|
| Android abstracts the phone's filesystem as an MTP device,
| which is terrible when moving a large amount of small files, at
| least on Windows.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
| darkhorse13 wrote:
| Is Material Design really a selling point for a tool like this?
| mouse_ wrote:
| Using a system's native UI toolkit is a major selling point for
| any piece of software.
| FireInsight wrote:
| And following the design guidelines! Ahh, it makes the user
| experience SO much better.
| milkglass wrote:
| NAS support is amazing.
| account-5 wrote:
| Supports WebDAV too.
|
| Definitely in my go-to set of android apps from fdroid I use.
| Generally Google is disabled on my phone's now.
| guilamu wrote:
| This looks perfect... well, just one thing if I may: any "compact
| mode" planned?
|
| Everything is extremely "spaced" for no apparent reason.
|
| Thank you very much!
| rkagerer wrote:
| Yeah it badly needs that.
| mlinksva wrote:
| Supporting Android 5.0+ is impressive, though there was another
| file manager supporting Android 1.0+ discussed recently
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38789958 (I'm impressed by
| both, not an Android developer, curious how one ensures
| compatibility with ancient versions; actual testing, a
| compatibility linter, other?)
|
| I also enjoy Material Files' README, particularly
| https://github.com/zhanghai/MaterialFiles#why-material-files (a
| clear articulation of "Why" is always informative) and
| https://github.com/zhanghai/MaterialFiles#inclusion-in-custo...
| (clear guidance to upstreams seems relatively uncommon, helps
| shed light on ecosystem dynamics otherwise invisible to me
| anyway).
| wasyl wrote:
| > curious how one ensures compatibility with ancient versions;
| actual testing, a compatibility linter, other?
|
| Android linter does check that access to APIs added in newer
| versions is gated behind a version check, for example. But
| frankly I feel like compatibility with any Android version less
| than 4 (or even 5) is in practice a non-issue, simply because
| there are no users with such ancient Android. And the few that
| would use such devices are so far and between that any issues
| don't surface
| dotancohen wrote:
| My perfectly serviceable Barnes and Noble Nook uses Android
| 4.4 and I use the device almost every single day. Mostly I
| study with Ankidroid but I would love a web browser for the
| thing. Being an e-ink device, it is perfect for reading.
| None4U wrote:
| My Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0" runs Android 4.2, and I use it
| to watch videos and play music when practicing piano or
| exercising
| wasyl wrote:
| I'm not saying _nobody_ uses those devices, I'm just saying
| they're sufficiently old that saying _my app supports
| Android 3.x_ is moot, because the usage on that API will be
| near 0 anyway, so you never really know if you _support_
| that version outside of any testing that you might be
| doing. Android 4 and lower have estimated share of
| 0.3%-0.7% depending on a source ([1], [2]). Of course HN
| users will be more likely to have those devices too. And
| then of 0.5% users that maybe will install the app some
| will have no issues, some will have issues but not notice,
| some will notice but not bother reporting.
|
| [1] https://apilevels.com/ [2]
| https://www.composables.com/tools/distribution-chart
| maxloh wrote:
| I found the built-in file manager [0] sufficient for me.
|
| [0]: https://imgur.com/l3QIUnP
| naitgacem wrote:
| I still use ES file explorer pro from ages ago. I transfer the
| apk from device to device and backed it up on multiple locations.
| It really provides a unique set of features, browser-like tabs,
| ftp server/client, ... it makes managing files so much more
| doable on a phone.
|
| it saddens me that it got removed.
| rkagerer wrote:
| Do you know a reputable source to get older-version APK's for
| it, and which version do you use?
|
| (I did buy it way back when)
| lnxg33k1 wrote:
| Whats the point of putting the design choices in the name? If
| trend changes or someone puts a theme ?;0
| dreamingincode wrote:
| Naming is hard, and I already have to implement file management
| :P
|
| Just kidding. The reason is that I started the project mostly
| because I wanted a file manager with proper Material Design,
| and it's very unlikely that I (or Android) adopt a completely
| different design system.
| FireInsight wrote:
| Switched to this when Simple File Manager went bust. It's wayy
| better, in terms of design, features, and user experience. I love
| the file move flow being presented as cut&paste, and other unique
| tidbits.
| GreenWatermelon wrote:
| What happened to Simple File Manager? I'm using it currently
| and I don't see a problem with it.
| genpfault wrote:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38505229
| mikae1 wrote:
| Used this for years, but after some repressive change to Android
| I can't access files in the Android/ dir where most apps save
| their files. Apparently it needs to be rooted for that to work.
|
| So, sadly pointless now. I'm stuck with the default file manager.
| vanous wrote:
| I have the same issues. Use Total Commander, it can still
| access these folders.
| dreamingincode wrote:
| It's the same for all file managers and the previous way of
| granting access is now patched via security fixes. If it's
| still working for you that's very likely because you granted
| the access before it was fixed, and if you move to a new
| phone you also likely won't be able to do that any more.
| aio2 wrote:
| Idk why but android just does that for some reason
| MaximilianEmel wrote:
| How does this compare to Total Commander[0]?
|
| [0] https://www.ghisler.com/android.htm
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(page generated 2024-01-14 23:00 UTC)