[CrackBerry Question]

Can someone have ever found why Android apps are not see the physical SD card? it seems to be a common problem on BB 10 devices. I have a Passport, My wife a Q5 and I still have my old Z30. they all not show the SD card from Android apps. I have dig a lot and barely found helpful information. I shouldn't be alone looking for answer.

[Bla1ze]

Android apps on BlackBerry 10 don't have full access to the SD Card. It's a limitation of the Android Runtime and its sandboxing measures for security purposes.

[1122334455667788]

Android apps on BlackBerry 10 don't have full access to the SD Card. It's a limitation of the Android Runtime and its sandboxing measures for security purposes.

I'm pretty sure that's not true. When I used BlackBerry 10 I used a GPS Android App that stored offline map data on the SD card. I think I just had to type the correct path into the GPS app settings page.

[Bla1ze]

I'm pretty sure that's not true

Lol, which part? I never said they had NO access. Some apps just don't play nice as they don't have full access.

[1122334455667788]

Lol, which part? I never said they had NO access. Some apps just don't play nice as they don't have full access.

I don't think I understand what you're saying. Which part of the SD card don't they have access to? And is it relevant to the OP?

[Bla1ze]

I don't think I understand what you're saying. Which part of the SD card don't they have access to? And is it relevant to the OP?

Well, let's use your scenario as an example. You said you downloaded a GPS app that you had to input the correct path in order for to the find the files. Some apps don't realize that the Android Runtime on BlackBerry 10 is not a normal installation of Android. Certain folders that an app is expecting to be there, are not there, and instead, the app sees nothing but a symlink file which directs from the SD card to the internal storage of the device.

Therefore, you need to go into the app and essentially type out the correct path in order for it work correctly. So in the OP's case, it's going to vary from app to app. They may need to do the exact same thing that you did and literally access the settings of the app and tell the app where the SD Card storage is because it might point to what the Android Runtime thinks is a folder that doesn't exist, was never able to create, or has no access to.

This was intentional on BlackBerry's part and is considered sandboxing because in the case of malware, if it thinks or treats the Android Runtime as a standard Android installation then it can effectively infect the Android Runtime. But again, it's not a standard installation of Android and as such, malware shuts down because it doesn't know how to operate on the Android Runtime because files it expects to be there are not there. Folders it expects to be there, are not there etc. Leading back to what I said. Android apps don't have full on access to SD Card, they are limited without user interaction.

[1122334455667788]

Well, let's use your scenario as an example. You said you downloaded a GPS app that you had to input the correct path in order for to the find the files. Some apps don't realize that the Android Runtime on BlackBerry 10 is not a normal installation of Android. Certain folders that an app is expecting to be there, are not there, and instead, the app sees nothing but a symlink file which directs from the SD card to the internal storage of the device. Therefore, you need to go into the app and essentially type out the correct path in order for it work correctly. So in the OP's case, it's going to vary from app to app. They may need to do the exact same thing that you did and literally access the settings of the app and tell the app where the SD Card storage is because it might be point to what the Android Runtime thinks is a folder that doesn't exist, was never able to create, or has no access to.

This sounds reasonable. It's not what you said though. You said there were parts it couldn't access do to a security feature. Being accidentally difficult to use is not a security feature.

[1122334455667788]

Okay looks like you edited your reply while I was typing mine.
I still don't agree that it's Sandboxing or even a "security" feature though.

[Bla1ze]

Okay looks like you edited your reply while I was typing mine.
I still don't agree that it's Sandboxing or even a "security" feature though.

You're free to believe whatever you want. It was literally patched shortly after BlackBerry 10 was released to cover that because business contacts were accessible on the consumer side of things in Workspaces as well as images, but I'm not going to argue with you over it lol.