Android 14 prevents access to /Android/Data/*

[NuVanDibe]

• I have checked the known issues and searched Github to ensure this issue has not already been reported.
• This is not a feature request, I know those belong on Discord/Github Discussions.

Description of the bug:

Android introduced scoped storage access a few versions ago, and as of Android 14 restricts access to all apps so that it is not possible to copy files into Android/data/. This is an issue because the current method of installing mods requires accessing Android/data/com.dishii.mm/files. There is currently a workaround which involves using the Files app in the Play Store, but this app is being sunset at some point in the future and will no longer function as a workaround.

Can you reproduce? If so please list the steps:

• Yes, here are the steps to reproduce the bug:

1. Be using Android 14
2. Be not rooted
3. Try copying files into Android/data/com.dishii.soh/files

Expected behavior:

Mods are able to be installed.

System Information:

• OS: Android 14
• GFX Backend: NA
• Game Version:
• Rom Version: NA

Additional Information:

This also currently affects https://github.com/Waterdish/2ship2harkinian-Android

[Waterdish]

As far as I know, adb connections will still work going into the future so shizuku and file manager apps that work with it should be able to access those folders. Though I may still move the mods folder since this is a hassle for many people.

[Starkium]

there should be permission flags for external vs internal storage, there should still be a way to put files in an external directory.

[xfechx]

It would be amazing if save files and config are stored in the home folder instead of Android/data, as that would be so much easier to sync the save files to other devices. How it is currently setup is a hassle to do shizuku, etc. You can check how sm64coop does it in android, the save file is easily retrievable. Hopefully it can be done like that.

[izzy2lost]

I know MT Manager still works on Android 14 to access the android/data folder. You can try this?

[izzy2lost]

Here's a link to sm64ex-coop code for moving the directories out of the Android/data folder.

https://github.com/robertkirkman/sm64ex-coop/blob/815280fd49f03bc08ca63031a2abadbfe6e98789/src/pc/platform.c#L88

I don't think I know enough to implement this into this app, but maybe someone else does.

[xfechx]

I also don't know how to implement it, but is great that you found the lines that do that for sm64ex-coop. This should be even a standard with games because Android folder is more and more locked up. Maybe the mantainer could add it?

I haven't tried the MT Manager, but to be honest - I don't even want to make progress in the game if I have to manually move save files around. Too time consuming.

Hopefully someone with Android development skills can implement this using sm64coop as example.

[robertkirkman]

Hello, I wrote that code that was linked. I have also always wanted to do it for more games but I just didn't get around to doing it in Ship of Harkinian yet.
When I wrote it, I didn't realize that what I did would go on to be discussed as a unique quirk among android apps, but since then, I have begun to notice a pattern where someone says such a thing isn't possible, and then someone says "actually sm64ex-coop does it", and then I feel like I need to also implement it in the app in question so that people can have the feature. Since then, I have implemented the feature in a fork of the Mindustry app also, but that game is written in pure Java, so it was a little bit faster to make. It might be a while before I have time to implement and test it fully in another game that is written in C and C++.

[xfechx]

Amazing that you wrote that piece of code. Actually - I think this is how Android apps should work by default. It is crazy that user config files and save files are not saved in home (like how linux does it). In my opinion this should be the standard. Hopefully you can adapt the code for ship of harkanian and 2ship2harkanian. This way we could all use cloud saves (syncthing, dropsync, etc) and move our save files easily between devices.

[robertkirkman]

To give a big picture note about why you don't see this technique more often, technically, this feature is not allowed on Google Play outside of a very narrow set of approved apps, for example some File Managers, and the Facebook app, because of the security risk of giving an unknown app full privileges in that folder. It's more common for apps to use the intended SAF techniques to allow selecting a custom location for the data folder through a popup, like Citra does, but that way is just a little bit more inconvenient too because it requires the user to repeatedly browse to and select the folder every time they uninstall and reinstall the app. My way of doing it is completely allowed on sideloaded apps that aren't on Google Play, though, including when targeting the newest Android API level, and is completely safe since the apps are fully open source.

[xfechx]

Here's a link to sm64ex-coop code for moving the directories out of the Android/data folder.

https://github.com/robertkirkman/sm64ex-coop/blob/815280fd49f03bc08ca63031a2abadbfe6e98789/src/pc/platform.c#L88

I don't think I know enough to implement this into this app, but maybe someone else does.

@izzy2lost do you know how to implement this?
Same thing happening in 2ship2harkanian...

[robertkirkman]

I started making an implementation of it for Shipwright-Android, but it's not finished yet, I'm not sure when it will be ready

[robertkirkman]

It's ready now, or at least ready for you to test if you want to try it.

A GitHub Actions Debug apk is available here https://github.com/robertkirkman/Shipwright-Android/releases/tag/main

What does it do?

• It allows you to choose to use this folder for all game files

• You can decline the popup to fall back to the original storage location

Potential current downsides (could change in the future, depending on progress)

• This build takes a long time to start up the first time. It will take a long time to load the ROM selector, and a long time to extract the ROM. Just wait for it if it seems like it's just black
• If you have a Guest Account instead of a Normal Account, you will probably not be able to use the Special External Storage Permission, and would have to decline the popup to fall back to the original storage location done
• If you decline the popup then it will keep asking again, only once every time the app is launched
• I did not copy and paste this into 2ship2harkinian yet, but I guess if someone wants to, this should make it really easy for them to try it. If it is considered really desirable, I or Waterdish might make a build of 2ship2harkinian with it. done

[xfechx]

I just installed in a Samsung S24, but no popup came up?

Can I change location once I in-game?

[xfechx]

I just installed in a Samsung S24, but no popup came up?

Can I change location once I in-game?

Sorry - I can confirm that it installs outside of Android/data automatically.

[robertkirkman]

Can I change location once I in-game?

not currently, but the way it behaves could be adjusted in the future

no popup came up

would it be possible for you to send a video recording of what happened so that we can analyze whether it is behaving as expected?

I can confirm that it installs outside of Android/data automatically.

oh ok, that is luckier than i anticipated, because it is designed to create the required popup on every device that has android 6 or newer, so i did not expect there would be any new device that does not require the popup.