Ah see, the problem is you were looking in /sdcard0/ which of course, refers to your internal storage and not your SD card which is probably called /0xgg0gdjdsjgg/ or something.
Android’s file structure is so incomprehensible. I’m genuinely surprised there hasn’t been any significant effort made to make it more readable. Pictures saved in app directories, downloads, camera, images, pictures, media, DCIM???.
Open source developer and Linux enthusiast here. Although cluttered, Android’s home directory is fairly simple to understand
The nightmare begins when you take a look at the root filesystem.
One time I was trying to port an OS to my phone and I had to figure out the Android init system. Went to source.android.com and what. the. fuck. Just as a side-by-side comparison:
Linux boot sequence:
Android boot sequence (unmodded, SIMPLE):
There are so many wrong things about it like why are there 11, 12 places to put programs (/system/bin, /bin, /usr/bin /system/usr/bin, /sbin, /system/usr/share/bin…)
Why the fuck drivers are scattered around folders instead of just /lib/modules
Why is the home directory /storage/emulated/0/ instead of just /home/0/ (also why the user is named “0”)
Where the fuck is everything???
God (Linus Torvalds) forgive me but even Windows is better than that shit
i wonder if that graphic is up to date with system as root and A/B dynamic partitioning and whatever crazy new bullshit google invents with every release
Phones launching with Android 13 without a dedicated partition for recovery mode
Phones launching with Android 13 with two dedicated partitions for recovery mode (two because of A/B partitioning scheme)
Phones launching with Android 13 with one dedicated partition for recovery mode (only one because A/B partitioning scheme is not used)
Phones that launch with or upgrade to Android 12, that use a generic kernel image, without a dedicated partition for recovery mode
Phones that launch with or upgrade to Android 12, that use a generic kernel image, with two dedicated partitions for recovery mode (A/B partitioning scheme)
Phones that launch with or upgrade to Android 12, that use a generic kernel image, with one dedicated partition for recovery mode (non-A/B partitioning scheme)
Phones that upgrade to Android 12, that does not use a generic kernel image, with no dedicated partition for recovery mode
Phones that upgrade to Android 12, that does not use a generic kernel image, with dedicated partition(s) for recovery mode
In Android’s defense however, a phone would likely use only one of these layouts at a time. The question of which of these layouts does a said phone uses though, that’s a more complicated question.
I’m genuinely surprised there hasn’t been any significant effort made to make it more readable.
Quite the opposite. They’ve tried to make it better, and in turn, they’ve made it worse.
They used to have a pretty straightforward Linux file structure, and you were expected to put things in the external Pictures folder. And downloads went to the external Downloads folder. Back then, internal storage was small and SDs were large, so apps couldn’t really afford to store these things locally and the SD structure was well enough defined that it was pretty clear where pictures would go.
Now, Google has pushed against SD cards. They also started requiring more permissions for external storage. They’ve added some “documents” APIs that were supposed to make it easier to tag/find files, but it’s a tangled mess and most apps don’t touch it. And they’ve rewritten their storage model multiple times at this point. If you’re writing a new app, it’s unclear which model to even follow anymore because Google has created a giant cluster fuck of options and paradigms.
Google is actively making this problem worse and worse. I wish they had never tried to “fix” this in the first place.
Credit where it’s due, iOS / iPadOS’s Files app is really good. I use both iOS and Android on the daily and I prefer working with files on my Apple devices.
Yeah, I can see that. I got through college with only an iPad for the Math degree, and the most common issue I see there’s two locations in the Files app: iCloud and Local Storage. Once you get comfortable you can start mounting a tiny version of Linux running onto the file system and then it gets REALLY fun :)
The iOS Files app only lets you access a tiny part of the OS so you don’t accidentally install a non-Apple approved app or god forbid, modify something on a device you own 🥴
What really grinds my gears is that metadata on pictures you have in iCloud gets stripped when downloading to Windows. I take pictures of stuff for work and label them to know what the hell I’m looking at, but the descriptions disappear on file transfer.
So I gotta either:
Re-add in the description in the metadata
Label something else, like a sheet of paper or something and put it in the frame
Manually name each individual file after transfer, which is just as laborious as adding back in the metadata.
That being said, the most reliable method of getting arbitrary file off the iPhone onto the machine is to store it in VLC’s (or some other app that has folder access enabled) app folder.
