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Network Browser v3.0.0 Released
Today I am posting a major update to Network Browser. v3.0.0 represents a total rewrite of the app, and so a lof of things have changed in this release. Let's go over it.
First, why the complete rewrite? Network Browser was originally released back in 2013, and in the past 11 years, a lot of things have changed with Android, especially as it relates to filesystem permissions, which Network Browser deals in heavily. When Network Browser was first released, Android was a pretty open system and it was relatively simple to work with and manage files and folders on an Android device. In the years since though, Android has become far more locked down, and I have had to bend and twist the way Network Browser worked in order to conform to the changes, to the point where the underlying code had become a complete mess.
In addition to changes in the way the filesystem is accessed, there has also been a tendency for Android to make major changes to it's UI framework every few years, depreciating layouts and replacing them with others. For a single developer, it is often a hassle to constantly refactor an app like Network Browser every few years.
So instead of constantly trying to bolt new code onto old, I have just decided to rewrite the entire thing from scratch, a project I have been meaning to do for a while now but kept putting it off due to the scope of it. But now it's finally done and it should make updating and improving Network Browser much faster and simpler going forward.
Of course, long time users will notice many changes, so let's go over what has happened.
First, you will notice once you update that your saved network configurations are lost. This I am sorry for, but it was necessary fallout. I plan during the next update or so to add a function to save/export/share network configuration settings so that you can easily distribute them to multiple devices. Config settings are now also synced to your Ape Apps Account if you are signed in, so they should (in theory) automatically transfer between your devices when you are signed in.
Network Browser now also sports a new tabbed interface, allowing you to browse and work with different connections at once. You can also now quickly navigate up to any location in your current remote path, as there is a new Path Bar with each subdirectory in the tree being selectable.
In the previous release, you could either download or upload a folder from/to the network (I forgot which one it supported) but not both. Network browser now allows you to both Download or Upload an entire folder from/to the remote network. In addition, both downloads and uploads are now handled by Android's modern worker system, and long running network transfer operations should persist even after you shut down the app.
For Network Browser TV users, the user interface has also been overhauled, and there have been significant improvements to the Dark app theme.
Speaking of themes, you can now set Network Browser to use either Light, Dark, or system default theme modes. In addition, you can now customize the overall accent color that the app uses.
I have also abandoned my efforts to develop and maintain the built-in custom video player for Network Browser. The app now just uses the default no-frills Android media player widget and will support whatever codes your device OEM supports. Maintaining my own custom player was just so far out of the scope of the project, especially when there are many far better media player options out there on the market.
If you need better video playback capabilities, there are plenty of good and free third-party media players available that Network Browser can stream your content to. I suggest using MX Player, as it seems to work great on both phone and TV devices. VLC also works fine on phones and tablets, however the TV version has issues with Network Browser, and I would suggest staying away from it on TV.
Being such a large update, I am sure there are issues and bugs that I have missed, so please feel free to let me know in this thread, because I am certain there will need to be a big v3.1.0 bug fix patch after so significant a rewrite. Also let me know of any new features or changes you would like to see added. The app should be much easier to update and maintain now!
Thanks for using Network Browser.
Edit 2024.08.26
I have made additional changes/fixes and released patch v3.1.0. Scroll down a bit in this thread to see those release notes.
#networkbrowser
First, why the complete rewrite? Network Browser was originally released back in 2013, and in the past 11 years, a lot of things have changed with Android, especially as it relates to filesystem permissions, which Network Browser deals in heavily. When Network Browser was first released, Android was a pretty open system and it was relatively simple to work with and manage files and folders on an Android device. In the years since though, Android has become far more locked down, and I have had to bend and twist the way Network Browser worked in order to conform to the changes, to the point where the underlying code had become a complete mess.
In addition to changes in the way the filesystem is accessed, there has also been a tendency for Android to make major changes to it's UI framework every few years, depreciating layouts and replacing them with others. For a single developer, it is often a hassle to constantly refactor an app like Network Browser every few years.
So instead of constantly trying to bolt new code onto old, I have just decided to rewrite the entire thing from scratch, a project I have been meaning to do for a while now but kept putting it off due to the scope of it. But now it's finally done and it should make updating and improving Network Browser much faster and simpler going forward.
Of course, long time users will notice many changes, so let's go over what has happened.
First, you will notice once you update that your saved network configurations are lost. This I am sorry for, but it was necessary fallout. I plan during the next update or so to add a function to save/export/share network configuration settings so that you can easily distribute them to multiple devices. Config settings are now also synced to your Ape Apps Account if you are signed in, so they should (in theory) automatically transfer between your devices when you are signed in.
Network Browser now also sports a new tabbed interface, allowing you to browse and work with different connections at once. You can also now quickly navigate up to any location in your current remote path, as there is a new Path Bar with each subdirectory in the tree being selectable.
In the previous release, you could either download or upload a folder from/to the network (I forgot which one it supported) but not both. Network browser now allows you to both Download or Upload an entire folder from/to the remote network. In addition, both downloads and uploads are now handled by Android's modern worker system, and long running network transfer operations should persist even after you shut down the app.
For Network Browser TV users, the user interface has also been overhauled, and there have been significant improvements to the Dark app theme.
Speaking of themes, you can now set Network Browser to use either Light, Dark, or system default theme modes. In addition, you can now customize the overall accent color that the app uses.
I have also abandoned my efforts to develop and maintain the built-in custom video player for Network Browser. The app now just uses the default no-frills Android media player widget and will support whatever codes your device OEM supports. Maintaining my own custom player was just so far out of the scope of the project, especially when there are many far better media player options out there on the market.
If you need better video playback capabilities, there are plenty of good and free third-party media players available that Network Browser can stream your content to. I suggest using MX Player, as it seems to work great on both phone and TV devices. VLC also works fine on phones and tablets, however the TV version has issues with Network Browser, and I would suggest staying away from it on TV.
