SoftwareApp
cc085b43de
The manifest had nothing but a LAUNCHER filter, so no other app could hand Plain Files anything. It now registers for ACTION_SEND and SEND_MULTIPLE (a bar over the browser: navigate to the folder, then Save here) and for GET_CONTENT and OPEN_DOCUMENT, where tapping a file hands it back through the existing FileProvider. Both reuse the browser instead of a second screen, because both are navigate-to-a-folder with a different verb at the end. data/ gains one port, IncomingSource, to keep a ContentResolver out of the ViewModel the way DeleteRequestFactory keeps one out of the delete path. Shared files are named from the sender OpenableColumns, allocated by the same NameAllocator a paste uses, and deleted again if they cannot be read rather than left as zero-byte stubs. While providing, a tap on a file chooses it but a tap on a folder still navigates, or the user could never reach the file. ACTION_VIEW is deliberately not registered: the app already hands files out through the system chooser, and registering as a viewer would offer Plain Files back to itself. No new permissions - the merged release manifest still declares no INTERNET.
7.4 KiB
Play Store listing (M10)
Ready-to-paste copy for the Main store listing page, plus the graphics that go with it. Every graphic is generated from the app's own vectors, so a rebrand is a re-run rather than a redraw.
See PLAY_RELEASE_CHECKLIST § 6 for where this fits in the release.
App name
Plain Files
Deliberately not "File Manager": dozens of apps are literally called that, and a distinctive
name is what makes a listing findable and rememberable. It is one string
(app_name in values/strings.xml); the applicationId is separate and already locked.
Graphics
./tools/make-store-assets.sh # icon + feature graphic -> store-assets/
./tools/make-store-screenshots.sh # phone -> screenshots/phone/
FORM_FACTOR=tablet-7in ./tools/make-store-screenshots.sh
FORM_FACTOR=tablet-10in ./tools/make-store-screenshots.sh
Screenshots
Play's slots, and what each needs:
| Slot | How many | Target here | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | 2–8 | screenshots/phone/ — 1080×2160 |
A phone at its native 1080×2400 is 2.22:1 and is rejected; the normaliser crops chrome and clamps to 2:1 |
| 7-inch tablet | 4+ recommended | screenshots/tablet-7in/ — 1200×1920 |
A tablet frame is already inside the 2:1 cap, so 0 px of crop |
| 10-inch tablet | 4+ recommended | screenshots/tablet-10in/ — 2560×1600 |
Landscape profile (matches the tablet10 AVD); Play accepts either orientation |
The library the shots are taken over
Never shoot over a real device's storage. Published screenshots are public, and a file list exposes real folder names and document titles. The library is generated instead:
python3 tools/make-demo-library.py # -> demo-files/ (git-ignored, ~161 MB)
adb push demo-files /sdcard/Download/PlainFiles-Demo
tools/make-demo-library.py builds eight distinct sample images (so the grid view and
thumbnails have something to show), a handful of documents, sized stand-ins for video and
audio so the storage-usage screen has something worth ranking, and a real ZIP so the extract
action can be exercised. Every name and every pixel is fake by construction.
| Asset | Play's spec | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| App icon | 512×512, 32-bit PNG with alpha, ≤ 1 MB | store-assets/icon-512.png — 512×512, RGBA, ~5 KB |
tools/store-assets/icon.svg, mirroring ic_launcher_background.xml + ic_launcher_foreground.xml. Background, paths and opacities are identical, so the store icon is the launcher icon rather than a lookalike that drifts. |
| Feature graphic | 1024×500, JPEG or 24-bit PNG without alpha | store-assets/feature-graphic-1024x500.png — 1024×500, RGB |
tools/store-assets/feature-graphic.svg |
| Phone screenshots | no alpha, shorter side ≥ 320, longer side ≤ 3840, longer side ≤ 2× shorter | store-assets/screenshots/phone/ (1080×2160) |
tools/make-store-screenshots.sh, from adb captures in store-assets/raw-screenshots/phone/ |
Two details worth keeping:
- The icon is full bleed. The background rect covers all 108 dp, so every pixel is opaque and Play's mask can crop to any shape without showing a gap.
