Which android devices have restrictions on ext SD card writing?

[sun7ss]

Hi,

I have a Samsung galaxy S4, and with the latest update, it became unable to write on an external SD card (this means that I suddenly was unable to use dropsync, or EzPdf reader for modyfing documents located on external SD card).
External Blues: Google Has Brought Big Changes To SD Cards In KitKat, And Even Samsung Is Implementing Them

However, I also have an Acer Iconia a500 tab, & everything works perfectly there, so the restriction did not affect the tablet.

I want to buy a new android phone now. Anyone knows a list of phones that have & don't have the restriction mentioned above?

I only want to buy a phone that gives all applications access to modify data on external SD card. Thanks

 

[Gmash]

It is a restriction in the Kitkat version of Android. Complain to Google about this horrible decision.

 

[sun7ss]

It is a restriction in the Kitkat version of Android. Complain to Google about this horrible decision.

Oh, if you'll tell me how to complain, I'll do it with pleasure.
But what android devices run android Kitkat? I know Acer Iconia doens't do it (I guess that, since I don't have problem with ext SD there), do all the phones do?

 

[Gmash]

Kitkat is the newest version, so this will be a problem with any phone that is up to date going forward, unless you want to get into the world of rooting. With root there are apps that can get around it. Of course, they keep trying to make rooting more and more difficult as well.

 

[Medion]

Hi,

I have a Samsung galaxy S4, and with the latest update, it became unable to write on an external SD card (this means that I suddenly was unable to use dropsync, or EzPdf reader for modyfing documents located on external SD card).
External Blues: Google Has Brought Big Changes To SD Cards In KitKat, And Even Samsung Is Implementing Them

However, I also have an Acer Iconia a500 tab, & everything works perfectly there, so the restriction did not affect the tablet.

I want to buy a new android phone now. Anyone knows a list of phones that have & don't have the restriction mentioned above?

I only want to buy a phone that gives all applications access to modify data on external SD card. Thanks

As mentioned previously, the problem is KitKat. However, there are still two ways that Google has allowed for MicroSD access. As of now, Dropsync only supports one of them (because all apps support this).

Plug your S4 into your desktop via USB. You should see two storage banks; internal and SD Card. Select internal. Head to the /android/data folder. You're looking for a folder named after Drop Sync (most likely com.ttxapps.dropsync or something like that). Make note of the exact folder name.

Next, go back to the section where you can select between internal/SD card, and select the SD Card. Once again, navigate to /android/data. Create a folder here with the same name as the /internal version (it has to match exactly). Congrats, you've just given MicroSD access to Drop Sync.

Now, disconnect the phone from the desktop and load up Drop Sync. For all your folder pairs on MicroSD, you need to sync them within the /android/data/com.whatever.dropsync folder.

Limitations: Here's where the second method comes in. Google wants app developers to support their "Storage Access Framework (SAF)". This is like a simplistic file manager. Without it, you're going to have media restrictions for anything within this folder. Some apps support this already. Drop Sync doesn't. I've emailed the developer, but he has no idea what SAF is (he didn't read the API documentation and his ego is too big to listen to a customer). You can try to email him and request that he support SAF, but that's a longshot.

 

[funkylogik]

Am I right in thinking most kitkat custom roms have a "fix" implemented?
Say cyanogenmod for example since most roms are built from it..

 

[sun7ss]

Wow, thank you so much, it works! How come no one ever told me that...?

 

[Medion]

Am I right in thinking most kitkat custom roms have a "fix" implemented?
Say cyanogenmod for example since most roms are built from it..

Most custom ROMs do, since it's a simple XML change. Because MicroSD is generally formatted as FAT32, and that file system only allows for broad read and write permissions, Android treats it as read only. The XML change makes it read/write entirely.

The /android/date folders are actually written to the internal EXT4 filesystem, and then offloaded by the Andorid OS to the MicroSD.

 

[funkylogik]

Cheers medion. I've seen a guide to fixing it on a rooted device but realised I'd never had any issues with my sd since getting kitkat presumably because I use custom roms :thumbup: