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Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by ubercow13 on Friday March 29, 2019 @11:47AM (#19522666)
Are the other ways good? If I create a file in app A, choose 'send to' app B to tweak it, open this file and a bunch of others in a batch processing app C using the file selector, in the end where is my file? Where's the most recent version, and can I go back to it in app A? How many redundant obsolete copies are still on my device in different apps?
Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by AnthonyMouse on Friday March 29, 2019 @01:32PM (#19523768)
Not only that, suppose a system update disables app A. It only quits as soon as you open it and the developer has abandoned it. Fine, it's just a photo viewer, I'll get another one. Wait, where are my photos now?
Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by izacus on Friday March 29, 2019 @06:03PM (#19526056)
When you pass around file URIs between apps (using Intents for example), the target app gets permission to process the URI (which can be a file or something else).

So no redundant obsolete copies. This mechanism has been in Android for years now.

Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by TeMPOraL on Friday March 29, 2019 @08:36PM (#19526790)
Still, unless the system allows for a general file viewer, I may eventually lose the access to a file, simply because the application I used to initiate the chain of intents disappears from the store / stops working / whatever.
Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by iggldiggl on Monday April 01, 2019 @10:10AM (#19543368)
Of course the original app must also permit the receiving app permanent access to that file in the first place, plus the receiving app can only ask the OS for permanent access to a relatively limited number of files.

And for files that might be opened through multiple apps (say you downloaded a picture - now you could reasonably launch a photo editor for that file directly through your browser, or through a file explorer, or your gallery or ...), each sending app will generate its own URI and the receiving app has no guaranteed way to decide whether those URIs all refer to the same app or not.

Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by iggldiggl on Monday April 01, 2019 @01:59PM (#19546142)
> whether those URIs all refer to the same app or not.

that should read "whether those URIs all refer to the same file or not."

Re:The Death of External Storage: Where's Google? by ggggtez on Monday April 01, 2019 @10:35PM (#19550552)
> disappears from the store

That's not how it works. It doesn't go and uninstall every copy.