yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I think some people here are using ZArchiver for this purpose: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.zdevs.zarchiver

As of 1.5.1 or 1.5.2, FX has a media type for .7z files so they will be associated with that app.

I do want to add 7z support to FX, but it may be a little bit at the moment as I'm working on some "very big" improvements to FX right now (hope to have screens/info here very soon).
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
Sounds very cool!
[Android Apps and Games] peterbonge:
Some days ago I've noticed that there are several situations where FX changes file time stamps:

- If I copy files they get the current date/time.

- If I extract files from an archive they get the current date/time.

- If I archive files they get a date in the 70s.

- If I copy files to Google Drive they get the current date/time.

That is really annoying.

AFAIK the first two problems are related to the (bad) file system. (One point where Windows Mobile was better than Android)

And I guess that the third problem is related to the OS.

But the last problem should be fixable, because FolderSync preserves time stamps. But there are not many provider which support this. As per the FolderSync help: FTP, SFTP, SMB/Cifs and Google Drive.

EDIT:

One more request: The bright theme is really great, but it would be much better if the home screen would also be bright. Mixed dark and bright is not so good.
[Android Apps and Games] GermainZ:
If you haven't already, you can set a custom (light) wallpaper with a transparency you like without changing the rest of the theme, IIRC. This will hopefully give you what you want.
[Android Apps and Games] peterbonge:
I know that, but really bright backgrounds don't make sense because of the bright texts.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I don't think I can do anything about the first two problems. File.setLastModified() is completely broken on Android...the only way I've been successfully able to set file last modified times is with root access.

The last two should be solvable. It sounds like FX is not setting the time appropriately when transferring files/creating archives.

Regarding the bright theme, I'm looking into this right now. Currently leaning toward a choice between light, dark, and translucent/wallpaper "base" theme. Would also be changing the menus to be bright with the "light" theme.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
One of the changes for version number next...a reconfigured menu bar. Overall height is reduced in portrait mode and ever-so-slightly-increased in landscape. The "Action" menu (in this case "File") and the View menu take up the majority of space, with the less commonly used Tools/Windows menus going icon-only. This screenshot also shows the "Light" theme, which will now change the menu bar to have a whitish background.
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
That looks awesome. Looks holo-ish which is pretty cool. Looking forward to the next release. :good:
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Hope there will be a dark holo theme. :D
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I'm currently thinking about providing four theme options:

Dark: Opaque dark backgrounds, no wallpaper. Dark menus/trim.

Light: Opaque white backgrounds, no wallpaper. Light menus/trim.

Translucent Dark: Translucent dimmed wallpaper backgrounds. Dark menus/trim.

Translucent Light: Translucent dimmed wallpaper backgrounds. Light menus/trim.

The basic "Dark" theme should be what you're looking for.
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Well, without screenshots i am a little blind ;) but it seems to me totally great.

Thanks for all the hard work.

PS : could i use that opportunity to ask you if you can maybe reconsider the "old" storry about navigating back through the hierarchy of bookmarked folders.

I know you implemented the long press on the "adress bar" but, well, it is not so convenient IMHO than just pressing the back button...

I hope you can have a second thought about this. It is the only real "issue" for me.

Thanks a lot
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Apologies for this, I still need to add this option, it's not forgotten, but may still be a bit as the next release is very much major features-oriented. What's needed is an "always expand bookmark paths" option in the settings (will be off by default).
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
This is a work in progress, but here is the current version of the updated home screen, shown with the opaque light and translucent light themes:

NOTE: Search bar definitely needs to be made less "bold" in the opaque theme, and I do want windows/tools menus right justified all the time.
[Android Apps and Games] djsubtronic:
The new Holo appearance looks awesome. Looking forward to a release.
[Android Apps and Games] CaliburManiac:
if this app could start an FTP server so one can connect to it with e.g. FileZilla it would be perfect (recent ES File Explorer 3 update has such a feature).

FTP is so much easier and comfortable than USB, plus one could not only access the sdcard but also other partitions like this via PC.
[Android Apps and Games] WeSiDe:
Have you tried using webDAV? I think it will do what you are looking for if not this developer has another great app called websharing file/media sync that works pretty good for this sort of thing. You can use it to make the phone or tab look like a network attached drive. I think the dev mentioned at some point merging it with the file manager, that would be great.