The only issue I had was some torrent app which stored the files in its own data folder which was inaccessibile to any other app. What use is a downloaded file that you can’t open? That’s almost like having an iPhone.
(edit:apparently my iPhone knowledge is a bit dated now.)
Even if apps store stuff internally, and other things can’t find it, the owning app can give temp access to another app. Ie, if you click on it in the torrent software, it should be able to find the relevant media player etc and open that media player playing the file.
Not defending this though, it’s fucking stupid for them to do it that way, but just pointing out it’s not totally useless as long as they allow you to tap/open it from within their app.
My problem with it is how inconsistently things get placed.
App downloaded an image: it could be in the apps main data folder, DCIM, Pictures, Documents, or even a new folder at the base of the tree. Add an sd card and that list doubles as all those same locations exist separately on the sd card as well. (I’ve had images land in all 10 of these locations before)
/edit missed the ‘download’ folder. 12 possible locations.
Browsers put em in the downloads folder, but every other app is a wild west for me. Most Reddit and messaging apps I had downloaded to their own little folder.
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Some forced Google bloat ware snatched it and ran
Files and then Downloads. Not hard.
Nope. Depends on the app you’re using.
Maybe the device. Samsung saves everything in the exact same spot.
Download completed…
Files>downloads>empty 😔
Ah see, the problem is you were looking in /sdcard0/ which of course, refers to your internal storage and not your SD card which is probably called /0xgg0gdjdsjgg/ or something.
Still can’t find 90% of the images i’ve downloaded, probably will factory reset my phone and them to still take up space.
they’re in the obviously named folder called “DCIM”
Digital Camera IMages.
@claymore I’ve actually tried looking in my DCIM folder but find nothing most of the time.
then it’s on another folder called pictures…or downloads, both of which is still located at the root of internal storage
z/common/Facebook/dlot/downloads/pics/angry birds/pics/common/ahshhysyyagg.png
You also downloaded ahshhysyyagg.png?
Android’s file structure is so incomprehensible. I’m genuinely surprised there hasn’t been any significant effort made to make it more readable. Pictures saved in app directories, downloads, camera, images, pictures, media, DCIM???.
Tbh it doesn’t really matter since your gallery shows all of them in one place.
That is until you want to transfer your pictures to a pc…
Open source developer and Linux enthusiast here. Although cluttered, Android’s home directory is fairly simple to understand
The nightmare begins when you take a look at the root filesystem.
One time I was trying to port an OS to my phone and I had to figure out the Android init system. Went to source.android.com and what. the. fuck. Just as a side-by-side comparison:
Linux boot sequence:
Android boot sequence (unmodded, SIMPLE):

There are so many wrong things about it like why are there 11, 12 places to put programs (/system/bin, /bin, /usr/bin /system/usr/bin, /sbin, /system/usr/share/bin…)
Why the fuck drivers are scattered around folders instead of just /lib/modules
Why is the home directory /storage/emulated/0/ instead of just /home/0/ (also why the user is named “0”)
Where the fuck is everything???
God (Linus Torvalds) forgive me but even Windows is better than that shit
That’s not correct though. The GNU+Linux version is missing the bootloader and initramfs.
i wonder if that graphic is up to date with system as root and A/B dynamic partitioning and whatever crazy new bullshit google invents with every release
I raise you all of these monstrosities:
In Android’s defense however, a phone would likely use only one of these layouts at a time. The question of which of these layouts does a said phone uses though, that’s a more complicated question.
The Linux boot sequence link doesn’t work for me
It’s a graph, showing a red oval with the text “Linux Kernel”, an arrow points from the red oval to a light-green oval titled “Init”.
“Linux Kernel” --→ “Init”
Thanks
Init
^
|
Linux Kernel
I feel like if anything they made effort to not have people touch the file manager ever
Quite the opposite. They’ve tried to make it better, and in turn, they’ve made it worse.
They used to have a pretty straightforward Linux file structure, and you were expected to put things in the external Pictures folder. And downloads went to the external Downloads folder. Back then, internal storage was small and SDs were large, so apps couldn’t really afford to store these things locally and the SD structure was well enough defined that it was pretty clear where pictures would go.
