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FX File Explorer: a "desktop-class" file/media manager for Android

I'm still using this on my Galaxy Nexus and still loving it. But I just got a Toshiba Excite 10 tablet. I found out that they didn't include the drivers for third party file managers and that you have to use the included one. I was a bit disappointed, but still not a deal breaker for me on the tablet. But I was wondering if there was any way around it. I have even greater need for good file management for the way I'll be using the tablet for work. The Toshiba app isn't terrible, but it's definitely no where near yours. Thanks!
 
TheyCallMeBT said:
I'm still using this on my Galaxy Nexus and still loving it. But I just got a Toshiba Excite 10 tablet. I found out that they didn't include the drivers for third party file managers and that you have to use the included one. I was a bit disappointed, but still not a deal breaker for me on the tablet. But I was wondering if there was any way around it. I have even greater need for good file management for the way I'll be using the tablet for work. The Toshiba app isn't terrible, but it's definitely no where near yours. Thanks!
Click to expand...

FX should run on that tablet, what happens when you try to install it? Does it not show up at all on the Google Play Store?
 
0.170 is out now. This release pretty much fixes one problem (FX couldn't upload larger files via FTP-ES/S). This single issue literally took almost an entire week to debug, the underlying problem turned out to be between Android's SSL API and the Apache Commons Net library. There are also a few minor tweaks and cleanups, but nothing terribly exciting.
 
0.173 is now available.

This release adds support for directly exploring Zip and RAR archives. You can now view text and image files and play audio and video media without extracting it.
 
If I use Astro I can view an excel zipped file as it offers to open Polaris Office; can see the graphs in Excel file.

In FX I just get Open With and three options none of which show me a normal spreadsheet with displayed graphs.

Am I doing something wrong?
 
The ability to play mp3 files from my Google Drive account would be nice. It tries to open the mp3 files as a text document. Doesn't give the option to choose a music app to open the file.
I thought this was a Google Drive restriction, but it works just fine using other file manager apps I have installed.

Otherwise, great app.
 
I can't add more than one Google Drive account from my phone. It defaults to the previous account when allowing access permissions. On my tablet, I can click on my log in name on the upper right corner to switch to another account. Tapping on the same from my phone does nothing.
 
tliebeck said:
FX should run on that tablet, what happens when you try to install it? Does it not show up at all on the Google Play Store?
Click to expand...

It runs and can read the internal storage, but not the sd card. It's a problem that any 3rd party file manager has on this tablet because they didn't include drivers or something. Any way, there's probably nothing that can be done, but I just wanted to ask.
 
athegn said:
If I use Astro I can view an excel zipped file as it offers to open Polaris Office; can see the graphs in Excel file.

In FX I just get Open With and three options none of which show me a normal spreadsheet with displayed graphs.

Am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment and my apologies for not replying sooner. I still seem to have trouble remaining "subscribed" to this thread.

You're not doing anything wrong. FX currently only supports opening zipped/remote files in its own internal viewers/editors (that can directly read from zip/remote streams). To view/open them in other apps you'll need to download/extract them first. I'm working to simplify this such that FX will download/extract a temporary copy of the file that can be provided to any app.
 
cdf3 said:
The ability to play mp3 files from my Google Drive account would be nice. It tries to open the mp3 files as a text document. Doesn't give the option to choose a music app to open the file.
I thought this was a Google Drive restriction, but it works just fine using other file manager apps I have installed.

Otherwise, great app.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is actually currently deliberately disabled in FX, I need to revisit this and investigate it further. When testing FX, Google Drive fairly quickly locked me out of access to a test file for 24 hours after streaming it to a few different devices. All the other cloud services and network protocols do currently support streaming in FX.
 
0.183 is now available on the market.

You can now use "Open With" on remote files and within Zip archives to open files with arbitrary applications. E.g., if you want to open a Word document on an FTP server, just tap it, and select an appropriate app in the Open With dialog.

The release also contains some minor aesthetic tweaks, most notable on the home and network/cloud screens.

Would greatly appreciate feedback on both of these.

One minor note: to stream media from remote servers or archive files, just tap the file (instead of long-pressing to get the "Open With" option). Currently we're not providing options for streaming in that dialog, but they will be added.

