Hi guys,
I am having some issues with the Stock Gallery. I have bunch of assignments and homework on my sd card and gallery decides to add all the photos into the library...... i.e. I can't even find my photos and videos among the few thousands graphs and diagrams.. Is there a way for the app to only scan specific (e.g. media) folders? Thanks!
I am afraid that the answer is NO unless one of the dev-cracks here found a solution.
But meanwhile You could use any gallery-app with a hide function or - since You obviously just want to make them not to show in stock gallery: -simply use
Keep Safe
I see. Any cool gallery app that support include/exclude folders? Thank you!
salmonsushi said:
I see. Any cool gallery app that support include/exclude folders? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QuickPic is the best one out there and with that one you can hide folders, it's free so why don't you try it out.
dropping a ".nomedia" file in the directories you don't want seen in gallery doesn't work?
Hmm, looks like there is an app that will help with these. I have not tried it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.studiokuma.nomedia&hl=en
You can add a . to the beginning of the folder name of any folder you do not want gallery to look at and the images will not be seen. Of course this may cause some other apps to not see the folder also.
Barsky said:
dropping a ".nomedia" file in the directories you don't want seen in gallery doesn't work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems not to, which is driving me nuts.
There is a few folders I would like to hide and putting a . at the start of the folder name does not work either.
EDIT:
It does actually work putting .nomedia file in folders for samsung's gallery. The media scanner seems super slow or something and not specifically updated by a reboot. I have an app called "Rescan Meda" that does not seem to get the media scanner's ass in gear.
It seems that the media scanner will still do recursive if there is not a .nomedia in each folder of the tree.
making the folder hidden by putting a . at the start of the foldername does not work tho.
Related
Hello every body.
I guess this have been already discussed, but I can't find a thread about that. So, I started this one.
I am very disappointed with the stock Gallery App :
- Shows only the leaf folders in a flat mode
- Folder names shortened (no place to see the entire name)
- Maintains a useless "parallel database" and won't show "non-indexed" pictures
- Scans the whole memory card (instead of only a "PICTURES" folder)
- Lags sometimes until the "parallel database" is finished (which takes a long time)
To sumarize, I would greatly prefer something working as :
- Windows file explorer + Windows picture wiewer OR
- ACD SEE
Do you know if there is an alternative app that can be installed AND
launched by the camera when clicking on "view pictures" ?
Thank you for yours answers.
There are several gallery replacement apps in the Market. Did you search in it for any?
JustPictures gets a lot of good word about it across the forums, and even the generic Gallery3D app on the Market is suggested as a better replacement for the one that comes installed.
As for Gallery scanning the whole sdcard, that's not quite accurate as I understand. The "media" scanner scans the whole card for all kinds of media (pics, music, videos). If you want to speed it up, you can add a blank file called .nomedia to any folder that won't have media you want indexed in it. This tells the scanner to skip that folder and ALL it's subfolders.
QuickPic is a good alternative.
distortedloop said:
There are several gallery replacement apps in the Market. Did you search in it for any?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I admit I hoped to get some entry points from experimented users.
distortedloop said:
Even the generic Gallery3D app on the Market is suggested as a better replacement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, when I saw the icon, I thought it was THE stock one.
distortedloop said:
If you want to speed it up, you can add a blank file called .nomedia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I have to get an app to create these .nomedia files (Windows refuses to do it) ?
bQfQZDEJznX5Y8XiFdhy said:
QuickPic is a good alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. But is there a way to tell the camera to use this one instead of the stock app ?
Thank you again in advance.
I second QuickPic!
Thanks! THANKS!
Glad I found QuickPic (the freeware one) because I read this thread!
Freakin nice
fredjm31 said:
I suppose I have to get an app to create these .nomedia files (Windows refuses to do it) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Run cmd.exe
Code:
type nul: > .nomedia
and press return.
Quickpic is indeed terrific.
