[takisrock]

Hello to everyone.

I just find this guy on twitter Nawzil which he calimed that
1)File manager will be built in, in system apps!!!
2)usb on the go will supported as well!!! and
3)MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link technology),
which I believe it could be as mentioned before, the "preoject my screen".

what are your thoughts? personal I'm excited......

[KllR007]

what means "file manager is buildin system apps" ? i mean, is one app like on andorid, or every system app will have their own file manager ?

[takisrock]

If you had symbian you would know.
it would be a file manager in the system, in the os.

[KllR007]

I dont had symbian... its like this ? -http://youtu.be/jLtNjlbGPj0?t=13m42s (13:42)

[takisrock]

I dont had symbian... its like this ? -http://youtu.be/jLtNjlbGPj0?t=13m42s (13:42)

Yes. and I hope that this info above is true

[Zapella Tiago]

It just awesome to see this feature live on WP8.1 (OTG). Really exciting.

[ronty]

Oh boy, I'm loving the idea of a file manager in the system. It's my most wanted feature with WP 8.1.

By the way, I don't think that this is a correct place for this question, but can anyone tell if we would finally be able to turn on Bluetooth from the share menu directly, without going to the settings menu from the start screen or the app list?

[tejedor1967]

File manager? I doubt it. The apps in the WP use sandboxing meaning that every app owns its storage. A file manager only could deal with files in the SD card and maybe (I doubt it too) dealing with music and photo files.

It's exactly the same problem than in iOS.

[RustyU]

Android apps are sandboxed and file managers can access pretty much everything(/data needs root).

[abhishake620]

Android apps are sandboxed and file managers can access pretty much everything(/data needs root).

how are they sandboxed when apps can literally change anything theme, icons and other OS related stuff..... ?

[pranav rai]

File manager? I doubt it. The apps in the WP use sandboxing meaning that every app owns its storage. A file manager only could deal with files in the SD card and maybe (I doubt it too) dealing with music and photo files.

It's exactly the same problem than in iOS.

If the FileManager is a system app, made by MS then it doesnt have to deal with sandboxing issues, thats why its important that any file manager in WP has to be non accessible via an API for most purposes.

​

[nyolc8]

how are they sandboxed when apps can literally change anything theme, icons and other OS related stuff..... ?

That is only possible if you rooted(jailbroke) your device, then you can add root(admin) permission to apps.

[Kashan Osama]

File manager? I doubt it. The apps in the WP use sandboxing meaning that every app owns its storage. A file manager only could deal with files in the SD card and maybe (I doubt it too) dealing with music and photo files.

It's exactly the same problem than in iOS.

exactly my thoughts,same goes for iOS that is why both OSes limit users the functionality

[radmanvr]

and here I was like they are gonna make a major hockey league app.....

[tejedor1967]

If the FileManager is a system app, made by MS then it doesnt have to deal with sandboxing issues, thats why its important that any file manager in WP has to be non accessible via an API for most purposes.
​

Could be but I doubt too because if a system app can skip the sandboxing a virus could. So I think that kind of system app is not possible. Look the file explorers available in iOS. If it's not jailbreaked you can access only the files stored in the file explorer itself, and if the iPhone is jailbreaked you can access the files of the system not the files in the storage of the apps.

I think we won't see file managers in WP8 accessing all the files stored into the app sandbox.

[tgp]

and here I was like they are gonna make a major hockey league app.....

That was my first thought too, but it's a bit of a variation...

[CSMR250]

If the FileManager is a system app, made by MS then it doesnt have to deal with sandboxing issues, thats why its important that any file manager in WP has to be non accessible via an API for most purposes.​

That would be the worst possible solution, privileging built in apps to get around problems with the system, without fixing those problems for all apps.

Much better to keep isolated storage in place but allow apps to access public areas: documents, SD card. This means that a file manager or amy other app can be created to work with those files. This is a big problem with the OS at the moment.

Microsoft is making some good moves here with WP8.1. Hopefully the changes are thorough enough. The talk about file pickers, file managers and SD card access suggests that they are.

[pranav rai]

That would be the worst possible solution, privileging built in apps to get around problems with the system, without fixing those problems for all apps.

Much better to keep isolated storage in place but allow apps to access public areas: documents, SD card. This means that a file manager or amy other app can be created to work with those files. This is a big problem with the OS at the moment.

Microsoft is making some good moves here with WP8.1. Hopefully the changes are thorough enough. The talk about file pickers, file managers and SD card access suggests that they are.

That assumes that giving API access to files and directories to arbitrary apps is a good thing. From the point of view of security, thats a cardinal sin. You are now letting a third party app acess data from another app, who might not have encrypted it on the ROM - thats where security nightmares begin.

In other owrds, though it might be a step backwards for some users, MS chooses to protect all apps, however poorly code they are, by taking care of security themselves. While I appreciate android's openness, I can also see why MS doesnt like it. Openness can be employed along with secirity, but that is a two pronged effort - MS has to provide additional API's and programmers actually have to use good practices to store data and the like.

[pranav rai]

Could be but I doubt too because if a system app can skip the sandboxing a virus could. So I think that kind of system app is not possible. Look the file explorers available in iOS. If it's not jailbreaked you can access only the files stored in the file explorer itself, and if the iPhone is jailbreaked you can access the files of the system not the files in the storage of the apps.

I think we won't see file managers in WP8 accessing all the files stored into the app sandbox.

For the developer of the OS there is nothing impossible, just conscious busniess decisions. NOTHING except money/effort/ideology prevents MS from getting a file-manager on WP. Sandboxing not magic. You just dont let an app access files and folder not _owned_ by it. The way that is implememnted is by letting any app acess stuff on the ROPM via API's. Nothing prevents MS from not using the API and using the direct hook underneath the API (remember MS owns+designs this API) with the ownership check disabled. Its as simple as removing a line of code (almost).

Virii can access protected storage if they figure out the underlying code behind the API or find bugs to maliciously exploit some vulnerability within the existing API calls. That calls for a great deal of study - to do which you need good access to the API call process. Closed systems like WP are relatively more secure from tampering for exactly this reason - they dont let you fiddle with the deeper parts of the machinery, by forcing you to use the API they _choose_ to provide you.

[Poirots Progeny]

Doesn't blackberry run all apps in a sandbox, over a qnx kernal? If they - the purported most secure os in the world - can have an AMAZING IN BUILT FILE BROWSER... Why cant wp8?

I remember wm6.5... Loved that file browser, and the ability to manipulate, zip and attach to emails, any file i felt like (ok major file types, but whatever :)

I would love a file browser, usb otg and open vpn access... Would make wp8.1 an enterprise beast!!!!

[pranav rai]

Doesn't blackberry run all apps in a sandbox, over a qnx kernal? If they - the purported most secure os in the world - can have an AMAZING IN BUILT FILE BROWSER... Why cant wp8?

I remember wm6.5... Loved that file browser, and the ability to manipulate, zip and attach to emails, any file i felt like (ok major file types, but whatever :)

I would love a file browser, usb otg and open vpn access... Would make wp8.1 an enterprise beast!!!!

MS made a business call to not have a file explorer. Doing it right takes a lot of time and effort.
That being said the said rumors about file manager on WP8.1 show exactly that - MS getting the time to try and get it right. I'd still bet that the explorer will NOT be accesible via an API and will be a privileged system app - an app that you cant uninstall.

[CSMR250]

That assumes that giving API access to files and directories to arbitrary apps is a good thing. From the point of view of security, thats a cardinal sin.

The whole spectrum of computer users requires multiple apps to access the same files, from the most casual users (take photo on camera, upload in browser, attach to email) to professionals in the FBI or CIA. Cardinal security sin indeed. SOME users can get by with a phone that cannot do this, if they use other OSes for anything non-trivial. Then the phone is just a multifunction device with apps that cannot work together.

You are now letting a third party app acess data from another app, who might not have encrypted it on the ROM - thats where security nightmares begin.

Either an app intends data to be private, in which case it should put the data somewhere private (isolated storage), or it intends the data to be public, in which case it should put it somewhere public.

Openness can be employed along with secirity, but that is a two pronged effort - MS has to provide additional API's and programmers actually have to use good practices to store data and the like.

This I agree with. There is no need to compromise.
It's quite easy to get apps to avoid saving data to public places except when intended.
E.g. just ask for user confirmation before writing any file outside isolated storage.

[Rodrigo Mendes]

I don't see any use for File Manager in Windows Phone concept. These things need to be totally transparent for users. We don't need a 80's feature in my brand new smartphone, that's useless. But USB UTG is a great feature and MHL maybe too.

[Jas00555]

See, my hope is just that the file manager will collect files that Windows Phone doesn't recognize or stuff that you would download as opposed to something for all files. My hope is that the apps stay sandboxes, but let's say that when VLC comes to Windows Phone, I can download a file such as an .MKV or .avi and have VLC read my file manager to play them. That's my hope, anyways.

[Rodrigo Mendes]

See, my hope is just that the file manager will collect files that Windows Phone doesn't recognize or stuff that you would download as opposed to something for all files. My hope is that the apps stay sandboxes, but let's say that when VLC comes to Windows Phone, I can download a file such as an .MKV or .avi and have VLC read my file manager to play them. That's my hope, anyways.

But why you need a File Explorer to do this? Just open the right app to open theses files.