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I have noticed that android apps are horrible with file management. When you install an app on the phone it installs a whole new file hierarchy.
Example... when you install Meme Generator it creates a memegenerator folder within that folder it caches Favorites, Instances, Generators, and shares
when you delete the app it doesn't remove this folder or any of its contents
My idea is an app that would scan folders and mark if the folder is useless or not. Especially the unknown data folders that say something like com.fatsecret.android and have nothing but random .dat files or a .nomedia folder/file. Almost like a registry checker for a PC.
Another idea is to have an app that scans the SD card and locates all media. It would tell you how many of what type of file you have on your phone, and allow you to mass move to selected folders (Not copy or transfer but actually move th file to its new location)
im no programer but these would be great apps if they were to be developed
It would be really great man, unfortunately, I'm not able to develop things like this, but let me know about if it's ready.
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Lmfao i neglected to mention I am only beginning to learn the android programming. So im in no position to even comprehend programming this ... but im researching the possibility.
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File management is very messy at the moment. Something needs to give!
I agree, I've been looking for a decent file manager, but haven't found anything yet!
theblacknight said:
I agree, I've been looking for a decent file manager, but haven't found anything yet!
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There are quite a few but 'Astro' seems to be the most popular. Give it a try!
I use Astro and i'm quite happy with it.
The question would be how to determine useless folders.
Dark3n said:
The question would be how to determine useless folders.
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My initial idea was to use a system similar to a windows registry. Once the app starts for the first time it will create a database that stores folder data, which then it tries to match to an app that installed it. If the folder shows that the app that created it has been deleted it shows a red folder or has a negative mark next to it, if its still installed it shows a positive or green folder. This way you can get rid of the bad folders.
My second idea was to have an app create a drop folder for certain file types. For instance a folder like MY DOCUMENTS that has the folders MUSIC, PICTURES, AND VIDEOS. When the app starts it has you select a folder to drop a specific file type (example .MP3 files into MY DOCUMENTS/MUSIC). The all then media scans the phone and locate all matching file types and MOVES the file not COPYS.
Smells like WINNING from my T-959 xda premium app
Something kinda similar to what you want was introduced in FroYo. It gives each app a directory (on the SD card I don't know about onboard memory) that is automatically deleted by the system when the app is installed. Currently it has a few fairly big bugs but hopefully they will get fixed and developers will start to use it.
coreyja said:
Something kinda similar to what you want was introduced in FroYo. It gives each app a directory (on the SD card I don't know about onboard memory) that is automatically deleted by the system when the app is installed. Currently it has a few fairly big bugs but hopefully they will get fixed and developers will start to use it.
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That sounds liie it will be excellent once its implemented. I'm sure as most new things take time to catch on this will probably take a little while for it to happen. Maybe Google is going to make it mandatory for devs to do this.
Smells like WINNING from my T-959 xda premium app
It wouldn't necessarily have to be an app but some process that would make create or add to (create a sub-directory) default folders. I'm not saying it has to be a window like system but as simple as it gets Music, Images, Documents, Downloads maybe a spare folder for necessary background files (Hidden) But accessible when needed. The biggest problem here is that I don't think too many people that want this solution are programmers. because if you know how to program then you spend all day sorting throu this stuff anyway.
Well i'm on 2.2.1 and the system still keeps the settings folders in /dbdata/databases/*packagename* after you uninstalled it.
I usually resort to deleting the folders in adb shell when programming and testing apps.
So it seems there is need for this and there is no such tool yet?
I might start on it then, do you think there is enough intrest in something like that?
Help me with the most difficult and important step, invent a name for such an app !
Sounds like a useful tool. Great idea.
I'm constantly searching through my sd card and trying to figure out what can be deleted.
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mobbeel said:
I use Astro and i'm quite happy with it.
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Have you tried file expert? So much functionality for free.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Dark3n said:
Well i'm on 2.2.1 and the system still keeps the settings folders in /dbdata/databases/*packagename* after you uninstalled it.