It's kind of sad, about the stock Gallery app.
shrivelfig said:
Run cmd.exe
Code:
type nul: > .nomedia
and press return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you can do it on the phone with Root Explorer (and probably most other file manager apps)...just navigate to the folder you want to put it in, hit menu, then more, then new file, and name it .nomedia in the popup dialog box.
Once you have a copy, you can always just copy and paste it everywhere you need.
I use JustPictures and it's much better than stock (which seriously sucks and it's gimmicky).
QuickPic is also great, but it doesn't have online capabilities (I like being able to view my SmugMug albums through JustPictures).
I really wish Android had a good Gallery app which combines photos, video and online capabilities.
Just downloaded JustPictures - thx to this thread!
I tried out QuickPic from this thread's recommendation, but is there an app that also browses the video files like the gallery does?
Total bummer that I have to open another app to access my recorded videos.
Any suggestions?
QuickPic does show both pictures and videos.
Thanks for the recommendation. QuickPic is soooooo much better than 3D Gallery on my phone.
I've tried QuickPic and JustPictures, none of these apps are OK.
QuickPic : is fast, but still show my folders in a flat mode.
JustPictures : won't show my PICTURES folder (which contains 1000 folders and 30000 files) where I've placed a .nomedia. If I don't do that, this infamous media scanner scans it, and makes my phone heat, and causes my battery to drain.
Edit : wrong : there's an option for that
But ES Explorer + Quick Pic is OK :
- ES Explorer to browse folders
- Quick Pic to display pictures
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want a gallery app that doesn't just clump every folder with pictures in it in to root gallery.
For example:
/album/pets/cat
/album/pets/dog
/album/pets/fish
In the stock app (and all others I've tried) will put cat, dog, fish right in the main gallery. I just want to see a subfolder called pets.
Looking at my photos and directory structure on a computer, my files are neat and well organized. In gallery it takes forever to find what I'm looking for.
I've tried just about every app out there, and even sent feature requests to several authors. The author of Quickpic said he'd consider it. Thats about the furthest I've got.
Any other suggestions?
You should check out JustPictures. It's in the market. I've been using it for a while, and it's great.
Or also QuickPics also in the market
I should of listed the ones I've tried. JustPictures and Quickpics behaves the same as the stock app regarding folder structure.
I actually emailed both devs about adding that feature..
scoob8000 said:
I should of listed the ones I've tried. JustPictures and Quickpics behaves the same as the stock app regarding folder structure.
I actually emailed both devs about adding that feature..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it'll get added to QuickPic, I emailed the dev about that too - or at least a tag type of implementation where I could tag my folders and sort by the tags. QuickPic is still a great app.
EDIT: You can sort by path in QuickPic, but all of the folders are still on one screen. Example: If you have:
/colors, then
/colors/blue
/colors/green
/colors/red
-and-
/pets, then
/pets/cats
/pets/dogs
/pets/fish
The folders will show up in this order: blue, green, red, cats, dogs, fish. At least common folders will be grouped near the others in the same parent directory. I believe this feature was implemented in the latest update.
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
Cool, I knew I couldnt be the only one that organizes by folders.
My real pain is I have a folder called work where I keep all my work related stuff. Theres a ton of stuff and all the subfoloders clutter up the main gallery view..
scoob8000 said:
Cool, I knew I couldnt be the only one that organizes by folders.
My real pain is I have a folder called work where I keep all my work related stuff. Theres a ton of stuff and all the subfoloders clutter up the main gallery view..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use that folder more than any other, there's also an option to automatically open the app to the last opened folder when you launch the app. If you need a different folder, you just hit the back button.
The MIUI gallery is awesome because it has three views -Favorites, All Folders, and SD card - that are tabs at the top of the app. I use QuickPic for certain things, but the MIUI gallery is my default gallery because I put the 3-5 folders I use the most on the favorites tab, so usually that's all I need. If QuickPic could do something like this, it'd be my default.
EDIT: Just realized your problem is with the work folder's subfolders, not with having to go through everything to get to the work folder. You could exclude the work folder (and it's subfolders) in QuickPic, and use the stock gallery for work stuff. That way the work stuff doesn't get in the way with QuickPic. I'm still hoping for a folder-tree type of listing.
