yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
FX 2.0 beta 1 is now available!

2.0 has a few previously unmentioned improvements in addition to the Holo makeover. Notably we now have the option for viewing two panes. The split point can be moved by dragging the lower path bar or splitter, and it works in both portrait and landscape orientations.

You can also use a pinch gesture to zoom in most any view. This screenshot shows a split view of the same location, one zoomed all the way in, the other all the way out:

And here is the same effect on a home screen, this time in landscape orientation.

In many locations, zooming does more than simply make text and icons larger. More information is revealed as you zoom in, as is the case in the Apps catalog:

NOTE: I'm only posting the same locations in both panes above for demonstration purposes...normally you of course wouldn't have the same content in each pane.

You can start the dual-pane browsing mode in two ways:

Tap the Window menu and select "Split View".

Drag the "path bar" down and release it where you'd like the window to split.

Exiting the dual-pane mode is done in a similar fashion, either tap "Split View" again in the Window menu or drag the separator/path-bar off the screen. You can also flip between the last two active windows by dragging the path bar from the top of the screen to the bottom.

The dual-pane mode can be used in horizontal and vertical orientations, and of course FX still supports unlimited windows open at any given time, it has just received the added ability to show two of them at once.

The pinch gesture is supported in most all file/media views, and even on the "Home" screens. Zoom levels are remembered somewhat independently, e.g., zooming in on a home screen will change the default zoom level of all home screens, but won't affect directory listings.

The theme options have been updated in 2.0. There are currently four themes available:

Light: Solid white backgrounds, no translucency (the default).

Dark: Solid black backgrounds, no translucency.

Translucent Light: Translucent backgrounds in the "main view", light trim/menus, light dialog box/ancillary activity backgrounds.

Translucent Dark: Translucent backgrounds in the "main view", dark trim/menus, dark dialog box/ancillary activity backgrounds.

The Bluetooth Push server and Bluetooth WiFi accelerator have been removed from 2.0. The Bluetooth push server is essentially not required on almost any modern device. The WiFi accelerator feature was unreliable on an increasing number of devices.

2.0 beta1 can be downloaded here:

http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r2023/FX_r2023.apk

The old stable version (1.5.2) can be downloaded here:

http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r286/FX_r286.apk

Please keep a backup copy of 1.5.2 handy on your device in case you run into a critical issue with 2.0.

I will be uploading the beta to the Google Play beta group shortly (this will be the first time I've used the Google Play beta distribution system...future releases will appear in both places simultaneously).
[Android Apps and Games] djsubtronic:
Looks great, but one issue - I had it previously set to show small icons so in list view I had two columns as opposed to one. It's now gone back to one column in the larger size and I can't find the option to make it small again...
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
The size-adjustment options have been removed, just "reverse pinch" to zoom out.
[Android Apps and Games] djsubtronic:
Oh wow, brilliant. Thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] Mk.Xal:
I am using another file explorer for a lot of time but your design update make me feel the wind of change :)

Really impressive, minimalist in presentation now and very configurable, thx.
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
Looks awesome. I'll wait for the Google Play beta release. I'm wanting to see how it all works. :good:

Really looking forward to it.
[Android Apps and Games] Cocolopes:
I cant say the same thing...its great but dont has root options and I need that.

under water
[Android Apps and Games] doumer:
not yet, but the dev is working on. after the final release with root it will definitivly be my only filemanager :)
[Android Apps and Games] Cocolopes:
I know that! This app its the best I found

under water
[Android Apps and Games] everlethal:
Any root update soon? :)

All Tornado
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Root and search are the current major focus areas. Root won't be enabled in the next update (coming very soon). Search *might* be available in a very basic form (the search implementation is indexed/database-backed, so it's a bit more complex than that in competitors' products and it has taken some time to get right).
[Android Apps and Games] everlethal:
Thank you sir. :)

All Tornado
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
0.85 is out. Regrettably this has been shipped as a bugfix-only release, the search feature just wasn't quite ready for prime-time yet. This does fix the sort-by-kind crash bug and a performance bug when using the Zip viewer to look at large files.

Work continues on search and root, please be patient, both of these features need to work *very* well.
[Android Apps and Games] kay_kiat88:
Nice. Thanks. Have been following this thread since the start. Was getting a little quiet lol. Haven't spotted any obvious major bugs since the previous release.
[Android Apps and Games] everlethal:
Hi

I don't know is it request it already , but is it possible to add unrar option?

All Tornado
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Hope to expand the archiving capabilities a great deal, but very likely post 1.0. Right now FX is very weak in this area (only plain unencrypted zip files are supported). RAR is on the list, but if I recall correctly we'll only be able to do unarchiving in this format (think they don't license anything or there just plain isn't anything available to create them).
[Android Apps and Games] kay_kiat88:
Found 2 new probs.