I usually resort to deleting the folders in adb shell when programming and testing apps.
So it seems there is need for this and there is no such tool yet?
I might start on it then, do you think there is enough intrest in something like that?
Help me with the most difficult and important step, invent a name for such an app !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Name ideas
-sd looter
-Datei Objekts (file objects in German)
-file euphoria
-Zen management
-SD filed or SDefiled
Just a few to spark interest.
Smells like WINNING from my T-959 xda premium app
Allright, here we go:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1013063
First version is out, please help me test it.
This needs to be created. I'm just sorry I can't do any of the programming.
Just Incredible
I have a folder on my SD card that I don't want images to appear from. Is there a means to exclude certain directories?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA Premium App
Put an empty file called .nomedia in the directory.
This one works well for me - makes the process easier:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.studiokuma.nomedia
What kind of images don't you want to show up in your gallery?
The .nomedia method should work for you, if not you can always rename the folder with a "." at the beginning to make it hidden
Folder name examples:
.pr0n / .dontlookhere / .ignore
kyouko said:
What kind of images don't you want to show up in your gallery?
The .nomedia method should work for you, if not you can always rename the folder with a "." at the beginning to make it hidden
Folder name examples:
.pr0n / .dontlookhere / .ignore
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.nomedia works for me, as far as keeping stuff out of the gallery. Being all grown up in my computer usage, I choose to not let my computing devices hide stuff from me, so that .folder thingy doesn't work for me (and pictures in those .folders without a .nomedia file still seem to make their way into my gallery).
I do have a .stuff folder for my .porn though... Keeps it up near the top of the list...
how about the hideitpro app from the market? it's actually pretty cool. opens up as an audio manager, then you put in a password and there you have all the hidden files you want. not just pics...just an fyi
Install the app Just Pictures and ignore the folders you don't want to see.
The .nomedia "solution" prevents the album art to display in the media players.
I use the app QuickPic from the Market, and in the app you can choose which folders you want include and exclude. Pretty useful. You don't have the pretty 3-D effects from the default Gallery app but it's so much faster.
You can do the same thing with Fishbowl Gallery. You can set default albums, as well as hide albums. However, this still doesn't prevent someone from stumbling upon the default gallery app. The best solutions are either .nomedia, or do not have media on your phone that you do not want prying eyes to see. Alternatively, while cumbersome, you can use androzip or unrar pro to zip the material in question. Of course, by zipping your files, you can add the additional layer of security by encrypting it, if you're the paranoid sort.
Sent via Tapatalk on CM7.0.0-Vision Stable.
I remember this method. Any one know if the older file deletion ever got fixed with 2.2.1 or later?
If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a quick rundown.
You put the .nomedia file in a folder with pictures, upon reboot all those pictures are deleted. This had something to do with them already being scanned once and them being older than the .nomedia file so instead of ignoring them it deletes them. Something along those lines (anyone have the link to the original bug report from back in '08 or '09?).
Anyway, if it hasn't been fixed you've been warned, you stand a good chance of losing all media in those folders. So backup those files - but you knew that already
The easiest remedy to this is to remove the files, rename the folder to .whatever or insert the .nomedia file. Reboot. Then throw the files back onto the sdcard. That should eliminate any issues.
I've used the .nomedia solution awhile back to get icons, cover art, etc out of my gallery and it worked just fine... nothing was deleted (Droid X).
IIRC, I did have to clear the gallery app's cache to get it to "forget" about media that it had already found; on first lauch after clearing it's cache, expect it to be slow as it re-scans your device / sd card (..rebooting didn't work to clear the cach on my device... had to clear it via settings > application > manage apps..)
.nomedia file solution works
KCRic said:
I remember this method. Any one know if the older file deletion ever got fixed with 2.2.1 or later?
If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a quick rundown.
