ES File Explorer was very good at the beginning, but it enshittified quickly. Nowadays MaterialFiles is the best file explorer for Android, and it has more features than ES had ever. And it’s open source so it can’t have a similar fate. Google Play link, F-droid link
Joining in on the love for material files. I’ve been using it a long time. The more I’ve got into FOSS apps I’ve come to realise that they are feature rich, lightweight and ad free. Its the difference between using something designed to be a good product vs something that is designed to squeeze as much out of you as possible
Fossify looks similar, but it misses some crucial features I use frequently. I downloaded it now to check it, Material can do these things, while Fossify can’t:
Open multiple windows for commander like usage
Connect to remote shares with SFTP, FTP, SMB or Webdav
Connect to app storage with Storage Access Framework
Material files doesn’t have anywhere near enough. ES File Explorer could open a bunch of files, a text editor, sftp, ftp, audio, image viewer, etc. ES File Explorer was intolerable on the free version, but if you paid a few quid, you got a perfect product.
MaterialFiles can connect to ftp, sftp, webdav and smb. It has a text editor. There is built in image viewer and music player in most roms nowadays, and MaterialFiles has an “open with” option where you can select what you want to do with a file.
ES File Explorer was very good at the beginning, but it enshittified quickly. Nowadays MaterialFiles is the best file explorer for Android, and it has more features than ES had ever. And it’s open source so it can’t have a similar fate. Google Play link, F-droid link
I would counter that I still feel Solid Explorer is the best, but I’m aware that’s just my opinion.
Solid is for people who want what es used to be. Not sledging it, but it’s unshittified ES.
Joining in on the love for material files. I’ve been using it a long time. The more I’ve got into FOSS apps I’ve come to realise that they are feature rich, lightweight and ad free. Its the difference between using something designed to be a good product vs something that is designed to squeeze as much out of you as possible
Looks nice! I use the Fossify File Manager; they seem very similar.
Fossify looks similar, but it misses some crucial features I use frequently. I downloaded it now to check it, Material can do these things, while Fossify can’t:
Thanks for that! I don’t need those features for now, but great to know there’s a solid option if I do later.
What happened to Total Commander
Total commander was never open source, even though it’s freeware.
Yeah just realized. I am disappoint
Material files doesn’t have anywhere near enough. ES File Explorer could open a bunch of files, a text editor, sftp, ftp, audio, image viewer, etc. ES File Explorer was intolerable on the free version, but if you paid a few quid, you got a perfect product.
Total Commander is pretty solid although unfortunately not FOSS. Even allows you to share files via WiFi etc.
MaterialFiles can connect to ftp, sftp, webdav and smb. It has a text editor. There is built in image viewer and music player in most roms nowadays, and MaterialFiles has an “open with” option where you can select what you want to do with a file.
I can’t find an open with option
Tap on the triple dot next to a file, first option