USB Mass Storage (UMS)

[sntaylor]

Hi guys,

This should probably be in the android section or google or anywhere, but i figured this would get the best coverage from others....

What do you think about google taking away androids native ability to connect to a computer as UMS?

I have a problem where our local library, or my work or pretty much any computer that isnt owned by an individual is locked down and unable to download things, particuarly software like drivers, this means when i connect my s4 to a computer it isnt seen as a media device, well it just isnt seen at all, likewise if i try to connect it to my tv.

at least with my s2 you had the option to connect as a media device or as a UMS which was brilliant as i could transfer files, pictures, videos, anything really, and i could plug my phone into the tv and it would allow me to watch things or view things stored on it.

So how does this affect you guys, if at all? do you care and if you do, what can we do about it?

 

[argedion]

I think its crap. My phone/tablet is an extension of my media world. I think that ums is a vital part of having the phone. I like the ability to plug it up and be able to transfer media between devices. I deal with a lot of photos and don't really want to fill up my phone/tablet storage with them when I have terabytes of on my computer that I can store things on. Anyway that's my two cents

 

[Codegerm]

To be honest I don't use my phone's usb that much. I do transfer files to and from it through WiFi regularly and use ES file explorer to access my LAN's network drive. Although I still have the UMS ability.

 

[shmn]

As the days go by, Google gets worse and worse.

I'm a strong believer that in any business if you put the customer first, the money will follow. Unfortunately, most companies/CEOs/CFOs/MBAs don't think that way. They put the bottom line ahead of all other concerns.

When Google started out, they were concerned with the end user while still making a boat load of cash. But now, it seems, they are so concerned with the advertising business that the end user (customer) is being left behind.

Sorry for the mini-rant. Had to get it off my chest.

But there are ways to get UMS if you are rooted...I use "USB Mass Storage Enabler".

 

[saptech]

So far on my phone I'm still able to use it as UMS. It is running GB also, not sure if version matters are not. When did this start?

shmn, an old school CEO once said how times have changed with companies. It used to be customers/clients came first, employees came second and stockholders third. This kept a happy & healthy company/business. Now days it's stockholders first, customers/clients second and employees third!

 

[Revenant Ghost]

Well, my Virgin Mobile-branded EVO 3D is capable of UMS out of the box. But since my phone is also rooted with a custom recovery, I have the option in the recovery too.

 

[sntaylor]

If I believe correctly(I'm sure I'll be corrected) then jelly bean doesn't natively hold the ability, however it doesn't affect devices like the s2 which had the ability before upgrade, but I cannot seem to get my s4 to be able to do it, and it's rooted currently running probam (cm10.2 based Rom which states ums as one of the features!) :-(

 

[Slug]

There's nothing preventing OEMs including UMS if they choose, as Sony (for example) have done with their current devices. Their 4.2.2 firmwares all still support UMS.

 

[brendan]

Hi guys,

This should probably be in the android section or google or anywhere, but i figured this would get the best coverage from others....

What do you think about google taking away androids native ability to connect to a computer as UMS?

I have a problem where our local library, or my work or pretty much any computer that isnt owned by an individual is locked down and unable to download things, particuarly software like drivers, this means when i connect my s4 to a computer it isnt seen as a media device, well it just isnt seen at all, likewise if i try to connect it to my tv.

at least with my s2 you had the option to connect as a media device or as a UMS which was brilliant as i could transfer files, pictures, videos, anything really, and i could plug my phone into the tv and it would allow me to watch things or view things stored on it.

So how does this affect you guys, if at all? do you care and if you do, what can we do about it?

I think it is really shitty and it creates a huge f up for me especially as I do not own a pc anymore.previously I had an s2 which was stolen and I lost three years of pics an vids of my son cause I took too long to copy onto my ps3. I dont want it to happen again but now its damn near impossible without a pc to transfer my files for safekeeping and memories.i have an s3mini now.anybody please have a solution for me without having to root my phone.thnx brendan

 

[Gmash]

One of the worst decisions Google has made imo. I think it started on ICS.

 

[Hadron]

I mainly use it to transfer files between my phone and my Macbook, so the Android File Transfer tool does the same job for me (except it forces me to use the Finder rather than my preferred terminal commands!). One of HTC's updates broke this, but a bit of web searching turned up a work-around for that.

So the bottom line is that I can get the same functionality, but only using extra software and with the risk of it breaking. So while it's not stopped me doing anything, it is more complex and more fragile. The advantage is that the volume is still mounted on the phone while doing this, but that was never a serious drawback anyway (if I'm transferring data then that's what I'm doing, and I'll unmount when I've finished). So overall the negatives outweigh the positives for me (and would do so by a bigger margin if I used Linux rather than the Mac for managing the phone).