RobotoSoft: third-party file managers

An open file system is an inherent advantage Android over other systems, but for convenient work, often, the capabilities of the stock file manager are not enough. Therefore, I want to tell you about two great applications for working with files.

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The experience of working with files on Android, in fact, does not differ from Windows: the internal memory of the smartphone is displayed as a separate disk, and the connected SD card as an external medium, between them you can transfer files and installed applications. Well, if you get Root rights, you can change system files, thereby expanding the possibilities for customizing your device. Of course, the question arises – is all this necessary for an 'ordinary' user? Most likely not, but there is a fairly large layer of people for whom this is the main factor in favor of Android. To do this, I want to tell you about two of the most prominent file managers.

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Many smartphone manufacturers build their file managers into their shells, often quite simple ones. For example, in LG UI such an application is called 'File Management', in it you can transfer, copy, rename files, open ZIP archives, you cannot only view their contents, you can only extract the entire archive. It even displays USB-OTG-connected flash cards. Supported cloud storage 'Dropbox' and 'Box'. It is somewhat reminiscent of the 'Explorer' in Windows, for most of the users its capabilities are enough.

For those who lack the capabilities of standard managers, I have selected two applications and will try to briefly talk about the pros and cons of each. I will not talk about the fact that the application allows you to work with files (copy, rename, move, etc.) and other commonplace things, only about important and interesting things.

ES Explorer

Personally, I have been using this application since the first versions Android, and since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. Over time, the application did not receive major updates, only changed the appearance to match the current version Android and slightly expanded the functionality, and this was good, because I got exactly what I needed from the application, no unnecessary ones. ' tinsel ', like application manager, task manager and other unnecessary junk. The manager's interface always looked overloaded, the display shows too many necessary and unnecessary elements, until a certain moment this was the only complaint about it, but this was more than offset by stable work, functionality and the absence of advertising. Only with the latest updates did I have real complaints about the developer, which I will talk about a little later.

Appearance

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As I said, the interface is a bit overloaded, the situation has improved over time, but it still cannot be called intuitive. In order not to be unfounded, I propose to take a look at the context menu of the selected folder, it consists of 18 (!) Items. And I can give a lot of such examples, but this cannot be called a big disadvantage, over time you will get used to the 'features' of the application.

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The appearance of the entire application can be customized in great detail by changing the color of the background, text, adding a background image and setting themes. Files and folders are displayed in a grid or a list, the size of their icons or a grid, as well as the detail of the list can be changed in the 'View' section. The workspace is divided into tabs that are configured in the 'Windows' section, where you can create new windows, move and delete unnecessary ones. This is convenient if you use other storage besides the built-in memory, be it a cloud service or an SD card, otherwise you will hardly need it.

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In the side curtain you will see 5 sections: 'Bookmarks', 'Local Storage', 'Libraries', 'Network' and 'Tools'. I don't see any point in talking about them in detail, but I want to draw your attention to the first item 'Bookmarks' – it's rather strange. Initially, it contains links to weather, news, Facebook and other pages that open in the manager itself. You ask: 'why is all this for a file manager?' – I personally do not understand myself, especially since half of the links are sent to non-working pages. Of course, this list is customizable and you can add the most needed folders to it, be it 'Downloads', 'Photos' or 'Music', for example.

Job

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It is one of the most advanced (if not the most) file manager for Android. The application works with all the most popular data transfer protocols: FTP, SFTP, FTPS and WebDAV, including remote access to your smartphone from a PC via Wi-Fi. The following cloud storages are supported: Box, SugarSync, DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Amazon S3, Yandex Disk, Baidu NetDisk and MediaFire. The connected cloud works as a separate folder, you can move / copy files in both directions. Working with archives (ZIP, 7z and RAR) is done in the same way, you can view their contents and unzip individual files, not the whole.

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Selecting several files or folders is done by long pressing on any icon, then mark the necessary files with a tick, now you can work with them through the context menu or simply 'drag' them to another folder. I would like to see a two-window mode, at least in landscape orientation of the screen, in order to work faster and more conveniently with two folders or storages at the same time.

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Over time, the developer added a utility called Cleaner, which periodically scans the device for all sorts of 'garbage' in memory: cache of deleted applications, duplicate files, etc. Personally, I do not need such functions, they work in the background and, often, prevent the device from sleeping well. In addition, Cleaner periodically sends notifications about its work and offers to clean the memory; you cannot disable them from the application, only using standard tools Android. This cannot be called a problem, but it does cause some discomfort, I would like to be able to disable this Cleaner.

Of the interesting things I can note: a simple built-in music player; work with system files (with the received Root rights); interaction with Android TV, I don’t know exactly how it works, but I will assume that you can stream content from your smartphone to your TV.

Solid explorer

This file manager appeared much later than 'ES Explorer', but, even during the beta testing period, it received very good user reviews and was able to win its audience. Fortunately, there was something to love him for: a pleasant and convenient interface, two-window mode, stable operation and a rather low price (at that time). So far, this is one of the most worthy examples of a file manager on Android. I must say right away that the developer provides a two-week trial period, and for subsequent use he will ask you to pay 103 rubles for the full version.

Appearance

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The application looks much nicer than ES Explorer and is also a little ahead in terms of usability, thanks to a simpler interface and two-window mode. The developer has followed all Material Design guidelines, so the application fits perfectly in Android 5.0 and higher.

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To customize the appearance, you can use three pre-installed themes: light, dark or black, customize the color scheme of the interface and change the set of icons.

There are two types of displaying files: in the form of a table and a list with varying degrees of detail, and using the pinch-to-zoom gesture, you can change the size of the icons. Each window is configured separately.

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On the working screen, using swipes, you can switch between two open windows (folders), in landscape mode they are displayed simultaneously.

Job

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One of the main advantages of 'Solid explorer ' over other conductors is working with files in two windows in Drag'n'Drop mode, that is, you can drag files from one window to another. It seems to me that keeping more than two folders open at the same time on the phone is not required.

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Several objects can be selected by short clicking on the icon or by long clicking on the line (if the display is configured as a list), then interaction with them does not differ from other managers, except that several files can be dragged into the second window.

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The app works with FTP, SFTP, WebDav and local servers. You can connect Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Yandex Disk, Owncloud, Box, Copy, SugarSync and MediaFire cloud as additional storage, working with them is no different from any folder from the internal memory. There is a full-fledged work with archives.

Conclusion

These are two of the highest quality file management apps for Android. Of course, you can remember Total Commander, ASTRO File Manager and many others, but all of them, one way or another, are inferior to ES Explorer and Solid Explorer in functionality or convenience.

I advise you to try ES Explorer first, if something does not suit you, then try Solid Explorer, in two weeks you can evaluate all its advantages, and the price tag of 103 rubles is not so big, especially for such a high-quality application. I still use ES Explorer, for several years I got used to it, and I do not work with files on my phone that often.

ES Explorer

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Price: Free

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RobotoSoft: third-party file managers

Solid Explorer

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Price: 103 rubles (2 weeks free period)

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RobotoSoft: third-party file managers

Write in the comments which file managers you use, it will be interesting to read.

Thank you for your attention, have a nice day!

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