I'm using adwlauncher ex. When I try to change icons, I tried to use FX Image Viewer to choose my icons but when FX pops up, I only see "Unable to read file". Doubt it's a problem with adwlauncher ex because when I tried to choose the png using other file explorer it works.

Another problem is that sometimes FX crashes after I delete files. I tried to replicate but can't. It only happens on random occasions.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks for the reports!

I'll take a look, I'm running ADWLauncher EX on my personal phone.

Any chance you can send a logcat when it crashes deleting files? All I really need is just the exception, i.e., search the logcat for "nextapp.fx".
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Forgot to ask, can you tell me if it happens on local files or network files (or both)...and on single files or recursive deletes (or both)? Do the deletes in question take a period of time? Do the files wind up actually being deleted?

Thanks again!
[Android Apps and Games] modtang:
I'm having problems getting the Windows networking to function properly but I'm going to play around with it some more later as this is a feature I would really like to have. Is there anything I need to know might help me that isn't in the help file?
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Happy to help. The one issue I've seen with Windows logins is "anonymous authentication". If it's a normal password-protected account though, it should work. One thing to try might be using the IP address.
[Android Apps and Games] kay_kiat88:
I'll try and pull the logcat when it FCs again. It happened for local files. I don't know bout network files though. I deleted network files once or twice before but it didn't FC. The most recent FC happened when I was deleting an apk about a 4mb in size. The apk did wind up actually being deleted after I opened FX again. Will send you a logcat when I encounter this again.
[Android Apps and Games] rosswaa:
Got a problem, if I cut and paste from folder to another folder when I reboot the files are gone completely

Only does this when I use fx and its abit of a problem as iv lost so many photos I would have liked to keep from reptile shows and my dog and girlfriend
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Are the files only disappearing from the media index (i.e., when you go into Images) or from the file system itself? What device/ROM are you using and what Android version?
[Android Apps and Games] rosswaa:
They're completely gone from the file system like I deleted them

I'm using a desire HD with the newest cm7 nightly I think its 2.3.7 android
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
This is extremely strange, given that the files are intact until the phone is rebooted. I'd recommend connecting the phone to a computer and backing up completely before doing ANYTHING with it at this point.

Three more questions....

Is this repeatable?

Are only media files destroyed? (i.e. are folders and non-media files left intact?)

Are you absolutely certain that other file managers are not doing the same thing on this device with the same build of your CM7?

The reason I ask is because FX isn't doing anything particularly exciting here relative to other file managers, we're calling the same Java APIs to move/copy files as everyone else.

The only thing that possibly comes to mind is this bug in Android itself: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3692

(and this will only occur if you're playing around with ".nomedia" files, and FX works very hard to avoid it). I would lean this direction only if it's purely media files.

Other than that it could be SD card corruption or an issue where the device is not writing cached files to the SD card.

Thanks again for the report, file corruption/loss issues are extremely critical regardless of the cause.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
Pinch and zoom is epic, the new look of the menus is a nice touch (detached almost pop out-ish)

One thing I'm feeling is the bottom bar is a hare too small.

Also on the customize home screen the "OK" button at the bottom is a bit small as well.

I haven't missed when trying to tap anything yet but my brain tells me I'm trying harder to make sure I don't miss. So it feels a bit less natural I guess.

Otherwise so far I'm super impressed, everything via flashy and fast and awesome.
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
Now the killer feature would be drag and drop from one panel to the other :)
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
I think there's a little issue with the usage view: I was in the download folder, switched to usage view and it started scanning folders outside of it.
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
I have a few comments on the appearance changes.

I'm using the translucent black theme.

the translucent header option isn't working, it stays solid grey which looks a bit out of place when everything else is transparent.

the yellow markers showing enabled toggles are a bit too bright, and look a out of place in an interface with mostly blue and black or blue and white.

I'd like some control over the homescreen headers, they used to have a "raised" background, but now they are completely flat and blend in with the wallpaper instead of clearly separating the different sections on the homescreen.

and the header/address bar no longer looks raised, which makes it look as if a part of the top and bottom are cut off.

elban: previous versions did that too, it's caching the contents of those folders so the usage view loads quicker next time.
[Android Apps and Games] GermainZ:
Copying large folders seems extremely slow. Talking about folders with ~3k items, it took FX about 10 minutes (and SU permissions timed out twice before it worked), while cp -r /folder/ /location/ did it in less than 20 seconds.

I'm using the latest Google Play (official) release. I can test the beta if you want me to, or provide a logcat/test anything that might give you more information.

Oh and, the beta looks amazing. Great job.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
I can confirm all of this, and I agree with your opinions, but I don't mind the yellow. I wouldn't mind it being different either, but I don't feel its currently out of place.

