SD card changes in Android 4.4.2 make AnkiDroid inoperable

[hssm]

Originally reported on Google Code with ID 2209

Here is a link with more details about the changes: http://www.androidcentral.com/kitkat-sdcard-changes

I've had a user report two Samsung devices that are now unable to use AnkiDroid after
they both got updated to Android 4.4.2:
Note 2 on 4.4.2, exFAT 64GB SD
Note 10 on 4.4.2, FAT 16GB SD

Also a couple screenshots that show what happens when downloading a collection or opening
an existing one.

I believe so far we have only tested 4.4.2 on Nexus devices which only have internal
storage so we never caught this.

Reported by Houssam.Salem.Au on 2014-07-24 11:59:33

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Reported by Houssam.Salem.Au on 2014-07-24 12:00:04

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- _Attachment: [1.jpg](https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-attachments/ankidroid/issue-2209/comment-1/1.jpg)_

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Issue 2260 has been merged into this issue.

Reported by perceptualchaos2 on 2014-09-01 02:20:34

[hssm]

Issue 2259 has been merged into this issue.

Reported by perceptualchaos2 on 2014-09-01 02:21:28

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See issue #67570. Can't write anything to external sd card.

Reported by ravip005 on 2014-11-01 15:08:40

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I thought something was up. When the deck doesn't work on my phone, I usually load the
deck on the computer and check database there to make it work on my phone. This time,
that didn't work. Then I tried to copy the default AnkiDroid directory that comes with
a fresh install to my sdcard and changed the location of the deck to point to that.
Even that didn't work. I looked at issue #67570 and a project member posted the following.
When will AnkiDroid be updated to let us read and write to our decks located on our
SD cards? I guess for now, I will just settle for desktop Anki.

Hey all, in KitKat we introduced APIs that let apps read/write file in app-specific
directories on secondary storage devices, such as SD cards.

We heard loud and clear that developers wanted richer access beyond these directories,
so in Lollipop we added the new ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE intent.  Apps can launch
this intent to pick and return a directory from any supported DocumentProvider, including
any of the shared storage supported by the device.  Apps can then create, update, and
delete files and directories anywhere under the picked tree without any additional
user interaction.  Just like the other document intents, apps can persist this access
across reboots.

This gives apps broad, powerful access to manage files while still involving the user
in the initial selection process.  Users may choose to give your app access to a narrow
directory like “My Vacation Photos,” or they could pick the top-level of an entire
SD card; the choice is theirs.

To make it easy for developers to transition to these new APIs, there’s a new DocumentFile
support library class.  It looks and feels just like a traditional java.lang.File object,
which makes it easy to adapt existing code:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v4/provider/DocumentFile.html

These new APIs aren’t just limited to shared storage; they can be used with any DocumentsProvider
that adds support for Root.FLAG_SUPPORTS_IS_CHILD, such as the advanced Vault example:

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/development/+/android-5.0.0_r2/samples/Vault/src/com/example/android/vault/VaultProvider.java#258

If you're an end user, please reach out to app developers to ask them to start using
these new APIs.  With these new rich APIs in place, this issue is considered fixed.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=67570

Reported by christopher.upapong on 2014-11-17 02:42:22

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Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware of this new API!

Reported by perceptualchaos2 on 2014-11-17 05:39:30

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I figured out a workaround and successfully moved AnkiDroid folder to external SD card
on my unrooted hTC Desire 820.

Here are the steps:
1. Find the package name of AnkiDroid apk: Since the name of current version AnkiDroid
apk is "com.ichi2.anki-2.apk", the package name is "com.ichi2.anki"

2. Go to your external SD card folder via file management app and create a folder with
the apk's package name containing an AnkiDroid sub-folder: the exact path depends on
your devices. 
E.g. On my Desire 820, the path of the external SD card folder is "/storage/ext_sd/",
and after I created the folders the complete path of the AnkiDroid folder is "/storage/ext_sd/Android/data/com.ichi2.anki/AnkiDroid/"

3. Install AnkiDroid, open it, and change the storage path to the path I mentioned
above.

4. Enjoy the benefits AnkiDroid brings to you!!

Reported by hidelensman on 2014-12-01 14:02:03

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^^^That seems to work... Thanks!

Reported by bryanwithay1986 on 2014-12-05 13:02:56

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On a Sony Xperia Z1 manually creating the folder on the external sd-card didn't work.
You have to rename the folder on the internal storage (presumably AnkiDroid) to match
Ankidroid's package name: com.ichi2.anki and move the folder to the external sd-card
using File Commander (Default system app on Sony devices with root permissions). Afterwards
change the storage path in the settings to /storage/sdcard1/Android/data/com.ichi2.anki

Reported by chris.yereaztian on 2014-12-28 13:53:41

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Issue 2588 has been merged into this issue.

Reported by perceptualchaos2 on 2015-04-23 00:02:15

[hssm]

Issue 2620 has been merged into this issue.

Reported by perceptualchaos2 on 2015-05-25 00:31:05