When you think about your smartphone, apps and interfaces are probably the first things that come to mind. Beneath all that surface-level stuff, though, our modern mobile devices are filled with files — folders upon folders of ’em! — just like the clunky ol’ computers we’ve relied upon for ages.
It’s valuable to know that your Android device is a productivity powerhouse. It can juggle everything from PDFs and PSDs to presentations and podcasts. It can even act as a portable hard drive and house any sort of important files you might need in your pocket. Your mobile device can carry an awful lot of data, and there may come a time when you want to dig in and deal directly with it.
Here’s everything you need to know to get under the hood and tap into your phone’s file managing powers.
You might not realize it at a glance, but Android actually allows you to access a device’s entire file system — even from the device itself.
Google’s excellent Files app comes preinstalled on Pixel phones and certain other Android devices. And if you’re using a phone made by Samsung or another non-Google manufacturer that didn’t include the app on your device by default, you can download it for free from the Play Store and use it in place of whatever less-fully-featured alternative your phone’s creator baked into its software.
When you first open Google’s Files app, you’ll find yourself staring at its Browse tab — which shows you your most recent files at the top followed by a breakdown of different categories like downloads, documents, and images.
Beneath that, you’ll find a “Collections” section that gives you an easy way to open any important files that you mark as favorites, as well as a way to stow more sensitive files in a special “safe folder” that requires extra authentication to access.
And finally, beneath that, you’ll see an “Internal storage” option that lets you browse your device’s local storage in a traditional file-tree structure to find anything you need.
JR Raphael / IDG
Google’s Android Files app lets you browse through files in a variety of ways, including via a traditional folder-by-folder view.
Perhaps most important, though, is the search bar at the top of the Files app — which lets you easily find anything on your phone, no matter where it might be hiding. Google’s in the midst of upgrading that function to let it search for text within images, documents, and PDFs, too, which will make it even more useful.
And finally, don’t overlook the Files app’s Clean…
2024-02-19 17:00:03
Post from www.computerworld.com