Not happy

[DebbieHeaney]

I've only signed up to these forums to say i'm NOT happy about a feature of Android 4.4 Kit Kit.

Can't write to external storage. Who's bright idea (not) was that? Had i know about that in advance i WOULD NOT have installed 4.4 kitkit!

I don't transfer filies between PC and smart phone very often, nor do i edit documents on the smart phone very often but when i do i would like to be able to use the 32GB of local SD card storage to save things.

I DO NOT want to use online storage! I'm on a Pay As You Go (PAYG) mobile payplan with a limited ammount of network data and what you are doing by practicaly forcing me to sign up and waste data on what should be a BASIC function of any computer / mobile device: To save data LOCALY and in a location with the most free memory.

Not happy.

 

[DebbieHeaney]

Ohh! don't forget about the costs of online storage!
Or the costs of making sure i can afford the mobile data to access online storage
unemployed person here = no money to waste on things i shouldn't need just because some inconsiderate person says i have too.

I thought the whole point of upgradable memory via SD card was so youcould USE IT! To save space on the devices own memory! to save on internet costs and for access to your files for when you do not have internet access.

Rant over. (for now)

 

[Standroid43]

Rant over. (for now)

No, "rant over" suggests that the problem hurts less now that you've finished your rant. I'm sure that's not what you feel.

We need to keep the drum beating on this. Google listens. They must! To not listen to the customer community would be EVIL!

So pile on. Do any of you doubt your competence to clean up leftover files on an SD card? Do any of you buy the argument that SD cards are evil? Or, is it Google that's flirting with being evil?

Stan

Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk

 

[Golfdriver97]

Ohh! don't forget about the costs of online storage!
Or the costs of making sure i can afford the mobile data to access online storage
unemployed person here = no money to waste on things i shouldn't need just because some inconsiderate person says i have too.

I thought the whole point of upgradable memory via SD card was so youcould USE IT! To save space on the devices own memory! to save on internet costs and for access to your files for when you do not have internet access.

Rant over. (for now)

No, "rant over" suggests that the problem hurts less now that you've finished your rant. I'm sure that's not what you feel.

We need to keep the drum beating on this. Google listens. They must! To not listen to the customer community would be EVIL!

So pile on. Do any of you doubt your competence to clean up leftover files on an SD card? Do any of you buy the argument that SD cards are evil? Or, is it Google that's flirting with being evil?

Stan

Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk

To clarify on the SD card and KitKat: KitKat and SD cards — what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood | Android Central

 

[DebbieHeaney]

To clarify on the SD card and KitKat: KitKat and SD cards ?€” what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood | Android Central

Thanks Golfdriver97.
Same old same old really. This is done for "security reasons". standard issue nowadays for any software update, i'm not saying upgrade as i still thinks it's a step backwards which is more a downgrade.
YES I DO see and understand how having unrestricated access to the SD card can be a problem but this is software we are talking about here.
there is NO WAY to keep out the evil doers taht want to steal our information. It's a dead cert that the nasty side of software developers WILL find a way around this in time.
What can be built can be broken plain and simple! somebody builds a security system, it's only a matter of time until somebody finds a way to break it! FACT!
I WANT/NEED access to save/edit and move stuff in/out and around the SD card !!!!
Sure i can add stuff to the SD card using the cable but i can't save any edits made to documents afterwords.
I'm off ona day trip very shortly to see somebody. It would be very, very benificial if i could take some personal stuff with me that can be edited. But in the infinite wisdom of "experts" they did NOT make it clear what all the updates involved.
I would NOT have taken the 4.4 kitkit update had i known! what would that have done for my security then?!! huh?
Left it wide open anyay!

Just for example:
everybody switchs to cloud storage, lets say dropbox(1st name to think of).
with everybody now using dropbox then the villians will target dropbox knowing they will eventualy get something. the only thing there is instead of just getting my stuff the get yours and a bunch of other people stuff too.yeah that is really secure. NOT.
Don't say "It can't happen" because IT CAN!
how long ago was the Playsation network hacked? yeah...you with me...lots of users details compromised....duh. IT CAN Happen. and that's just one example.
all hail "the cloud". NOT. Local storage for me wins everytime

 

[srkmagnus]

Welcome to the forums!

What exactly are you trying to do? Please provide a specific scenario so we can best help you and find the solution that works best.

For example, are you trying to edit photos and want to save to the internal (or external) sd card?

 

[DebbieHeaney]

Welcome to the forums!

What exactly are you trying to do? Please provide a specific scenario so we can best help you and find the solution that works best.

For example, are you trying to edit photos and want to save to the internal (or external) sd card?

Hi srkmagnus,

It's mostly spreadsheets i want to edit and the occasional Word document too.
I have a few spreadsheets and word documents that i have created and use a lot on the PC. At times it has been usefull to transfer these to the smart phone so i can take them away with me and use/edit/save changes on the move.

Photos and videos too sometimes although i don't really edit them on the phone but do shoot/save them on the phone then transfer to PC later for easier editing.

I am currently using "ASTRO File Manager" and "Docs To Go" for navigating around the mobile device and the editing of documents and they have always worked great. I can open any file in any location but i just can't save edits made to a file saved on the SD card.I’ve been trying for months but kept getting the same message that the app couldn’t write to the SD card so I ended looking up the “problem” online to find out what has been changed/done in Android 4.4 KitKat

Sure i can temporarly store documents on the phone's memory but it's the principal of things. The mobile phone supports (and is fitted with) 32GB Micro SD card. I should be able to store ANYTHING (videos, photos, music, speadsheets, what ever) i want on that card without having to worry too much about memory space and having to juggle files in and out to make space on te handsets local memory.
Software (and hardware) developers are dictating what we want or should be using when it should be the consumers dictating what they want. I want to be able to create and save anything offline. But no. the "experts" are pushing and pushing to move everything into the online world.

If my files are stored on my handset (preferable on the external memory) then if anything my phone is more secure because Wi-Fi is turned off, mobile networks is turned off and bluetooth is turned off. No network connection = no remote access to high-jack anything.
Turning any one of those on to work "in the cloud" means i'm more open to malicious attack.
It saves on battery power too, handy when not near a power outlet to charge up, and saves money on network data too.

 

[zorak950]

We just need a better universally-operable filesystem than FAT. In theory, if SD cards were more secure this would be a non-issue. Google is just jury-rigging a fix now.

 

[darkmage619]

We just need a better universally-operable filesystem than FAT. In theory, if SD cards were more secure this would be a non-issue. Google is just jury-rigging a fix now.

I keep hearing things and I suppose I am not understanding something. How is unrestricted access to the sd card a security violation? How many play store apps did malicious things to sd card data? How many customers complained that their camera app or file manager or word processor app did bad things to their sd cards and wanted Google to step in? I see the sd card like an external hard drive on my pc I can save what ever I want to it. I don't need Microsoft to save me. I don't need Google to either. This was a solution to a problem no one complained about and it took away functionality we've always had!

 

[Spencerdl]

I keep hearing things and I suppose I am not understanding something. How is unrestricted access to the sd card a security violation? How many play store apps did malicious things to sd card data? How many customers complained that their camera app or file manager or word processor app did bad things to their sd cards and wanted Google to step in? I see the sd card like an external hard drive on my pc I can save what ever I want to it. I don't need Microsoft to save me. I don't need Google to either. This was a solution to a problem no one complained about and it took away functionality we've always had!

EXACTLY this ^^^

 

[zorak950]

I can't blame Google for being preemptive. If someone did come along and delete a bunch of people's data, we'd all be here outraged that they didn't fix a known vulnerability. This is not Google's fault, it's the way the technology works.

 

[DebbieHeaney]

If malware is of such concern to developers then what they would be better doing is screening and vetting any and all apps uploaded to Google Play before the apps are made available to the public. Those that pass vetting get published, those that don't get binned.
This way we get a fully functioning operating system and better security.
If somebody downloads an app from outside Google Play and it causes them grief then they have nobody to blame but themselves.
And this is BIG problem with society in general. Blame. Everybody is just too quick to blame somebody for a mistake they made and not the other person.
We need to find the balance of protecting each other and making sure the right person gets blamed for something even if it means taking the blame for yourself.

 

[Golfdriver97]

If malware is of such concern to developers then what they would be better doing is screening and vetting any and all apps uploaded to Google Play before the apps are made available to the public. Those that pass vetting get published, those that don't get binned.
This way we get a fully functioning operating system and better security.
If somebody downloads an app from outside Google Play and it causes them grief then they have nobody to blame but themselves.
And this is BIG problem with society in general. Blame. Everybody is just too quick to blame somebody for a mistake they made and not the other person.
We need to find the balance of protecting each other and making sure the right person gets blamed for something even if it means taking the blame for yourself.

I have been trying to figure out a way to help you with the original issue, but as I don't use SD cards anymore, I can't. I got tired of having cards fail on me (1 PNY was corrupted twice, and a Sandisk once) that I am no longer a fan of them.

From an SOKP Nexus 5

 

[Standroid43]

If malware is of such concern...

Malware is a red herring in this problem! Any security concerns that apply to user app access to the external SD apply equally to internal storage and Google has, so far, not restricted access to those internal directories.
In case some of you haven't noticed, the same Orwellian restrictions on access to the external SD that arrived with kitkat also apply to USB OTG storage. USB OTG was one of the defining differences between Android and IOS and I used it a lot on my sgs2, but it is unusable under kitkat!

Give us back full access! We don't need nor want IOS-style training wheels.

Please Mr Google, tear down this wall!

Stan

Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk

 

[zorak950]

Any security concerns that apply to user app access to the external SD apply equally to internal storage...

Not true. ext4 doesn't have the permissions issues that FAT has.

 

[sfrrr]

Is this one of those changes that Google introduces and then just waits out all of our screaming until we all get used to it?

If so, we don't have many options.

Rooting and returning to an earlier version of the Android OS or changing to a different phone operating system is a pain. And it may not even help--iOS doesn't permit expansion cards such as SD cards or otg cables, And i don't know whether windows phone does.
We all know that Google is doing this to boost its cloud business as well as have control over every other part of our lives--for marketing purposes, of course. So, they're not going to accomodate us.

Right now, I'm looking for a secure cloud that has nothing to do with google's businesses. Preferably not apple's or microsoft's either.

I wonder whether one could put one's data onto one's own website.

GT-I9500 running 4.3

 

[osvanberg]

The latest version of WP 8.1 do have full external sdcard support !! You can even install full/total apps now on the external memory!

Skickat fr?n min GT-I9195 via Tapatalk

 

[sfrrr]

If my S4 running 4.4.2 were rooted, would I be able to use my external sd card?

 

[darkmage619]

If my S4 running 4.4.2 were rooted, would I be able to use my external sd card?

You could apply a 'fix' that would undo Googles permissions for the SD card. I wish Google would leave it up to the users to protect their own data. I don't need or want Google to do that for me.

 

[sting7k]

Who's bright idea (not) was that?

It was Google's bright idea. Use the internal flash memory for storage.