Now, Google has pushed against SD cards. They also started requiring more permissions for external storage. They’ve added some “documents” APIs that were supposed to make it easier to tag/find files, but it’s a tangled mess and most apps don’t touch it. And they’ve rewritten their storage model multiple times at this point. If you’re writing a new app, it’s unclear which model to even follow anymore because Google has created a giant cluster fuck of options and paradigms.
Google is actively making this problem worse and worse. I wish they had never tried to “fix” this in the first place.
xkcd “standards” comes to mind
We don’t even have to link the relevant xkcds anymore
there was that joke where every joke is already known so instead of telling the joke they just say the number of it.
wonder if we ever get there, someone will just reply, xkcd 375
And you can’t rename it and search for it afterwords. It makes that much frustrating to find
Not sure if it’s a Samsung thing, but I can easily rename and search the files…
Ok wow, I had no idea!
Yeah this whole post has made me really appreciate Samsung’s “my files” app.
Credit where it’s due, iOS / iPadOS’s Files app is really good. I use both iOS and Android on the daily and I prefer working with files on my Apple devices.
As someone used to windows and android, I can’t find anything on an iPad lol
Yeah, I can see that. I got through college with only an iPad for the Math degree, and the most common issue I see there’s two locations in the Files app: iCloud and Local Storage. Once you get comfortable you can start mounting a tiny version of Linux running onto the file system and then it gets REALLY fun :)
Any question just ask!
Matter of getting used to how it works I suppose? My iPad Pro is my main work machine right now. I have no issues handling files.
Could be, also this is officially my wife’s so I haven’t used it all that much… She’s also an android user so still getting used to it too…
I see, well if you have any questions I can answer them
iOS stores it in “downloads”
Oh right, Apple bad!
The iOS Files app only lets you access a tiny part of the OS so you don’t accidentally install a non-Apple approved app or god forbid, modify something on a device you own 🥴
can’t plug an iphone into a windows pc and access hardly anything
What really grinds my gears is that metadata on pictures you have in iCloud gets stripped when downloading to Windows. I take pictures of stuff for work and label them to know what the hell I’m looking at, but the descriptions disappear on file transfer.
So I gotta either:
Re-add in the description in the metadata
Label something else, like a sheet of paper or something and put it in the frame
Manually name each individual file after transfer, which is just as laborious as adding back in the metadata.
I have no issues on Linux 🤷
That being said, the most reliable method of getting arbitrary file off the iPhone onto the machine is to store it in VLC’s (or some other app that has folder access enabled) app folder.
thanks i’ll look into that
It seems a lot of people are having issues with this, I’ve never experienced a problem though
My files app always shows it in my recents view so idk
Yeah…I don’t have any issues with file management on Android. There’s a folder structure and that’s all I really need. 🤷🏼♂️
The only issue I had was some torrent app which stored the files in its own data folder which was inaccessibile to any other app. What use is a downloaded file that you can’t open? That’s almost like having an iPhone.
(edit:apparently my iPhone knowledge is a bit dated now.)
Even if apps store stuff internally, and other things can’t find it, the owning app can give temp access to another app. Ie, if you click on it in the torrent software, it should be able to find the relevant media player etc and open that media player playing the file.
Not defending this though, it’s fucking stupid for them to do it that way, but just pointing out it’s not totally useless as long as they allow you to tap/open it from within their app.
My problem with it is how inconsistently things get placed.
App downloaded an image: it could be in the apps main data folder, DCIM, Pictures, Documents, or even a new folder at the base of the tree. Add an sd card and that list doubles as all those same locations exist separately on the sd card as well. (I’ve had images land in all 10 of these locations before)
/edit missed the ‘download’ folder. 12 possible locations.
Downloads have always gone to the downloads folder for me
But yes any app that takes/edits pictures can save them who the fuck knows where lol
Browsers put em in the downloads folder, but every other app is a wild west for me. Most Reddit and messaging apps I had downloaded to their own little folder.
Oh true! Tbh that never particularly bothered me because I end up organising stuff into my own folders anyways which all automatically go into DCIM.
“Its with the others”
IOS is worse. You can’t even be sure that it’s saved, let alone where.
And if you can save it to Files, only like two apps can open it and it’s random which ones
I don’t have this issue with my Nokia 5.4 at all. If I download it, it goes into my Downloads folder, and then I can easily move it from there. 🤷🏻♀️