Does ftp have anything over webDAV feature wise?
[Android Apps and Games] CaliburManiac:
No, I didn't, but I also don't want to do it via browser. I will just use ES File Explorer 3 to do it as long as this one doesn't have this feature :)
[Android Apps and Games] WeSiDe:
Sorry took so long editing my comment. Yes, using a Web browser for file management sucks, so using webDAV to make phones look like a hard drive is very nice.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
[Android Apps and Games] kurtfhouse:
Tliebeck

Did you have any joy with this connection issue? Is there anything else I can do to assist in identifying the problem?

Also just my 2 cents on the themes. I think a more simple set of icons would look better and really fit in with the Holo look. Less colour and more flat. Maybe something inspired by the Stark icon set here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kov.theme.stark
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Haven't been able to reproduce the file transfer issue. Could you try reverting back to 1.4.1 and seeing if the problem is undone?

You can get 1.4.1 here:

http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r268/FX_r268.apk

Thanks for the icon suggestion. I definitely want to support third-party icon themes at some point, probably not in the next (2.0) release. I also need to look into simply flattening the existing icons (not sure if that can land with 2.0 or not).
[Android Apps and Games] kurtfhouse:
I actually meant more what you suggested. Flatten the existing icons to give a more modern feel. I was only linking to the Stark pack for an example. Personally I think 3rd party icon support isnt necessary but I won't say know to cool new features.

I'll give the old version a try later and report back.
[Android Apps and Games] kurtfhouse:
Okay, tried connecting to my PC with the old apk. Worked like a charm, no issues.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Google Play is broken again....PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY TROUBLE DOWNLOADING FROM PLAY STORE!

I'm experiencing some kind of bug with the Play Store, and am seeing FX Plus disappear for most (possibly all) tablets. The free stuff is all still there. If you bought the paid one and have any trouble getting it, please email me (my XDA username)@gmail.com and I'll send you the APK.

Have no idea what's causing this, have contacted Google Play support. I've not made any update to the APK. Curiously the root add-on seems to work just fine, even though it's essentially the exact same code (just an unlock key). In my Developer Console, it shows compatible with specific devices that appear as incompatible when viewed from the Play Store. :eek:

Sorry for the inconvenience.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks for trying this!

I believe the only thing which changed in the SMB/network code between those two is that support was added for DNS-based names for SMB hosts. It may just be a DNS problem on your network, but that wouldn't explain why it is able to eventually connect. FX uses netbios/multicast first and then falls back to DNS if it can't find it.

Regardless, I think I'll be adding support to manually configure SMB host resolution.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I've issued an update to the Root module to fix issues with the Google Play Store indicating that it is incompatible with tablets.

Assuming this corrects the problem (I do expect it to), an update to the Plus module will be uploaded shortly thereafter.

These updates are entirely unnecessary to install and are essentially identical to the existing versions (a manifest attribute was added).

Very sorry to annoy everyone with this. It turns out that simply *EDITING TEXT* in your app description can cause an update and make it incompatible with tablets.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Just curious...is anyone using the Bluetooth Server or Wifi Accelerator features of FX?

I'm thinking I need to retire these features in 2.0. There are enough device-specific Bluetooth related problems that these features can be a bit hit-or-miss.

The Bluetooth server is largely unnecessary, it was intended for phones that don't have the capability to receive files over Bluetooth, and I believe such problems are a thing of the past.
[Android Apps and Games] bruce7373:
I've never understood what WiFi accelerator does. And when I try to transfer files from my tab or phone to my Win 7 desktop, it fails (something about no BT FTP server on the PC). And of course all Windows tells me is that it encountered an error sending a file to the device. I can, however, send files between my phone and my tab, but it's easier just to use something like Dropbox.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
The WiFi accelerator works on the principle that WiFi is a heck of a lot quicker than Bluetooth. When active, the WiFi accelerator runs a tiny HTTP server to accept incoming files that are sent to it via Bluetooth push. When FX initiates a Bluetooth push file transfer, it checks if the target has that HTTP server running, and if so, sends it the file over WiFi. When it works it's quite nice...but so many devices have Bluetooth issues that it just isn't worth having in my opinion.

The connect-to-Bluetooth server functionality and sending files via Bluetooth (using the inbuilt feature of Android) will remain in 2.0. Macs have a built-in Bluetooth FTP server that works reasonably well.

The server support I'm removing from FX is the ability for it to start it's own BT Push (not FTP) server to accept files. Some older devices didn't offer this...all new devices do. This feature has to be turned on in the settings of FX in 1.0-1.5.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
Maybe make it a module that can be downloaded by those who need it.

Didn't Google mention during I/o that they were going to basically include Bluetooth stacks in the next version of android?
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
Nope. Happy to see both these go. :)

As for other feedback, the new themes are looking good but I feel as though it's half-baked. For example, the Semilucid theme doesn't change the home screen, header, or the action buttons at the bottom.