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
plainjane said:
EDIT: Just realized your problem is with the work folder's subfolders, not with having to go through everything to get to the work folder. You could exclude the work folder (and it's subfolders) in QuickPic, and use the stock gallery for work stuff. That way the work stuff doesn't get in the way with QuickPic. I'm still hoping for a folder-tree type of listing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo
Hopefully others see this and email the author too. I even told him I'd be willing to donate. I really like QP the best, its small, fast, and efficient. Only that one feature is missing.
Hey guys:
I've got tons of comicbooks on my storage card that keeps showing up as individual folders in my picture gallery. I know I could drop a "no media" file in the main folder to stop it, but then my other apps wont read anything in that folder as well correct? Is their any way to exclude the comicbook folder from the gallery?
thanks
shaun0207 said:
Hey guys:
I've got tons of comicbooks on my storage card that keeps showing up as individual folders in my picture gallery. I know I could drop a "no media" file in the main folder to stop it, but then my other apps wont read anything in that folder as well correct? Is their any way to exclude the comicbook folder from the gallery?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 ................
call me crazy, but I have a feeling the easiest solution is to create a .nomedia file and put it in the folder you want to hide.... ooooor I could be 100% wrong.
MitchRapp said:
call me crazy, but I have a feeling the easiest solution is to create a .nomedia file and put it in the folder you want to hide.... ooooor I could be 100% wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are crazy ;-) does not work here.
This does not solve your problem, but may be an alternate solution. I use a gallery replacement called QuickPic. Inside of QuickPic you can choose which folders are hidden so you only see the ones you want.
HuckFinn said:
This does not solve your problem, but may be an alternate solution. I use a gallery replacement called QuickPic. Inside of QuickPic you can choose which folders are hidden so you only see the ones you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard of QuickPic. But I really like the stock Gallery. And if I put a no media file in that folder,, my comicbook reader apps wont see the files either right?
Actually, all you have to do is rename the folder or file and put a "." at the start of the name. So a folder called "my_pron" renamed ".my_pron" won't show up
It's probably worth noting that you should do the rename on your tab and not from your PC, I had problems with it not working when I did it via my PC, that's why I mention it. I used Astro File manager and it works just fine.
t.d.k said:
".my_pron"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Giggity...
Kii Safe!
It's a program designed to be more along the lines of hiding naughty things, but it would allow you to move all your comics into a side gallery type section, plus once their there you can subdivide them into their own folders AGAIN so that you have individual comics in mini-galleries, with sorting by name or date possible to make for easy ordering.
https://market.android.com/details?...esult#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5raWkuc2FmZSJd
Noteworthy item is that with the EI22 update yesterday, my app got wiped with the rest of my phone, but upon re-installing it and going through new-startup steps it found the SD card data from my previous installation - yay SD card!
tigerknight said:
It's a program designed to be more along the lines of hiding naughty things, but it would allow you to move all your comics into a side gallery type section, plus once their there you can subdivide them into their own folders AGAIN so that you have individual comics in mini-galleries, with sorting by name or date possible to make for easy ordering.
https://market.android.com/details?...esult#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5raWkuc2FmZSJd
Noteworthy item is that with the EI22 update yesterday, my app got wiped with the rest of my phone, but upon re-installing it and going through new-startup steps it found the SD card data from my previous installation - yay SD card!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a app similar to this called Hide & Sneek. But I have to unhide pics everytime I need to use it. Will Keep safe allow me to hide the comics just from the Gallery , but let them be used in the Combook reader?
Quit trying to hide the pron from her and you won't have issues! Or just if ya get caught freak out and claim you must have a virus!
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium
hammer4203 said:
Quit trying to hide the pron from her and you won't have issues! Or just if ya get caught freak out and claim you must have a virus!
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. Not worried bout the porn pics. But when I have to scroll through the gallery to find the folders my real pics are in, its kinda annoying. See the attached.
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 >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never heard of such a magic file name...
thenext1 said:
I never heard of such a magic file name...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.