@athegn, thanks again for your feedback, please let me know if this release doesn't solve the issue.
 
186 is out!

Changes include:

  • "Open with" dialog now provides streaming options when applicable.
  • Enabled streaming media playback from Google Drive.
  • Aesthetic updates, including new dialog styling.
  • Fixed bug where closing connections from homes screen didn't reflect changes until "Refresh" was pressed.
  • Enabled hardware acceleration by default (generally will only affect Honeycomb devices, ICS/JB already did it).
  • Updates to the for-geeks-only system status screen.

And yes, it works with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
 
Hello all,

I've released R202, also known as 1.0 Release Candidate 1. This is a bugfix release, with the following improvements:

  • Fixed bug with potentiallly changing permissions when saving files as root in text editor.
  • Fixed bug where APK icons could be mismatched between files.
  • Fixed bug where remote images could be loaded twice over the network in the image viewer.
  • Added help for root module (does not require updating root module).

The in-app links to download the root module (both in the root help and the System Catalog warning popup) now direct users to the Android Market rather than to the test root module. The test root module is still available and will still work until the 1.0.0 release. You can still get it here: Root Access for FX File Explorer | android.nextapp.com , and it's also quite visible on the android.nextapp.com home page as well as in the Google Play Store description for the paid root module.

Please, please, please report bugs and hassle me if you've reported a bug and it's still unfixed.

Thanks again for all the testing, reports, and suggestions!
--Tod
 
Pearl4611: "I really really like this file explorer. Only thing missing for me is multi-select"

Multi-select can be done by swiping across the file you want to select. You can do this to numerous files if you want. FX then highlights the file(s) in blue at which point you can perform many operations on your selection.

I also really like this app. One of my most used apps. Can't say enough good about FX
 
Hi!

I've used FX for about 6 months and love it!

If possible please include the Ubuntu cloud.

I'd be very pleased to purchase the "pro" version when available.

KegHead
 
Just installed this app.
I've only spent a few minutes with it so far.
I can tell you that when this baby goes live, I'm in for the whole shootin' match.
VERY nicely done. The UI is beautifull, and the app is lightning quick on my
Galaxy Tab 10.1.
I've been using ES File Explorer and File Manager HD almost since I first bought
my Tab. Both are excellent apps, and both serve my needs well (my tab is rooted).
So, I don't really *need* another one.
But this file manager is so nice to look at, and so fast, and very intuitive.
Great job. Looking forward to the release.

ETA: Ok, first *glitch*, although I'm not sure it's a glitch. Navigated to the shared pictures folder
on my PC via the network function, and clicked a few. One particular shot wouldn't open. Got a message at the top
of the screen that the image was too big, etc.
This is the first app that wouldn't open the photo because of it's size (9.6mg).
While it's not critical, and not a deal breaker, I really hope it can be fixed.
 
Jacksmyname said:
Just installed this app.
I've only spent a few minutes with it so far.
I can tell you that when this baby goes live, I'm in for the whole shootin' match.
VERY nicely done. The UI is beautifull, and the app is lightning quick on my
Galaxy Tab 10.1.
I've been using ES File Explorer and File Manager HD almost since I first bought
my Tab. Both are excellent apps, and both serve my needs well (my tab is rooted).
So, I don't really *need* another one.
But this file manager is so nice to look at, and so fast, and very intuitive.
Great job. Looking forward to the release.

ETA: Ok, first *glitch*, although I'm not sure it's a glitch. Navigated to the shared pictures folder
on my PC via the network function, and clicked a few. One particular shot wouldn't open. Got a message at the top
of the screen that the image was too big, etc.
This is the first app that wouldn't open the photo because of it's size (9.6mg).
While it's not critical, and not a deal breaker, I really hope it can be fixed.
Click to expand...

Thanks! An improved image viewer with the ability to view very large images at full resolution is on the to-do list, but will likely land post 1.0.
 
tliebeck said:
Thanks! An improved image viewer with the ability to view very large images at full resolution is on the to-do list, but will likely land post 1.0.
Click to expand...

