Why won't sent pictures on kik save in my phone gallery?

[WDTMR]

When a friend messages me in kik and sends a picture I'd like to save it in my phone gallery, but when I hold or press to save it says it's been saved but when I look in my gallery it's just a blank square where the picture should be with the message "cannot generate thumbnail". It's so frustrating, all I want to do is save my friend's picture. Please help. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Moved to the General Help forum, since this isn't a general KitKat issue.

Use a file manager app to explore the directories, and look for the directory where Kik is saving these images. It probably isn't the same directory where your camera saves pictures. When you find the directory, see if there's a file called ".nomedia"--if so, then delete it. ".nomedia" instructs the system to ignore that directory when scanning for images to add to the Gallery database.

 

[WDTMR]

Hiya, thanks for replying, I'm sorry but I'm not very techy at all and don't know what a file manager is or how to find one, would you mind explaining in simple terms for me? Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

A file manager app on a phone is like Windows Explorer on a PC--it lets you look through the phone's internal storage directories and manipulate files (i.e., copy, move, delete, etc.). Which phone do you have? Some phones come with a file manager (like the My Files app on Samsung phones), while others have only a very rudimentary file manager (like Nexus phones). For the latter, I usually recommend a 3rd party file manager app like Total Commander (which is free, ad-free, and junk-free).

 

[WDTMR]

Thank you for replying again, my phone is an XGody model X700, not expensive at all, so I've wondered if that's why it doesn't work. Although when I first started on kik it did save pictures in my gallery but now won't and I've not done anything different. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Are the pictures saving to Internal Storage or a microSD card? If the latter, the card might be corrupt or failing.

 

[WDTMR]

Thanks again, I have put a micro SD card in my phone but I've hardly used it. When I use my camera it works perfectly well and no problem with them being stored in my gallery, I've even sent a couple of pictures while messaging on kik and they were delivered without issue. The only problem I have is saving pictures sent to me. There is a blank box in my gallery with the word kik underneath it and the number 12, indicating how many pictures there should be,so that makes me think they are in there somewhere. Thank you

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you try my first suggestion, which was to use a file manager app to look for that directory, and see if there's a .nomedia file there as well?

 

[WDTMR]

Hiya, I don't know how to look for that directory, so therefore can't get to a nomedia file. I really am just a beginner at this and don't understand what to do, been thinking of just giving up as I didn't think saving a picture would be this difficult. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Saving a picture usually isn't a problem, but some app developers may make it more difficult for you to view that saved media using the phone's usual gallery. Instead, they might make it so that you have to stay within that app to view the picture. This could be beneficial for the app developer, because the more time you spend in that app, the more data they might be able to collect from you (and many companies profit from that kind of data).

Install a file manager like Total Commander (which is free and ad-free). When you open it, tap "SD-card" at the top--this actually represents the phone's main internal storage, and not a microSD card. Now start tapping some of the folders you see, and look for something that might be related to Kik. The folder might have Kik in its label, but this isn't always the case. I'd focus on the following folders: Android, Media, and Pictures. Each folder may have more subfolders, so you can keep drilling down. To go back up a few levels, tap the bent arrow pointing up at the top of the screen (or tap the blue Home button at the top of the screen to get back to the initial screen).

If you do find a folder that is specific for Kik, then look in there to see if there is a file called ".nomedia".

 

[WDTMR]

Hiya, I installed Total Commander, tapped SD card and scrolled down to kik, tapped on that and a screen came up with a list of pictures that should be there but nothing that said "nomedia". I did see it when I tapped android and removed the green tick that was on it but my gallery still "Cannot generate thumbnail" when I try to view photos I saved from my friend on kik. It's really so stressful, doesn't look like I'll ever be able to resolve what should be a simple task. I dread being sent a nice photo now as I know it's pointless trying to save it and will only frustrate me more. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

What file format are the pictures in? JPG or something else?

Also, in Total Commander, tap the Menu button at the upper right, then Configure, then make sure "Show HIdden Files/Folders" is checked on. .nomedia is a hidden file by virtue of the period at the beginning of the file name.

 

[WDTMR]

Hiya, when I tapped Total Commander I checked "Show hidden files/folders" after configure, also tapped Configure image thumbnails then checked the box next to Show thumbnails. Under the Show thumbnails it says "Thumbnails for JPG, PNG,... Still not working.

 

[B. Diddy]

I can't find anything on the web about what format Kik saves images in. It's possible they save in a proprietary format that only Kik can display, but I can't be sure. Hopefully someone else can chime in about this.

 

[Nottechy]

Hi, I was having the same problem with my Acer tablet, then discover at could save the photos from Kik by screenshot, hope this helps