Manage files on Android

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Today we will make a very simple article to summarize them a little alternatives we have to manage files with Android. Brief introduction: the file manager is the program used to browse the folders on your mobile phone. To do this operation, a standard program from the manufacturing company is almost always present or the classic one is inserted Files by Google.

Files by Google It has a lot of features, it's fast and it even works reasonably well. However it is of Google. This can be a disadvantage for several reasons: first of all, it's not good for whoever you're with degoogling and does not want, on principle, to use nothing from Google.

Another problem, again related to Google, as well as containing the tracer par excellence of Google for usage statistics on Android ¹ (Google Firebase Analytics) is the request for access to the internet connection. Now, if you say Google don't trust me many reasons as we've talked about in the past, the last thing you want to do is also give it full access to all your data complete with an active internet connection.

Android and Google

Of course it must also be said that Android is from Google and as we know on a standard telephone requests are continuously made and sent data to Google servers ²³. And if you have a very cheap smartphone you are probably even worse off ⁴.

One solution is obviously to install an alternative to Android or, for those who are not experts, you can think of buy one Android smartphones with pre-installed /e/ where the ties with Google they were removed from birth. The ideal combination is probably the Fairphone with pre-installed /e/, The Fairphone it is in fact the only Android smartphone that uses only materials produced without slaves.

Having finished the preamble, here are some interesting applications for manage files on Android!

Manage files on Android

• Material Files, a very simple file manager with several interesting options such as the ability to also connect to FTP servers. It can be downloaded either on Google Play what up F-Droid;

• Amaze, another great classic. Aesthetically it is very pleasing and works quite well. This also allows FTP connections and also allows you to make a backup of installed applications. It can be found on Google Play come on F-Droid;

• lrkFM – File Manager, another interesting file manager focused on compressed files. In fact, thanks to IrkFM you can extract .ZIP, .7z, .TAR, .RAR files and much more. Available on Play Store come on F-Droid through IzzyOnDroid;

• Ghost Commander, unlike the previous ones, is developed with two panels. For some it may be a strength, for others it may just be a nuisance. To try! Available on Google Play come on F-Droid;

• Simple File Manager Pro, we even did one review. We like it because it's simple, effective and no frills! You can find it for a fee on Google Play or for free on F-Droid.

These are all just listed Open source. There are others that we would like to recommend, such as the excellent one X-plore File Manager. It has tons of really interesting features, but it contains two tracers statistics and crash reporting ⁵. It is only available on Google Play.

You can also try MiXplorer available for a fee on Google Play but also for free if you download the APK directly from the XDA forum (it is not stolen obviously, it is its developer who allows it to be downloaded).

1. Files by Google on Exodus[↩]
2. Google collects Android users' locations even when location services are disabled[↩]
3. How to stop your smartphone from tracking your every move, sharing data and sending ads[↩]
4. “Privacy shouldn't be a luxury”: Advocates want Google to do more to secure cheap Android phones[↩]
5. X-Plore on Exodus[↩]

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