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Groups > comp.mobile.android > #154064

Re: Can’t Set File Permissions

From Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk>
Newsgroups comp.mobile.android
Subject Re: Can’t Set File Permissions
Date 2026-06-04 22:02 +0100
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <10vsp5f$m48b$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (3 earlier) <10vnso3$gfe$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <10vp4vb$3ka8u$1@dont-email.me> <10vpe83$2qbi$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <10vq8d5$n1g$1@dont-email.me> <10vqds3$1dl$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com>

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On 04/06/2026 00:37, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> I think you can be forgiven for that, thanks for your help, I think the
>> end is in sight.
>> I'm grateful for the reference to Android file management, the nub is
>> Write access to all internal storage directories⁠ except
>> /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most subdirectories of
>> /sdcard/Android. Distressingly, it doesn't document a workaround.
> 
> What you're fighting is Google made it very hard, and maybe impossible, in
> the recent Android versions, for any app that isn't a system app, to access
> the data of another app.
> 
> There are some tricks using Shizuku, but if you're unrooted, as I am,
> Google designed it to be almost impossible, if not impossible.
> 
> One way I get around the limitation is the savetodevice trick, but I have
> only used it for saving APKs off of the Google Play Store repository so
> far.
> 
> 1. I download the APK off the Google Play Store repository using one app
> 2. But while I'm in that app, I use savetodevice to put it somewhere else
> 
> What savetodevice lets you do is save anything somewhere else.
> But the limitation is you have to be in the app that has the data.
> 
> Once you save it to somewhere else though, then any app can access it.
> It's a trick I only recently found out about from the Aurora developers.
> 
>> I'm a bit bewildered. I went to
>> <https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice> and installed
>> Save. It appears not to be a stand-alone app but an adjunct to something
>> called Android Sharesheet, which supports apps' sending data to one
>> another.
> 
> Take a look at this screenshot I made while using the saveondevice app.
>   <https://i.postimg.cc/SNZzqCQV/saveondevice.jpg>
> 
> If you're in any given app, you can save its "stuff" anywhere you like.
> For example, let's say you're in a text editor which only saves its files
> to its own storage, which no other app has any access to nowadays.
> 
> With this app, you can save that text file anywhere on your device.
> Once you've saved that text file, any editor can edit it.
> 
> The point is that it's a trick to get data out of any given app.
> The problem is you have to save the data manually from every app.
> 
> So I would only do it when I needed it (which, in my case, is when I use
> Aurora to download the APK off of the Google Play repository, I use this
> savetodevice app to save that APK so that I can access it outside of the
> Aurora app.
> 
> Let's say I had a special database in a special app that I wanted another
> app to access. I'd use saveondevice to save it OUTSIDE the app so that any
> other app could access it.
> 
>> Save is concerned with saving files on an Android device. I
>> have no need for chatter between apps or for the saving of files on
>> phones. Is the idea to use Save to access files from the Android storage
>> and save them somewhere else? That would be an ad-hoc backup strategy
>> lacking the excellent and desirable synchronisation capabilities of
>> GoodSync, so I don't think I would go for it.
> 
> I think you understand it. It would only be useful for the most important
> things that you have, since it's a manual save-as operation as I see it.
> 
>> “It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.” I don't follow
>> this, is the idea that we would visit each app on the phone and copy its
>> private files, then somehow pass them over to GoodSync?
> 
> Once you've saved their data to non-privileged storage, then GoodSync can
> access that data. But as you already noticed, you have to do it for every
> app. That works for me because I only need to save APKs from Aurora.
> 
> But it may be too much effort for what you want to do.
> 
>> To recap: I am trying to back up a phone but the OS won’t let the backup
>> app have access to all the files that need to be copied to a safe
>> location. I want some way to give GoodSync permission to work with the
>> forbidden files, or some way to configure the OS so it removes its
>> protection from the currently-inaccessible files. It now seems that I am
>> out of luck.
> 
> Yup. If you root, it would be different. Thank Google for this.
> 
>>
>> Samsung Smart Switch for Windows seems to back up every file on an
>> Android phone, albeit in a crass fashion, does anybody know how it does
>> it? Could it use what Maria Sophia calls ‘a privileged system app’?
> 
> I never used Samsung Smart Switch, but others might be able to help.

This procedure looks very interesting, I’m glad you told me about it. I 
don't think visiting each app to export the files it controls is 
realistic for regular and routine backups, but I've put your post in my 
PIM so I can consult it if the need arises.

I've written to the GoodSync people to suggest they approach Samsung 
about developing a back end to Smart Switch that does proper 
synchronisation. Then I would be backing up kilobytes instead of 
gigabytes and I could say farewell to two-hour cloud uploads. The 
GoodSync people haven’t answered me.

It seems I’m completely defeated, but I have learned a lot this week. 
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

-- 
Alan in the UK

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Thread

Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 14:59 +0100
  Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-02 09:30 -0600
    Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 16:50 +0100
      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-02 18:33 -0600
        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-03 12:59 +0100
          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-03 08:37 -0600
            Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-03 23:04 +0100
              Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-03 17:37 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-04 22:02 +0100
              Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-04 08:20 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-04 21:52 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-05 13:33 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 07:10 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 16:07 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 10:41 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 23:06 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 23:22 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 19:12 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-06 08:40 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-06-05 16:42 +0000
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 10:54 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-07 12:46 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 14:32 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 09:46 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 20:09 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-07 19:57 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 23:09 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-08 00:45 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 23:11 -0600
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 09:47 +0200
                Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-21 14:33 +0000
                Doing a backup [Was: Can’t Set File Permissions] "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 13:11 +0200
                Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-08 10:51 -0600
                Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 21:19 +0200
                Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-08 20:40 -0600
                Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 20:04 +0200
                Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-09 12:41 -0600
                Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 22:26 +0200
                Re: Doing a backup Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-06-09 21:57 +0100
                Re: Doing a backup [Was: Can’t Set File Permissions] "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 21:33 +0200
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 09:27 -0600
                Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-21 14:16 +0000
                Re: Can?t Set File Permissions "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-21 19:01 +0200
                Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-22 14:44 +0000
  Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-02 18:06 +0200
    Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 20:01 +0100

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