Hi Vmusic. Yes, the SD card restriction introduced in (I forget which version) was a PITA, and I agree with you. BUT it was a security measure (or at least that was the official PR answer). Android DOES give you control of your SD Card as long as you stay within the stock apps or through a computer (something you still can't do with an iPhone, since we're comparing). That means that if you use your phone's stock File Manager, you should be able to have full SD card access in that app.
But many don't like the stock options and want something more 'powerful' or better looking. Enter 3rd party File Managers. And that's where newer versions of Android started restricting stuff. 3rd party apps (unless rooted) only have read access to SD card files and will only have write/modify permissions for files they created inside an app-specific folder. For instance, a 3rd party camera may read images from the SD card, but it can only write files to a folder created by the app in the SD card; what's more, it cannot edit or modify images in other folders but its own. Since the File Manager is trying to modify contents in a container it didn't create in the SD card, the system stops it from doing so.
Marshmallow, however, has gone back to a more friendly way of doing things and will also allow you to use the SD card FULLY for apps as well (currently apps can only use the SD card for external downloads, extra files, game saves, media, etc., but the main app file has to remain in the internal memory). This, however, comes with a reduction in performance since SD Cards are way less reliable and slower than internal memory, but chances are the 'normal' user won't notice a thing between the two.
01-18-2016 01:28 PM