I think the normal Lucid theme should remain - it looks awesome. :good:

As for the other two, the theme needs to apply to the whole app. Instead of Semilucid, call it Light and create a holo-like light theme that applies to the whole app including the home screen and action buttons etc.

Monochrome should become dark and take on the holo-like dark theme.

If you don't want to use holo then at least make them consistent.

You just don't know what you're going to get with either of those additional themes in their current state. Some things change and others don't. It just seems a little half-baked IMO.

I love FX but will continue using the standard Lucid theme for now. :good:
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Everything in 2.0 is based on Holo (if you have Android 4 or later) and is actually still quite Holo-esque if you have 2.1-3.2.

The four themes currently available for 2.0 are:

Light

Dark

Translucent Light

Translucent Dark

The homescreen shots posted here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=41735122&postcount=1539 are shown with the Light and Translucent Light themes. The "Dark" versions simply have dark menus/dialogs/activities, and the non-translucent dark theme uses a black background.

Here's an example of non-Explorer activities with the light and dark backgrounds:

The Light/Translucent Light themes will have "trim" (i.e., sub-activities/dialogs/menus) that look like the first screen, and the Dark/Translucent Dark themes will have ones like the second screenshot.

So effectively there are two versions of "Lucid", two versions of "Monochrome", and Semilucid has been removed.

The default header bar will be a dark gray (think it needs to be darker even then those screenshots show). The default header bar won't be affected by theme setting, but will be configurable. I actually need to clean house there...currently think most of the options other than gray, bronze, and cyan look have not been a good fit for a long time. Will retain color options, just need to pick some colors that look good.
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Well, it lloks pperfect to me.

Thanks a lot
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
Thanks a lot for the details and a couple of screenshots. That actually looks really great. I can't wait for v2.0 now. :good:
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
I seldom use bluetooth for sending files. I tried using it with fx a couple times but it din't work well, so I reverted to the system bluetooth tools.

Being always connected, sending a file is much easier and faster by mail, IMHO.

Never used the bluetooth server or wifi accelerator, even though I think the latter is cool :)
[Android Apps and Games] bruce7373:
I'm trying to set up an FTP connection between my tablet and phone. I have an FTP server running on the tab, but when I try to connect from my phone, FX throws up an error message.

If anyone has done this successfully, what's the trick?
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
It should just work. Can you connect to a public FTP server, e.g., ftp.mozilla.org? Is the server running on the standard port (21) or an alternate port? (Use the "Advanced" option to specify a port.) Is there any encryption, i.e., FTP-S or FTP-ES?
[Android Apps and Games] bruce7373:
Yes, I can connect to my website no problem. But the server does use a specific port and I didn't think to specify that with FX. That must be it. Thanks for the help. :thumbup:

Later: yep, that was it. All is good. :)
[Android Apps and Games] 2LoT:
Hi Tod,

For next coming 2.0, can you merge the Root Add-On into FX Explorer directly? This will make the job a little bit easier for me to restore FX each time I flash a new ROM.

1- Can you make the menu bar in the bottom context sensitive? Basically depending on the context, the bottom menu icons change itself so the most obvious actions could be access directly in one single click. For example, when 1 or more object are selected, the bottom menu bar will contains icons corresponding to the most common actions: Copy, Delete, Move, Previous Location, More ... Currently this menu is constant "File, View. Tools, WIndows". To select multiple objects and then copy/move, it requires currently with FX v1.52 too many button taps.

2- With time, I have noticed I move back and forth very often between the two most recent locations. If there was direct button in the menu bar, this would save me a lots of time. I would even say I am very willy to trade the "Windows" button to the "Last Location" button. Actually I use the Windows button exactly for this purpose, but it requires too many taps.

3- Of course it's hard to please everybody, would it be technically possible to allow a totally configurable Menubar?

As for the vote for the look. Anything dark will do. I am not very picky about look.
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
I often use 3 windows so the purpose is different than "last location", at least for me.
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
I like this idea a lot. All for it. :good:

Even if a smaller bar could pop-up above the static current menu bar with the options to cut/copy/paste/etc that would be great.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
How about something like this?

This will light-up whenever items are selected. It will say "MULTI SELECT" instead of giving the item count when in multiple selection mode, with the right-hand options unchanged.

Window management gets better in FX 2. Will have more info when initial test release is available, which I'm hopeful to have very very soon.