Edit

Also for the home screen I don't mind the items not being raised, but the headers "files" "resources" etc, seem almost unnoticed, they could use something to make them stand out

And the navigation header being flat makes it match the snazzy new menus, which I'm cool with, but maybe make some separation between the navigation and the items, like a raised looking border but still flat color (or translucent color once that's fixed :D)
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks, and regarding the boldness of the yellow, what theme are you using? I've been tempted to make those a bit less prominent on the dark themes.

Almost all raised elements have been flattened for the Holo aesthetic. The only items that have depth are popups, icons, and list item borders. Using "depth" very sparingly (or not at all) is one of the major design elements of Holo (which also matches general aesthetic trends in UI design, e.g., those from Google, Microsoft, and now even Apple).

If more separation is needed, I'd me more tempted to use contrasting colors or solid lines than adding depth/3D appearance to anything. There are still some 3D-appearing bits that I'd actually like to remove (e.g. landscape split pane separator looks out of place).
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
as i said in my earlier post, I use the dark translucent theme.

and I don't mind if things aren't raised, my problem is more with how it was flattened.

the address bar/main header looks as if the top and bottom where cut off(which I think could easily be fixed by allowing transparency again, and perhaps making the > divider smaller)

and for the smaller group headers on the homescreen a slightly darker color behind those headers would make them stand out more.

edit: I've included an image showing what I think looks better(couldn't do the transparency part though).
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Have certainly thought about this, but we're all out of gestures, i.e.:

Swipe up/down is vertical scrolling.

Swipe left/right is selection. Even if this were removed for use in drag-and-drop, it'd be weird in portrait orientations.

Long press is context menu.

The only thing I can think of would be something like a two-finger drag, but I think that'd be a bit odd.

I'm a bit leery overall of DND on touchscreens...the potential for accidents is extremely high if there's not a very "positive" engagement on both the drag initiation and drop/release.

I am tempted to add "move to other pane" and "copy to other pane" options to the context menu when in dual pane mode.
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
Makes sense to me. I think I'd use that.

About DND, I think it could be a tap-and-hold that would hide the menu when dragged. I admit it's not convincing, even myself :)
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Very good call on the chevron ">" dividers, they do look out of place. Probably just going to thin them out a bit:

And also "thinned" in this screenshot is the item title text in the file listing.
[Android Apps and Games] ardax:
As handy as "send to other pane" gestures would be, I agree that we're out of anything sane to use. I love the idea of added context menu actions though.

Also, I'm really digging the zoomable UI and dual-pane mode though. These are really awesome features.
[Android Apps and Games] Nucleotide:
Just downloaded the beta via the play store. All worked well.

v2 looks awesome - love it.

One little thing though - when you highlight a file/folder a small bar appears at the bottom which is great. You select copy and the bar disappears. To paste the file/folder, you've got to tap the small clipboard button in the top right and then select paste.

Would it be possible to simplify this further by keeping the bar at the bottom visible but after selecting copy or cut, another button appears for paste? If need be, a smaller button, maybe an X to symbolise close, could be used to close the bar if you didn't want it visible, in which case the only way to past would be to use the clipboard.

Apart from that, I love it. Really great update. Thank you! :)
[Android Apps and Games] Szczepanik:
If you look at Dolphin browser you will see that there are potentially a huge number of gestures, for example > for right and < left. Maybe double fingers to invoke gesture overlay (he says hopefully not having the least idea how to do it but in awe of FX File Explorer as it is now!)

Cheers

Tom

My Note 2 to you
[Android Apps and Games] peterbonge:
I have a problem with the new Beta:

The "FX File Chooser" doesn't work anymore and the white text on the bright background are nearly unreadable.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
I can confirm file chooser when trying to attach an image in gmail says "couldn't attach file"
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks, two different dumb mistakes here...activity was not "exported" and was of course reading the wrong theme config. New beta coming ASAP with a fix for this and a few other items.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks for reporting! Is this is only with root? Is this a deep folder structure as well, or are the 3k files in one directory?

FX should use a single shell instance to perform such an operation, i.e., the "su" command will be executed once for the entire operation (single shell will even be kept active across operations, if they're less than a couple minutes apart and the screen is left on). Only thing I can imagine here is that the superuser app deliberately kills the shell after a time interval. Are you granting SU permissions for a period of time, or permanently...and which su app is it?

And you're seeing this with 1.5.2, correct?

