FX File Explorer: a "desktop-class" file/media manager for Android

[tliebeck]

After saving, TextEdit closes the keyboard. I save a lot and virtually never want to dismiss the keyboard after saving. But it's a major pain because the only way to open the keyboard is to touch somewhere in the current file. But if you use a small font in order to see a lot of info, it's impossible to touch in exactly the right spot, so you then have to do some cursor movements to get back to where you were after a save. Operating one-handed, whether on my S4 or Note 2, this is quite difficult, turning saving a simple text file into quite a difficult operation. Can you add an option to leave the keyboard open upon saving? Or at least add a menu item to open and close the keyboard so that I can maintain the current cursor position?

Thanks for the suggestion and apologies for the delayed response.. Have been crazy-busy since 1.5 working on 2.0. This is definitely a good point, hadn't seen it as I'm still addicted to my Droid 4 keyboard.

 

[tliebeck]

FX 2.0 Released


FX 2.0 is now available on the Play Store. I've updated the first post of this thread to include all-new screenshots showing off the 2.0 features.

The major changes include:

• New Holo-based UI. Tons of other aesthetic updates throughout the app.
• New light, dark, and translucent themes. FX 1.5 added some theming capability, but 2.0 takes it significantly farther. The entire UI can now be changed between light and dark themes. Virtually every aesthetic element has been updated.
• Dual pane view. Panes are resizable, and work in portrait and landscape mode. You can use the "Split View" option in the Window menu to start dual pane mode, or just swipe downward on the path bar. You can also swipe the lower path bar away to exit dual pane mode.
• Pinch-to-zoom, everywhere. In any "Explorer" view, you can pinch-to-zoom to zoom in or out. Zooming will increase/decrease the amount of information displayed in some views, e.g., in root views, the permission data and last modified time will be removed as you zoom out.

And a pair of screenshots for good measure:

From a tablet (this is ONE screenshot )

 

[JimmyTheSaint]

What happened to the Layout and Size appearance options that enabled choosing the size of the home screen items? I depended on being able to make the home screen icons large enough so that they'd show in one column. In two columns, I'm unable to operate the app one-handed, which is a must-have feature for me. This is a real loss in functionality. I had to use Titanium to revert to 1.5.2.

 

[tliebeck]

What happened to the Layout and Size appearance options that enabled choosing the size of the home screen items? I depended on being able to make the home screen icons large enough so that they'd show in one column. In two columns, I'm unable to operate the app one-handed, which is a must-have feature for me. This is a real loss in functionality. I had to use Titanium to revert to 1.5.2.

The size options were replaced by pinch-to-zoom. Individual zoom settings are remembered for different screen types (e.g. home screens vs. file listings vs. music). The home screen one vs. two column threshold was deliberately set very close to the default (100%} setting...if you just zoom in a tiny bit (102% on my phone), it'll flip to one column.

 

[JimmyTheSaint]

That's a nice implementation, the way the indicator moves up and down the left side to indicate zoom level.

 

[tliebeck]

Beta Release: FX 3.0.0.17:

Available in the beta channel on Google Play (may take a moment to become available, uploaded shortly before this post).

Direct download version: http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r3017/FX_r3017.apk

FX 3.0 is now available in beta. This version is a major user interface update/design change.

• New User Interface
  • Holo Action Bar menus are now used throughout FX.
  • All new icons. Color "content" icons have been updated, including using some AOSP-based icons where appropriate. Monochrome "action" icons are now used for all menu items.
  • Animation. On by default, may be disabled in appearance settings.
  • A "Selection Mode" is now used when selecting items. Once you select an item via swipe-to-select or enter multi-select mode, the main menu is replaced with a selection menu. The selection menu includes options such as cut, copy, delete, and other operations which work on multiple selected files.
  • The "File" menu has been removed. The New File and New Folder options have moved to the "main" Holo menu, while the options that required a selection are now located in the "selection mode" menus.
  • The "Window" menu is available by tapping the "FX" menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen. The number of open windows is indicated by the number of bars next to the FX menu (up to three, with four bars being used to indicate four or more windows).
  • In landscape orientations the path bar is now combined into the action bar to save screen space. This feature can be disabled via the settings if desired, or you can also enable it in portrait orientation (requires a large screen device).
• Improved KitKat 4.4 MicroSD Workaround: you can now create folders using the workaround. The workaround must be enabled in the settings (under File Management). Disclaimer: this is an experimental workaround that will likely be deliberately broken by future versions of Android. In KitKat-SDcard-related error messages, there's now a direct link to get SDFix from the Play Store (if you have the root add-on installed).
• Added support for creating and extracting 7zip archives (currently does not support browsing).
• Added support for browsing Tar, Tar/GZ, and Tar/BZip2 archives.
• Tar, Tar/GZ, Tar/BZip2 archives now support creation and extraction of archives with UNIX permission data (SetUID, SetGID, and sticky bits are dropped for security though). To do this, you must create archives using root access, and/or copy files out of archives using root access.
• Added a trivial "pop-up" audio player (intended for use previewing tracks or playing voicemails).

Obligatory screenshots. Click them for 1920x1080 versions.

The home screen, landscape mode, showing the path bar inline with the action bar:


The "flip" animation playing after the path bar has been dragged to the bottom of the screen, engaging the "Flip to New Window" feature:


An action bar pull down menu:


Selection action mode, with the action bar being replaced by the selection menu:


The window slide out menu:


Portrait orientation, showing conventional separate path and action bar:


Google Play Beta Testing information
You can sign up for beta testing using the Google Play Store's new app beta-testing feature.
If you'd like to beta test FX, you can do so by joining this Google+ community: https://plus.google.com/communities/101301040394875566704
Once you've joined, you can opt-in to use beta instead of released version here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/nextapp.fx

 

[walangpangalan]

Using 3.1 version and I love your app! But the problem is that the search includes folders and files with "." before its filename. I also tried placing a ".nomedia" file but still the searchth continues to find folders and filesI don't want other to see. Thank yuo for such a great app and I hope you can fix this issue

 

[walangpangalan]

Using 3.1 version and I love your app! But the problem is that the search includes folders and files with "." before its filename. I also tried placing a ".nomedia" file but still the search continues to find folders and filesI don't want other to see. Thank you for such a great app and I hope you can fix this issue

 

[tliebeck]

Hello all,

I have a new major revision of FX in beta testing, version 5. This release adds more Material Design and some major new file sharing related features. Among these, the "WebSharing" app has been incorporated directly into FX as "FX Web Access".

A new device-to-device sharing system, "FX Connect" can be used to transfer files using Wi-Fi Direct. Connections can be established using NFC by touching two devices together back-to-back with FX open. With FX Connect you can grant the other device access to view a guest folder, music files, or even the entirety of the user storage. Files can also be copied from one device to another using a "shared clipboard" feature:

The beta APK can be downloaded directly here: http://android.nextapp.com/fx/r5028/FX_r5028.apk
You can also download the beta via the Google Play Store by opting in to the beta test here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/nextapp.fx

And a few obligatory screenshots of version 5:

( More screenshots/higher resolution: https://plus.google.com/+TodLiebeck/posts/iGL3132znzr )

This release should be very stable and close to production ready, I'd greatly appreciate any bug reports or last-minute suggestions!