The Android 10 beta 2 launched earlier this yr revealed that Google was planning to limit the way in which wherein apps can entry your cellphone’s inside storage. For this goal, Google launched one factor known as Scoped Storage. Nonetheless, as a consequence of backlash from quite a lot of builders, the company needed to backtrack on its implementation. The company allowed apps that don’t however objective Android 10 to work as they used to and gave builders time until November 1st, 2020 to exchange their apps to deal with Android 10.
Apps that already objective Android 10 by default can solely see data of their app-specific itemizing. In order to entry data that completely different apps have created, akin to images, footage, motion pictures, and audio, the apps nonetheless ought to request the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, nevertheless getting this permission now no longer gives entry to the entire /data/media partition. As an alternative, they solely see data throughout the well-defined locations provided by the MediaStore API. Whereas this implementation works for apps that require entry to media data, it doesn’t work for file supervisor apps.
File managers need broad entry to the outside storage as a approach to work and in the event that they intention Android 10, the one approach to get broad file entry is to utilize the Storage Entry Framework (SAF) API. Regardless that SAF has been spherical since Android 5.zero Lollipop, builders are prone to not use it, as a result of it has a hard and poorly documented API, a poor client experience, poor effectivity, and poor reliability. Now, Google objectives to cope with these factors with Android 11.
Primarily based on a present converse titled “Preparing for Scoped Storage” launched by Googlers Roxanna Aliabadi, Zimuzo Ezeozue, and Yacine Rezgui, Google is planning on granting “special app access for select use cases.” As part of the converse, they level out that this “special app access” is just given to apps that present a “clear need” for full entry to shared storage, “submit a declaration form” to Google, and don’t entry “external app directories”.
Which signifies that file managers should ask Google for permission to entry the outside storage, similar to how apps requesting SMS/Title Log permissions ought to ask Google. Thus, there may be arbitrary enforcement factors, similar to we’ve seen to this point with Google Play’s selections. Lastly, one different potential topic is the reality that file managers will no longer have entry to exterior app directories. Subsequently, points like mods for video video games gained’t work anymore.
Provide: YouTube