You put the .nomedia file in a folder with pictures, upon reboot all those pictures are deleted. This had something to do with them already being scanned once and them being older than the .nomedia file so instead of ignoring them it deletes them. Something along those lines (anyone have the link to the original bug report from back in '08 or '09?).
Anyway, if it hasn't been fixed you've been warned, you stand a good chance of losing all media in those folders. So backup those files - but you knew that already
The easiest remedy to this is to remove the files, rename the folder to .whatever or insert the file. Reboot. Then throw the files back onto the sdcard. That should eliminate any issues.
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The .nomedia file solution works fine for me on Android 2.3.3.
The issue you mentioned is therefore fixed (nothing file was deleted unexpectedly).
Reboot was also necessary so that the native photo gallery app does not display the icons/pics any longer for the folders where I added the .nomedia file.
Furthermore, this works also for the music files.
(I use also TapeMachine app, and wanted to avoid that the sounds I recorded are listed in the Music Player).
If I place a .nomedia file in a directory, does that exclude all of its subdirectories from the gallery, as well?
Yes, it does. I just placed a .nomedia file in my /Music folder on my extsdcard and all the pictures in my albums are gone after a reboot.
UPDATE: I just tied this on my tablet (running 4.4.2) and it did not need a reboot. Gallery adjusted automatically. It was a folder on the extsdcard - and since 4.4.x restricts access to the sdcard, it stands to reason it saw the file placed and adjust the library automatically.
NiveusLuna said:
If I place a .nomedia file in a directory, does that exclude all of its subdirectories from the gallery, as well?
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I'm trying to remove some of the bloatware from my rooted OTA GB 2.3.6. I'm using Root Explorer and deleting select apk's and their odex file from the system/app directory. However there is one app called Rhapsody that I haven't got all the pieces, because the Rhapsody process keeps showing up in my running services list after I reboot. Both the apk and the odex file have been deleted. Anyone know what other file(s) I missed that are connected with Rhapsody?
Also, there is this rather annoying "media scanner" that runs every time that I boot my phone. Is this a must have, or can I delete it? It adds to my boot time, and if it doesn't have to be there, I want to get rid of it. And if I can delete it, what is the name of the app?
Lexus One said:
I'm trying to remove some of the bloatware from my rooted OTA GB 2.3.6. I'm using Root Explorer and deleting select apk's and their odex file from the system/app directory. However there is one app called Rhapsody that I haven't got all the pieces, because the Rhapsody process keeps showing up in my running services list after I reboot. Both the apk and the odex file have been deleted. Anyone know what other file(s) I missed that are connected with Rhapsody?
Also, there is this rather annoying "media scanner" that runs every time that I boot my phone. Is this a must have, or can I delete it? It adds to my boot time, and if it doesn't have to be there, I want to get rid of it. And if I can delete it, what is the name of the app?
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in root explorer you must delete the apk from /system/app and the associated data folder in /data/data then do a search of the whole system for 'rhapsody' as there might be little fragments left in dbdata or dalvikcache folders just delete anything with rhapsody in the name... as for the media scanning, there is a work around for this which I believe is putting a file named '.nomedia' in whatever folder you want excluded from the scan (music or pictures for instance), if you want no scanning at all put on root of SD card and that should stop it however this means you will have manually search/scan for anything you're looking for because that file will tell all apps trying to access what you're blocking that there's nothing there
blazing through on my Acer A500 via XDA app
The Media Scanner feeds Gallery and possibly the default music player. I don't think it is something you can get rid of, but I could be wrong.
There is an app called Super Manager that makes it very easy to mark folders as "noscan". I use it so all of my ebooks don't show up in the gallery.
I didn't know about the additional related app files being in the data/data. What might be the repercussions if I miss cleaning up all of them? Do they just take up memory space, or are they being executed by the system, even if the apk and odex files are gone?
