Android ereader app that doesn't create separate folders / copies

pstjmack · 07-11-2025, 07:06 AM

I'm looking for an Android ereader app that doesn't create separate folders / copies on my device's internal drive when accessing my library on my SD card. I've tried several devices that effectively copy over and duplicate the library on the SD card. What apps just read from the SD card without copying from it?

ne0rmatrix · 07-23-2025, 09:54 PM

Android permissions for files are very restrictive. As a developer accessing files requires a user prompt to pick file/directory unless using internal app directory. The permissions required to access the file system in general without user input is highly restricted and you need a reason that allows this. Currently the only acceptable reason is your app is a file manager.

An app that is a file manager also has a restriction that it can do nothing else other than manage files.

So copying files to internal storage is the standard behavior. They would need to prompt the user each time they accessed the directory. If someone created a version that did not support google play and only had a copy of APK on github the issue with permissions could be ignored. But most app developers do want to distribute there app using google play.

07-11-2025, 07:06 AM	#1
pstjmack Connoisseur Posts: 74 Karma: 87474 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Budapest, Hungary Device: Android tablet	Android ereader app that doesn't create separate folders / copies I'm looking for an Android ereader app that doesn't create separate folders / copies on my device's internal drive when accessing my library on my SD card. I've tried several devices that effectively copy over and duplicate the library on the SD card. What apps just read from the SD card without copying from it?

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07-23-2025, 09:54 PM	#2
ne0rmatrix Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 16347 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Delta, B.C. Device: kobo Aura HD,Apple Ipad Mini,Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4,LG G4	Android permissions for files are very restrictive. As a developer accessing files requires a user prompt to pick file/directory unless using internal app directory. The permissions required to access the file system in general without user input is highly restricted and you need a reason that allows this. Currently the only acceptable reason is your app is a file manager. An app that is a file manager also has a restriction that it can do nothing else other than manage files. So copying files to internal storage is the standard behavior. They would need to prompt the user each time they accessed the directory. If someone created a version that did not support google play and only had a copy of APK on github the issue with permissions could be ignored. But most app developers do want to distribute there app using google play.

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