- A phone at its native 1080×2400 is 2.22:1 and is therefore rejected. The normaliser crops the status and navigation bars and then clamps to 1080×2160 — system chrome only, never app content. Tablets are already inside the 2:1 cap, so their crop defaults to 0.
The feature graphic's safe area
Play crops the feature graphic to a centre square for some placements, so all of the copy sits inside x 262…762 and the motif — which does not survive — is decoration. Verified by actually cropping the rendered PNG rather than by trusting the arithmetic:
magick store-assets/feature-graphic-1024x500.png -gravity Center -crop 500x500+0+0 +repage /tmp/square.png
Short description (80 characters max)
Browse, organise and manage your files. Ad-free, offline, pay once.
Full description (4000 characters max)
Plain Files is a straightforward file manager for Android — no ads, no account, no
subscription, and no network access at all. You buy it once and it is yours.
BROWSE ANYTHING
• Internal storage, SD cards and USB drives, side by side
• List or grid view, with sorting by name, size, date or type
• Breadcrumb navigation and an in-folder search
• Hidden files on request
ANY SIZE OF SCREEN
• On a tablet or a wide window you get two panes: the folder list on the left, and what is
inside the folder you pick on the right — no jumping back and forth
• Pictures preview at full size beside the list, with their details
• The same layout on a phone, a 7-inch tablet and a 10-inch tablet
WORKS WITH YOUR OTHER APPS
• Share a file to Plain Files from anywhere, then pick the folder to drop it in
• Choose Plain Files when another app asks you for a file
• Search a whole folder tree, not just the folder you are looking at
• Delete, rename or move by mistake? Undo it
MANAGE YOUR FILES
• Copy, move, rename and delete, one item or many at once
• Create folders and edit text files in the built-in editor
• See the details of anything: size, type, location, modified date
• Open a file in any app, or share it
FIND OUT WHERE THE SPACE WENT
• A storage-usage view that measures every folder and ranks it largest first
• Spot the folder that is actually eating your storage, then act on it
ARCHIVES
• Create ZIP archives, and extract ZIP, TAR, TAR.GZ, GZ, BZ2, XZ and 7z
• RAR is not supported — it needs native code this app does not ship, and it says so rather
than failing with a strange error
PRIVATE BY DEFAULT
• No INTERNET permission. The app cannot send your data anywhere, because it has no way to.
• No analytics, no advertising SDKs, no third-party trackers
• No account, no sign-in, nothing to remember
• Your files stay on your device, always
SOLD ONCE
• One purchase, every feature, no ads and nothing to buy inside the app
• No subscription
PERMISSIONS, EXPLAINED
Plain Files asks for "All files access" because that is what browsing and managing files
anywhere on a device requires — the app's core purpose. Google Play only grants this
permission to app types that genuinely need it, and a file manager is one of them. If you
would rather not grant it, the app still works: it can browse a folder you pick yourself
through Android's own folder picker, and it remembers that choice.
Read the privacy policy: https://example.invalid/plain-files/privacy
Replace the privacy-policy URL with the real public URL before publishing — a repository file is not acceptable to Play. PRIVACY.md is the source text.
Why the permission sentence matters
Play requires that an app's core functionality be prominently documented and promoted in
the app's description when it declares MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE. The "PERMISSIONS,
EXPLAINED" section is not marketing copy — it is the evidence the Permissions Declaration
Form asks for.
Still to do before publishing
- Screenshots.
tools/make-store-screenshots.shis written and the raw-screenshot directories are in place, but no captures have been taken yet, sostore-assets/screenshots/is empty. Capture against a synthetic library — never a real one, since published screenshots would expose real file names. - Tablet screenshots. Play has a 7-inch and a 10-inch slot, each wanting 4+.