Being such a large update, I am sure there are issues and bugs that I have missed, so please feel free to let me know in this thread, because I am certain there will need to be a big v3.1.0 bug fix patch after so significant a rewrite. Also let me know of any new features or changes you would like to see added. The app should be much easier to update and maintain now!
Thanks for using Network Browser.
Edit 2024.08.26
I have made additional changes/fixes and released patch v3.1.0. Scroll down a bit in this thread to see those release notes.
#networkbrowser
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC
Hi! i am missing the search function right now in the folder options. That was very handy at the older version of the app, i got an folder wit 36k subfolders at work and using an android device for searching .pdf files in the folders. do we get a search function back soon :D
ty for your work nice App would like to buy the add free version if the search funktion comes back.
kind regards
Michael Roth
ty for your work nice App would like to buy the add free version if the search funktion comes back.
kind regards
Michael Roth
I will check out the new update. It has been a while since I have used this, so I will learn the necessary changes that I will need to make with my uses.
MichaelRoth said:Hi! i am missing the search function right now in the folder options. That was very handy at the older version of the app, i got an folder wit 36k subfolders at work and using an android device for searching .pdf files in the folders. do we get a search function back soon :D
ty for your work nice App would like to buy the add free version if the search funktion comes back.
kind regards
Michael Roth
Thank you for the report, I inadvertently forgot to add the search button back in. It will be back on the next update I promise!
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC
I noticed this too. However, I still love how it's now compatible with modern Android since I run a lot of things off of Android.
This is the worst version ever.
1) Extremely slow. I mean watch grass grow.
2) ThIs version (3.x) requires you to continuously NAS credentials. Older version kept that information.
3) Will NOT open anything, Old version did.
a) Will NOT open photos
b) Will NOT open videos. Old version would allow opening through third party app such as VLC
4) Does NOT show thumbnails of anything. Old version did.
5) When scrolling down a l8st of files, this version can NOT keep up. As you scroll down, unless you are going extremely slow, like molasses in the dead of winter, the highlight bar disappears off the bottom of the screen. You must scroll/move it back up into the visible screen. Then slowly, Extremely slowly move it down.
Did anyone even test this version out. instead of moving forward, this on is a major jump backwards. Older version was much faster, displayed thumbnails, would open photos (jpg) and video files (using a third party app). This version 3.x is totally useless,
1) Extremely slow. I mean watch grass grow.
2) ThIs version (3.x) requires you to continuously NAS credentials. Older version kept that information.
3) Will NOT open anything, Old version did.
a) Will NOT open photos
b) Will NOT open videos. Old version would allow opening through third party app such as VLC
4) Does NOT show thumbnails of anything. Old version did.
5) When scrolling down a l8st of files, this version can NOT keep up. As you scroll down, unless you are going extremely slow, like molasses in the dead of winter, the highlight bar disappears off the bottom of the screen. You must scroll/move it back up into the visible screen. Then slowly, Extremely slowly move it down.
Did anyone even test this version out. instead of moving forward, this on is a major jump backwards. Older version was much faster, displayed thumbnails, would open photos (jpg) and video files (using a third party app). This version 3.x is totally useless,
Sorry to all for the issues with the recent rewrite of Network Browser.
I have just published v3.1.0 to both Google Play and Amazon and it should be going live soon. This release should improve the responsiveness when scrolling through folders on TV devices by quite a bit, and also makes quite a few other improvements to remote/tv navigation. It also brings back the Search function which I had accidently removed from the last release.
Please keep letting me know what issues you find and I will keep working to get the app right!
I have just published v3.1.0 to both Google Play and Amazon and it should be going live soon. This release should improve the responsiveness when scrolling through folders on TV devices by quite a bit, and also makes quite a few other improvements to remote/tv navigation. It also brings back the Search function which I had accidently removed from the last release.
Please keep letting me know what issues you find and I will keep working to get the app right!
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC
bastecklein said:Sorry to all for the issues with the recent rewrite of Network Browser.
I have just published v3.1.0 to both Google Play and Amazon and it should be going live soon. This release should improve the responsiveness when scrolling through folders on TV devices by quite a bit, and also makes quite a few other improvements to remote/tv navigation. It also brings back the Search function which I had accidently removed from the last release.
Please keep letting me know what issues you find and I will keep working to get the app right!
Thank you very much! :D
Maybe as a future interface improvement suggestion, the magnifying glass as an extra selection next to the tool symbol would make things easier for me. i have to use the search function very often!
thanks for the quick response and implementation!
kind regards
Thanks for the great effort for this new version
I am trying to get around this new version
I have not yet found how to delete an existing connection.
Also how to delete a tab . I.e an active connection or failed connection
Creating a tab when the connection is failed does not seem to be the write approach as you end up adding a tab for each connection attempt.
I am looking forward future updates.
Thanks
I am trying to get around this new version
I have not yet found how to delete an existing connection.
Also how to delete a tab . I.e an active connection or failed connection
Creating a tab when the connection is failed does not seem to be the write approach as you end up adding a tab for each connection attempt.
I am looking forward future updates.
Thanks
Ricobelo said:Thanks for the great effort for this new version
I am trying to get around this new version
I have not yet found how to delete an existing connection.
Also how to delete a tab . I.e an active connection or failed connection
Creating a tab when the connection is failed does not seem to be the write approach as you end up adding a tab for each connection attempt.
I am looking forward future updates.
Thanks
You should be able to delete an existing connection by long-pressing on it on the "Home" tab and choosing Remove Connection, and tabs should close by pressing the X button on the tab.
You are right though that a failed connection should not be creating a new tab, I will look into that.
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC
