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Comment by mikae1 | Hacker News Reader

Used this for years, but after some repressive change to Android I can't access files in the Android/ dir where most apps save their files. Apparently it needs to be rooted for that to work.

So, sadly pointless now. I'm stuck with the default file manager.

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Material Files also allows you add a shortcut to the stock file manager (DocumentsUI), using "Add storage" > "Android/data" from app drawer. You may even manually edit the shortcut to point to a specific subdirectory inside Android/data, and I plan to make that easier (so that you don't need to manually URI-encode your path if you edit) in an upcoming version.

Cool, thanks.

I was dealing with this problem today; Total Commander couldn't get to those files (in Android/data/), but this "app" (which is apparently just a launcher for a built-in file browser which somehow acts differently than the preinstalled Files app?) fixes it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marc.files

Shizuku has made this bearable for me, otherwise I think there is no longer any benefit in running unrooted Android. If I'm going to give up all control of my device I'd rather run iOS.

I have the same issues. Use Total Commander, it can still access these folders.

It's the same for all file managers and the previous way of granting access is now patched via security fixes. If it's still working for you that's very likely because you granted the access before it was fixed, and if you move to a new phone you also likely won't be able to do that any more.

Thank you! I have been searching for a file manager to access e.g. application files. I can not believe this works!

Tested in Samsung Note 10 Lite, recently upgraded to Android 13.

Idk why but android just does that for some reason

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