I've set up a Google community for doing v2 beta releases via the Play Store here:

https://plus.google.com/communities/101301040394875566704

Join that community if you'd like to use the beta....Google Play has a new feature that lets you beta test apps by joining a Google+ community. I've never tried this feature before and have no idea if it's worthwhile or not, but I do want to give it a shot. I'll also be posting direct install links here of course.
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
could it be made optional?

I quite like screen space, so I'd rather use long-press than have an extra bar taking up space.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Yes, it can be disabled via settings, but I'm thinking on-by-default.

v2 does have quite a few places where screen space is regained, e.g. compact menu & clipboard.
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
options are always good.

and I agree with having that bar enabled by default, many people who would want that bar probably wouldn't like digging through settings to find it.
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
joined!

will I automatically get beta updates via play store? or is it a different entry alltogether?

I like the new layout, but would it be possible to show the new bar only when multi select is active, and put the mutil-select switch in the menu bar?
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
Count me in!

BTW the screenshot looks great! Does the bar with cut / copy / delete hide when no items are selected? Or do the icons change to something like new file / folder / archive?

That would pretty much meet the request idea I posted a few pages back about making headers to separate the file menu I think.

Anyway, can't wait for beta!

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:21 AM ----------

Here was that post

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=40556522
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I believe you will automatically get updates to beta APKs. I haven't tried this feature of the Play Store yet, have only read the description. And I won't really get to see how it works until I add the beta APK. As always, all APKs will be available from this thread though.

If you turn off the "Show Selection Bar" option, you'll only see the bar when multi-select is active. I think there's enough space to add a multi-select option in the main menu though, at least not on phones in portrait mode.

This isn't quite what you're asking for...that bar only appears for selection. It's gone when nothing is selected.
[Android Apps and Games] 2LoT:
Good idea for these "context" buttons. Look like there is still room for some more. Can you add "Multi-Select On/Off", and "Paste" buttons along side with Cut, Copy, Delete? If there is not enough room, personnally I am very willing to forfait the text "N selected".
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
That looks awesome! Really can't wait for 2. Should be epic! :good:

Joined the community also.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
That makes sense. Interface stuff like this will definitely clean and polish the app (which BTW is already amazingly clean and polished!)
[Android Apps and Games] Pons:
[MENTION=2954544]tliebeck[/MENTION] any progress on adding ACCESS_SUPERUSER to the manifest, or is that way back on the back burner?
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I'm very much want to get this corrected, but am still uncertain as to the best course.

Ideally I'd like to have the root module only require this permission. TBD if this is doable.

Alternatively the permission gets added to FX itself, possibly with the elimination of the root module altogether, instead making it be enabled simply by a configuration option. Such a solution is ideal if you're not paranoid about the potential problems down the road.

I still have severe reservations about this flag. It sounds like it needs to be implemented, but I don't see any reason why a large carrier might not use it to categorically ban apps from their users. It's been done before for other legitimate categories of apps (in other ways) , and I don't see any data to suggest it won't happen again (especially when it's made so terribly easy). Such an action will have some lovely press release attached to it that uses the phrase "protecting our customers" at least a half-dozen times.

It appears everyone is jumping off the bridge though, so I have to as well. Quite frustrated on this one, hope to have something in 2.0, but if not it'll likely be very soon thereafter.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
I see both sides of what you're saying, and I like both points. The one factor I'd say sways me towards liking the "merge root into main and include the manifest permission" option is that there are a large number of widely respected apps that use root that I don't think carries want to target, if anything it'd be Google to come after them first, but I don't think Google will remove all root apps from the play store without having a lot of backlash.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
I don't think Google will be the problem. I'd imagine it'll be a carrier request to forbid apps requiring the permission. There would be significant backlash, unfortunately no one will care. At least in the US, carriers control the entirety of the mobile ecosystem. Consumers have a "Hobson's Choice" when it comes to picking a carrier, and carriers are well aware of it.

I'm not saying this is going to happen, my problem is that such an event wouldn't be out of character. With the superuser flag, they've been offered an absolute means to implement it. They haven't done it yet, but they've also never had the tool to do it handed to them on silver platter. If it happens, it'd likely be a reaction to some significant perceived and likely incredibly overblown security threat to Android phones.

I'd be a heck of a lot more comfortable with the superuser flag if it were a bit more "legitimate". I strongly support the idea of a superuser flag, but the fact that making your own phone work the way you want is somehow considered reprehensible makes me think twice before labeling the main FX app with this flag.
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
I totally agree with this. It's actually really good to know you've sat back and thought about this rather then just adding the permission just because others are doing it. :good: