ES File Explorer: Alternatives ?

[PeteCress]

Somewhere along the line, my instance of ES File Explorer got ugly.

"Junk File Removal", for instance.

v4.0.2.8 (Market).

I *think* I recall paying for ES - or, at least, the LAN access feature.

Can anybody point me to an older version from before the "improvements" ?

LAN access is my only "must", so any other app that would fulfill that requirement would work too.

Edit 2015 12-01 13:20:

Found a "good" version: v3.2.4.1.

 

[lunatic59]

Try X-plore instead. While I am a fan of ES for local file management, once you start using it for network access there's some dubious activity going on with sending your credentials through a server(s) in China. Frankly I don't trust it.

 

[PeteCress]

Try X-plore instead. While I am a fan of ES for local file management, once you start using it for network access there's some dubious activity going on with sending your credentials through a server(s) in China. Frankly I don't trust it.

X-plore seems seriously fast compared to ES.

And the UI seems more intuitive so far - although I am awhile from doping it all out....

Thanks!

 

[PitCarver]

I installed an older version (3.2.5.5). Can't remember where I found it, but that version allowed me to change the theme. Couldn't stand the new look when it came out.

 

[lunatic59]

They took a Windows XP-ish interface direction, so anybody who's touched a PC in the last 15 years should be pretty well up to speed right from the start.

 

[Thom]

I had the same issue as you and started using Explore along with X-plore after getting nailed by an assumption I made in ES regarding the cleaning. I accidently deleted all apks I had developed that were in a separate folder on my phone. I gave ES permission to "clean" them by mistake.

I recently got a 128GB SD card and had heard of problems accessing them from my Turbo 2. To test it I tried copying a 10GB folder to the SD card multiple times to fill the space.

At the exact midway point one of the apps failed. This was like 51GB copied and 51GB available. At about 100GB the other app failed. It threw error after error.

I tried ES at this point and it filled the rest of the space without a problem.

... Thom

 

[fdbryant3]

This article details four alternatives for ES File Explorer. They are:

Amaze
Solid Explorer
FX File Explorer
Cabinet

The article goes into details why one might be a better choice than others based on the ways you use ES File Explorer.

For what it is worth I've never really used ES but have started using Amaze and have been happy with it, your mileage may very.

 

[Crashdamage]

X-plore is my default file manager and IMHO easily the best. Yes, it is seriously fast!

FX File Explorer is my alternative manager. Completely different from X-plore. Don't let all the eye candy fool you, underneath that is a very good file manager.

ES File does have security problems and is not safe if it has internet access.

 

[Hadron]

Like many people here I used to be a fan of ES. But they became more cluttered in their UI and more questionable in their attitude to privacy. So a year or two back I deleted them, end of.

Currently I have Root Explorer and X-plore installed. If I had to recommend one of them it would be x-plore - less intuitive than Root Explorer, but a very powerful interface and perhaps better if you don't have Root. But I love both apps, and cannot say more than try both and see which works best for you. I use both myself.

 

[Crashdamage]

I had the same issue as you and started using Explore along with X-plore after getting nailed by an assumption I made in ES regarding the cleaning. I accidently deleted all apks I had developed that were in a separate folder on my phone. I gave ES permission to "clean" them by mistake.

I recently got a 128GB SD card and had heard of problems accessing them from my Turbo 2. To test it I tried copying a 10GB folder to the SD card multiple times to fill the space.

At the exact midway point one of the apps failed. This was like 51GB copied and 51GB available. At about 100GB the other app failed. It threw error after error.

I tried ES at this point and it filled the rest of the space without a problem.

... Thom

That ES finished filling a SD card already over half full doesn't prove much. Now, if it filled the card from empty that might mean something. Might.

But I don't think anyone is saying ES is no good. It's very good. It's just not safe to use with Internet access.

 

[Thom]

I agree ... it is not safe. I was only using it locally. I got nailed by the new Clean option because I didn't read the fine print.

My only point was that I had given up on it in favor of Explorer and X-plore. Then I hit this little task of writing to a 128GB SD card (beyond 51GB and then beyond 100GB) and ES was the only one of the three that would do it.

This made me need to start (cautiously) using it again.

... Thom

 

[AZgl1500]

IF, you only need to move things from the phone to the PC, ASUS File Manager is my 1st choice.

I use it many times a day, every time I take a picture and need to post it on a forum somewhere.
I do a lot of technical support, and take a lot o screen shots of stuff....

Once configured for your Network, it is fast!

* File Manager ASUS - Android Apps on Google Play

 

[Thom]

Interesting ... I use a USB cable and Windows File Manager. (Really really fast)

... Thom

 

[AZgl1500]

Interesting ... I use a USB cable and Windows File Manager. (Really really fast)

... Thom

that takes way too long for Winders to sync up with the phone, then I have to go find the images....

ASUS File Manager always puts the folder with the Most Recent images on top of the list.
then even if I am out in the yard taking pictures of something, I just do 3 or 4 clicks and the images are on my Desktop PC before I can even get back in the house.

I don't like using the USB cable every time to transfer files.
that is just asking for trouble on that little micro USB port.
it will, one day, start refusing to work if it is over used.

I have a Qi wireless charger in my S5s, and Note 4.... never, ever, use the USB port much at all.

 

[Crashdamage]

I use FolderSync to immediately upload photos to Google Drive, among other things. Then the Google Drive desktop client syncs GD to the Windows computer. Insync does it for my Linux box. I could use Google Photos, but that compresses or downsizes photo files. Using FolderSync uploads untouched files and works for any type of file.

Using FolderSync I never have to break out a USB cable either. Just setup the foldes to keep synced and whether 1-way or 2-way and it's all automatic.

 

[lunatic59]

I use Google Drive, DropBox and OneDrive. I have so many clouds, I am my own weather system.

It's pretty simple. I keep my personal stuff on Google, family stuff on Dropbox and work related things on OneDrive.

 

[Crashdamage]

Gotcha beat. We have 4 Google Drive, 1 Amazon Cloud, 1 Dropbox and 1 Copy.com clouds. One of the Google accounts is 1TB. I have all the others synced to it with CloudHQ so it acts as a kinda Master Storage. That way everything is accessible from the 1TB Google Drive. Really simplifies things. Gotta love CloudHQ!

 

[AZgl1500]

I use FolderSync to immediately upload photos to Google Drive, among other things. Then the Google Drive desktop client syncs GD to the Windows computer. Insync does it for my Linux box. I could use Google Photos, but that compresses or downsizes photo files. Using FolderSync uploads untouched files and works for any type of file.

Using FolderSync I never have to break out a USB cable either. Just setup the foldes to keep synced and whether 1-way or 2-way and it's all automatic.

I choose NOT to do that, as I take a huge number of pix everyday... and I can't afford the DATA consumption that would entail.

I much like the idea, but can't afford to use it.

 

[Crashdamage]

Hmmm...we can't afford not to. Most of the photos are taken by my wife and are sent to her customers or maybe posted on her website. It's not a photography business and they're just taken with her Nexus 6, but we want them sent in the best quality possible. And anyway, don't even family photos deserve that?

 

[AZgl1500]

Yes, but your needs and my needs are a lot different.... I take a huge amount of photos that are of no interest what so ever to my family. they are nearly all on Technical Subjects on a forum, and are actually useless the instant I post them up.
I delete them off the /DCIM/.... folders just as soon as I am thru with them.
the only ones I keep are the ones that I edit and rename to something meaningful, and that is on a big Desktop PC...

different strokes for different folks, and that is why we have so many apps available to us.

 

[RA_BH]

I almost hesitate to bring up File Manager by CM…but if not for the spyware aspect, strictly for on-device manipulations, it would be very good, imho. that said, since I have a utility that can disable its undesireable permissions (like internet access so it can phone home), which ones would I need to turn off?

 

[Crashdamage]

Take away all internet access and you should be safe, but that will limit its utility.

But why bother? Better, not just safer, but better, file managers have been mentioned in this thread already.

 

[AZgl1500]

I have removed everything that CM makes from my phones....

they are not to be trusted, and their constant barrage of advertisements drove me nutty.

 

[RA_BH]

Take away all internet access and you should be safe, but that will limit its utility.

But why bother? Better, not just safer, but better, file managers have been mentioned in this thread already.

I'm not totally resistant to change, but I was using this for a few years, before I was educated here. I have also DL'd a few of the alternatives and will be looking at them, too. aside from the 'worn shoe of comfort' File Manager provides, it really does do what I need, and I've never used it or similar tools for internet operations.

 

[RA_BH]

I have removed everything that CM makes from my phones....

they are not to be trusted, and their constant barrage of advertisements drove me nutty.

This is my only exception, and I use an ad-blocker, so I was spared that garbage.