Just tried backing up /system to a location in /data...1572 files, took 3 minutes under FX (root->root)...bit over one minute with cp -R. I believe performance is inherently somewhat reduced on "many small files" copy operations in FX vs. cp -R (which is of course pure C code). On a lighter note...FX can actually beat "cp" on big single file transfers due to being multithreaded though.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
2.0 beta 2 is now available, published via Beta channel on Play store and also available here:

http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r2025/FX_r2025.apk

This is pretty much bugfixes and aesthetic cleanups. The translucent header/menu bar are now working again. File chooser should be fixed.

Screenshots of the translucent theme with translucent menu/path bar:

I think I may need to add a tiny bit more "definition" to the path bar...perhaps just a 1px black line below it.

Once again, to get beta updates via Play Store, join this Google+ community: https://plus.google.com/communities/101301040394875566704

Then opt-in to use beta instead of released version here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/nextapp.fx

Thanks again everyone for helping test this, (and I try to hit the "thanks" button on all helpful comments but frequently run out, limited to 8/day by XDA).
[Android Apps and Games] Namoi:
Thanks,

BTW, no thanks limitation when using tapatalk or xda app ;)
[Android Apps and Games] babylonbwoy:
Beta is downloaded and installed automatically (wonder if there's an option to dl but install manually), anyway it works.

Homescreen looks "flat", a little bit of relief would be better

for me at least ;) (sorry already posted same in G+ page)
[Android Apps and Games] Szczepanik:
Liking the dual pane.On 2.0 beta 2 I cannot sort folder on my phone. (Can sort PC!) Also on Samsung Galaxy Note II the right icon is part obscured. See screenshot.

Cheers

Tom

My Note 2 to you
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
what kind of dpi settings are you using?

the icons and text are much smaller on my note 2 using default dpi.
[Android Apps and Games] Szczepanik:
Thanks. My Note 2 is stock but I have system > display > font size: "large". When I change back to font size "normal" it shows all the icons (but I have to put my glasses on!) Either setting does not allow me to sort.

Cheers

Tom

My Note 2 to you
[Android Apps and Games] thedicemaster:
some options are disabled in media view, if you want to sort icons you have to use the regular file view.
[Android Apps and Games] Pons:
[MENTION=2954544]tliebeck[/MENTION] was there any thought on stacking the file systems that are basically mounted elsewhere (such as cache)? Or listing a sub mount (not sure if that's a phrase; kind of like a subdirectory) together but maybe slightly offset, so that you're following the directory path? For instance, this applies to certain phones with a /data and /data/data partitions.

Also, when changing the theme, nothing happens until you back out of settings. I understand this is how Android works, but how about automatically reloading the app back into Settings with the new theme applied (or maybe a prompt telling/asking the user), so the user sees and knows something is happening.

Excellent work on the UI so far, looks much sleeker in my opinion.
[Android Apps and Games] iXNyNe:
In this picture the cancel/delete buttons are rather small (I mentioned this in a previous post) it seems common across many of the ui dialogs.

I appreciate the screen real estate but I'd say this could be a tad bigger to avoid second guessing if I'm going to miss the button during natural interaction.

In this picture the hide button is the X which is normally (in most peoples brain) close (as in cease this action)

Maybe the icon could be changes from an X to something else.

Maybe a well spaced out _ and X like a desktop environment (thus replacing the need for the stop button)

Also the stop button follows the trend mentioned above being rather small.

---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

Notification has a line of text (maybe more) that is only partially visible. The notification isn't expandable.
[Android Apps and Games] GermainZ:
I was copying a folder from my SD card to /system/lib. The folder was about 15MB big. It's a vim config directory, the files aren't all in the same directory and some are ~7 directories deep or so.

I granted SU permissions permanently, using ChainDD's Superuser app (the free app doesn't allow a customizable Access timeout, so I suppose it's set to 5m by default). And I'm using 1.5.2, yes.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Interested to hear thoughts on what the default theme should be....transparent or light? I'm leaning toward a light trimmed theme in either case.
[Android Apps and Games] Mk.Xal:
Light, without doublt.

I am using the transparent theme but think about people who use special wallpapers, some are bright, some are dark, some are.. dark and bright :) And I think your app will not get the best "first look" depending on the user wallpaper.

Hope you understand :)
[Android Apps and Games] elban:
I think the default should be light (as is the current trend for Google apps), nontransparent.
[Android Apps and Games] tliebeck:
Thanks, bear in mind that by default the background is dimmed 70% to black though (can be adjusted). That said, this can still be a problem in some more extreme cases.
[Android Apps and Games] Mk.Xal:
A lot (too much) people keep an app (or not) on the first try. You made a very nice app but the competition is hard in the File Manager category. I really want your app to be more downloaded so I think the light version par default is the best choice. And as elban said, a lot of Google app are holo white themed by default.

But if you cannot make your choice, maybe create a small wizard when the app is openened the first time. People are able to choose the theme, view style (icon or list)... it just an idea, I don't need it but it's just an idea :)