Great.
Found another item that would be helpfull.
On my computer, I have a folder labeled "Manuals". These are various user manuals
that are .pdf, along with text files. Lots of files in that folder, and it would help to have
the icon for the pdf files show the Acrobat logo as all my other apps do, as opposed to the icon you now use. Makes browsing the folder much easier.
Been exploring your app, and I stand by my first post:
VERY nice!
Thanks.
Jack
 
Jacksmyname said:
Great.
Found another item that would be helpfull.
On my computer, I have a folder labeled "Manuals". These are various user manuals
that are .pdf, along with text files. Lots of files in that folder, and it would help to have
the icon for the pdf files show the Acrobat logo as all my other apps do, as opposed to the icon you now use. Makes browsing the folder much easier.
Been exploring your app, and I stand by my first post:
VERY nice!
Thanks.
Jack
Click to expand...

Regrettably Adobe doesn't really grant license to use the Acrobat logo in this fashion. According to their site ( Adobe Systems Incorporated Permissions and Trademark Guidelines ), they license it only for web use for docs created with Adobe Acrobat. Most products in the market are unconcerned with such things, but as a US company I have to abide.
 
tliebeck said:
Regrettably Adobe doesn't really grant license to use the Acrobat logo in this fashion. According to their site ( Adobe Systems Incorporated Permissions and Trademark Guidelines ), they license it only for web use for docs created with Adobe Acrobat. Most products in the market are unconcerned with such things, but as a US company I have to abide.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, but maybe I explained it wrong.
As these are .pdf files, shouldn't they display the logo?
They do with any other app I use.
In other words, if I open the folder with, say, ES File Explorer, the file icons display
as .pdf's graphicaly. With FX, they don't.
Still don't know if I'm explaining it right.
BTW, I bought the root license. All I need now is the final release and the network/media module.
Thanks again.
 
Release candidate 2 is out...new features/improvements include:

  • Added "customize home" panel to configure what items are on homescreen. Accessible via settings of from home "View" menu.
  • Added "add-ons" screen to show available/installed add-ons (can be disabled in any version via "customize home").
  • Fixed text editor rendering bug.
  • Added specific notifications for failed background operations.
  • Archives may now be automatically downloaded/opened from remote servers.

Release of 1.0 is imminent. Thanks again for reporting bugs, quirks, issues, and annoyances!
 
John55Mu said:
I assume that connection is still live with FX running in the background.
Click to expand...

Active file transfers will continue even if FX is in the background (even if the screen is turned off). For Android developers/technical folks: we hold a CPU wake lock and high-speed Wi-Fi lock (if on Wi-Fi) until transfers complete.

Active network connections (that are not actually transferring data) normally time out in 90 seconds if you're using the app, or 10 seconds if you've switched to another app or turned the screen off.
 
tliebeck said:
Release candidate 2 is out...new features/improvements include:

  • Added "customize home" panel to configure what items are on homescreen. Accessible via settings of from home "View" menu.
  • Added "add-ons" screen to show available/installed add-ons (can be disabled in any version via "customize home").
  • Fixed text editor rendering bug.
  • Added specific notifications for failed background operations.
  • Archives may now be automatically downloaded/opened from remote servers.

Release of 1.0 is imminent. Thanks again for reporting bugs, quirks, issues, and annoyances!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update on progress.
One more thing I've noticed.
When accessing a video on my computer via network, it takes noticably longer for the
video to start playing than it does with the other file managers I have, ES File Explorer and File Manager HD. The players I have are BS Player, All Share, the stock player. The players seem to hang for a minute or two; with the other file manager apps the videos start play in about 15-20 seconds. Minor, just letting you know what I'm getting here.
Still a VERY nice job you've done with this. It is, after all, a file manager but it's fun to use.
And graphically it's a joy just to look at it.
Yeah, I know, it's weird but hey, I have a reputation to maintain.
 
Count me as another big fan of FX. I've discovered something,though, that may or may not be something you can fix:

When I download a ZIP file in Tapatalk and try to view it with the FX Archive Extractor, FX crashes. If I exit Tapatalk and navigate to the saved file, there's no problem. Just an FYI. ;)
 
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