As for the media scanner...I take it this is a critical system function? Is it an indexer? If the ONLY way around it is the ".nomedia" trick...and there are obvious disadvantages to using this method, then perhaps it is just best to put up with the extra boot time.
UPDATE: Just ran "Rescan Media Root" from the Market. It stops the media scan from occurring. And you can re-enable it at any time by running this app.
I also got Rhapsody stopped by searching and deleting the rest of the associated files. Thanks for the help guys!
I'm a little late here, but Rescan Media works fine to stop the scanner, and Titanium Backup has a "Chuck Norris" mode of killing bloatware.
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Rescan media Root is what I use
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Hi all
I've installed some apps which have their folder on the sdcard with various images, sprites, sounds (one of these is a satnav app).
The problem is, these appear and clutter my gallery and music apps. I use both apps from motorola and not their google counterpart.
I already put a .nomedia file in the folders, rebooted the phone, cleared data on those apps, deleted thumbnail caches on the sdcard, and it doesn't work. They still show up.
So how can I do?
Thank you in advance
I've partially solved my problem with a media re-scan, triggered by renaming a folder containing media files (and then renaming it back)
The problem is that, if files into that folder change, because any app (or I) copies new stuff into them, all the hidden files pop up again in the gallery/media.
I wonder if it's an Android bug or a Motorola bug...
I've had the same problem and I solved it by placing .nomedia files in the unwanted folders and then force a media rescan with the app "Rescan Media" eek from the market
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.addz.mediascanner
or using quickpix to create that file
manojsuper said:
you have to create a new file called ".nomedia" not a folder >.>
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Where did I say that?
I tried media scanner but it doesn't work. (fyi i'm not rooted)
When I move music around (ie from the download folderr to the music folder) it gets duplicated in the music app, both motorola's and google's. Once i unmount and remount the sd card it sorts the problem on itself.
Same thing when I move images, the thumbnails get duplicated and only one of the two loads correctly, but I can't get them to disappear unless i delete my gallery's data, and then i lose all the video thumbnails. My gallery is now full of old thumbnails, gray "unknown" thumbnails, and thumbnails that don't load.
thenext1 said:
I tried media scanner but it doesn't work. (fyi i'm not rooted)
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As far as I know, you don't have to be rooted to use the app I linked. There is a more extensive version of the app that specifically requires root which is what I base my assumption on...
The app only forces the android internal media-scanner service to re-index all files and it does so without giving any sort of feedback. Once the app is started the media-scanner is triggered and the app seemingly does nothing, so you wouldn't get a confimation or anything...
As I said I had the same problem, but using .nomedia-files and the app solved it... Be aware that if you place a .nomedia-file in a folder the contents of that folder and it's sub-directories are being skipped by the media-scanner.
I'd recommend cleaning up all the directories and systematically copy a .nomedia file in unwanted directories. After that launch the app ance more and you should be set...
Preggy said:
As far as I know, you don't have to be rooted to use the app I linked. There is a more extensive version of the app that specifically requires root which is what I base my assumption on...
The app only forces the android internal media-scanner service to re-index all files and it does so without giving any sort of feedback. Once the app is started the media-scanner is triggered and the app seemingly does nothing, so you wouldn't get a confimation or anything...
As I said I had the same problem, but using .nomedia-files and the app solved it... Be aware that if you place a .nomedia-file in a folder the contents of that folder and it's sub-directories are being skipped by the media-scanner.
I'd recommend cleaning up all the directories and systematically copy a .nomedia file in unwanted directories. After that launch the app ance more and you should be set...
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The problem is that, even if I put nomedia files everywhere needed, when I move files in/out of these dirs, they all pop up in Gallery/Music, including those that were previously hidden. And to solve this (talking only of Gallery now) I have to clear its app data. It would be just easier to hide the "all images" section of Gallery...
I miss the good ol android 2.1 times where you could fiddle with everything with any app without worrying for refreshes, etc...
