Recommend file manager for remote files

[Michael Helm1]

Looking for a file manager for Samsung tablets that can READ from remote file systems easily: SMB/Samba, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud ... in about that order. It should READ/WRITE to SD card and internal. WRITE to remote file systems is optional but useful (this can be done when needed with vendor apps for the most part, except SMB).

The usage is copying media (pictures, movies, documents) to the tablets for offnet uses, and uploading media (pictures mostly) from the tablets.

The interface for copying should be simple and analogous to what can be done on a laptop: select one or files or folders, drag to new location. In as few taps, clicks, and menus as possible.

Spyware or the like is not welcome.

Nice if the file manager can use 3rd party apps to display or play the media. The application for this is typically a video played from a remote file system, or a pdf read.

I've been looking at what can be found, & it's a jungle. There are apps that try to do everything, & have complex displays that require a lot of experimentation to navigate. Most can't do all useful remote file systems, SMB often fails. I've gotten farthest with the similarly-appearing "file manager" from something called xiaomi (which might be a person, or a company). It seemed to do SMB well at first, but seems to have lost that ability. I'm not sure I trust it either It doesn't seem to do well with playing media, but it tries. I've also tried X-plore file manager. This one can do SMB. It has a bewildering interface & needs training to use. It claims to be able to do other cloud FS but I haven't found the ways & means & not sure it's worth the bother.

Any recs for anything better?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! You could try Total Commander, which has a number of plugins. However, I saw a recent review saying that SMB functionality was broken in the latest update. The developer is pretty responsive, though, so hopefully that will be fixed soon.

Total Commander is totally free (and ad-free), so there's no risk in trying it.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Laura Knotek]

Welcome to Android Central! You could try Total Commander, which has a number of plugins. However, I saw a recent review saying that SMB functionality was broken in the latest update. The developer is pretty responsive, though, so hopefully that will be fixed soon.

Total Commander is totally free (and ad-free), so there's no risk in trying it.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

I second Total Commander. It is an excellent app with many great features.

 

[Michael Helm1]

Thanks for the recs for Total Commander. I'm pretty happy with this so far. It does the important remote file systems - SMB works, at least in the mode I'm using it, a read-only source. It doesn't seem to have a plugin for iCloud, but that was the least important service. Its interface for copying could be more straightforward. We're trying to get used to this:
https://www.ghisler.com/android/help.htm#menu_file_copymove
Scanning this help file is probably essential for this app - or maybe this:
https://www.ghisler.com/beginners.htm

The one thing I need it to do is store its downloads on the SD when available, not internal memory. Don't know how to do this.
I don't see it in the help/tutorial so I'll ask on the developer's forum. I probably don't understand how this operation really works so maybe it's not a problem but I have to be mindful of these tablets' low internal memory.

Regards, ==mwh

 

[B. Diddy]

Glad it's working for you! I agree that the interface isn't the most intuitive, but once you get used to it, it works pretty well.

When you say that you need to store its downloads on the SD, do you mean Total Commander's downloads, or whatever the tablet is downloading?

 

[Rukbat]

Downloads normally go to internal storage - by the default setting in the operating system (Linux). You'd have to rewrite that to change it.

Copying in Total Commander is easy, if you turn the device to landscape mode. That gives you 2 windows in TC. Copy from one, paste to the other. It's one of the better and easier apps for copying files.