Give ".no_media" a try?
cogeary said:
Give ".no_media" a try?
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I never heard of such a magic file name...
thenext1 said:
I never heard of such a magic file name...
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Neither have I, but ROM Toolbox uses it when it puts previews of boot animations onto my SDCard and the gallery doesn't pick them up.
Just use QuickPic from the market, if it's available to you. I've been using it for quite some time, install that and freeze the gallery app. Ability to hide certain folders is built right in.
+1 to the QuickPic app...the stock Gallery SUCKS!!! I hide all the folders I do not want to be scanned and now I have a clean photo library. I also use PowerAmp for music since I hide my music folder so that I don't see album art and PowerAmp allows you to select folders to scan (regardless if there is a .nodedia file or not) instead of scanning everything. I believe Winamp will do the same thing, not sure.
Hi I'm owner of Moto G XT1033.
I'm on stock Kitkat.
I've noticed this problem since this morning. My phone's gallery is not showing Whatsapp images and media too!
I checked and the files are there ofcourse in storage.
I used gallery+ and still same.
Then I used a third party app Quickpic checked the see hidden option and it showed the folder.
I made sure that the media was not hidden using two for browsers but nothing.
I'm just confused why the phone's default gallery can't show the images.
Anybody face anything like this before?
Thanks in advance.
Update - For the third party app I found that I've to check for the hidden files again and again! :/
Any help please?
Solution - As neu - smurph said delete any file named as .NOMEDIA ( in caps for me might be small for you) and you got it all sorted out.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
divyanshu308 said:
Hi I'm owner of Moto G XT1033.
I'm on stock Kitkat.
I've noticed this problem since this morning. My phone's gallery is not showing Whatsapp images and media too!
I checked and the files are there ofcourse in storage.
I used gallery+ and still same.
Then I used a third party app Quickpic checked the see hidden option and it showed the folder.
I made sure that the media was not hidden using two for browsers but nothing.
I'm just confused why the phone's default gallery can't show the images.
Anybody face anything like this before?
Thanks in advance.
Update - For the third party app I found that I've to check for the hidden files again and again! :/
Any help please?
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Look for a ".nomedia" file in the folder structure holding the Whatsapp media/images. This will cause the Android Media Scanner to bypass the folder containing the .nomedia file and any sub folders. Also check that none of the folder names in the structure are prefixed with a period (i.e. ".images"). Again these folders (and any subfolders) are hidden from the Media Scanner.
Worked perfect!!
neu - smurph said:
Look for a ".nomedia" file in the folder structure holding the Whatsapp media/images. This will cause the Android Media Scanner to bypass the folder containing the .nomedia file and any sub folders. Also check that none of the folder names in the structure are prefixed with a period (i.e. ".images"). Again these folders (and any subfolders) are hidden from the Media Scanner.
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Thanks for the reply worked pretty well.
Deleted the .NOMEDIA file and its up and running great.
One question though how come such a file gets created by itself?
I don't have WhatsApp installed but a lot of apps create these automatically if it isn't considered desirable for media to appear in the music player or gallery. For example PowerAmp creates an AlbumArt folder with a .nomedia file to stop the gallery being spammed with Album art images.
Maybe WhatsApp updated recently and this is a new thing?
Sent from my XT1032 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
neu - smurph said:
Look for a ".nomedia" file in the folder structure holding the Whatsapp media/images. This will cause the Android Media Scanner to bypass the folder containing the .nomedia file and any sub folders. Also check that none of the folder names in the structure are prefixed with a period (i.e. ".images"). Again these folders (and any subfolders) are hidden from the Media Scanner.
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Click to collapse
Thanks a ton. This completely resolved the seemingly UN-explainable issue.
I have deleted the .nomedia filebfrom inages and vídeos but wheb restarting the phone they regenerate again, my whatts app inages and vídeos are not shown in photos or gallery can anyone help?
Regards