Develop Bugs

How do you hide folders from HTC Album?

I tried making the folders hidden by adding a period, but it's still read by HTC Album. How do I get around this? Is there any tweak to change the read permission on folders?
Luckily I discovered this problem myself.

create a file named ".nomedia" and put it in the folders you don't want the media player to show.
Windows will not let you create such a file, so create an empty text file named "a.nomedia", copy in the folders, then using Astro rename it deleting the "a" and you're good to go

JapanLover said:
create a file named ".nomedia" and put it in the folders you don't want the media player to show.
Windows will not let you create such a file, so create an empty text file named "a.nomedia", copy in the folders, then using Astro rename it deleting the "a" and you're good to go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!

Dodgy pics of the missus eh? Say no more.
I just moved a picture into a folder starting with a fullstop and it's not showing up in the gallery anymore. Are you running the HTC photo gallery or the Cooliris Gallery app?
[EDIT] I also just added a fullstop to the front of a folder on my SD card (/media/wallpapers became /media/.wallpapers) and it's no longer showing in the gallery.

Seems to work. Thanks!

I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not using it for sensitive documents
Are you running the HTC photo gallery or the Cooliris Gallery app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the HTC one. The widget doesn't display hidden folders, but when you list all media (where the app searches for pics and vids), it shows.

my (well, it's not mine of course ) method doesn't delete anything. Or at least I'm doing so in almost three cells and since... hmmmm let's say 6 months.
as for putting a dot in front of the folders... keep in mind that it can cause probs to the apps using that folder.
I.E. a GPS app will not find its icons and so on.
Just use the file methid, I'm pretty sure it's safe

JapanLover said:
my (well, it's not mine of course ) method doesn't delete anything. Or at least I'm doing so in almost three cells and since... hmmmm let's say 6 months.
as for putting a dot in front of the folders... keep in mind that it can cause probs to the apps using that folder.
I.E. a GPS app will not find its icons and so on.
Just use the file methid, I'm pretty sure it's safe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created the wallpapers folder so no apps should be using it.

Adding a .nomedia file worked for me, but only after a reboot. No more album art showing up.

samsanchez88 said:
I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are right:
h_t_t_p://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3692

Forget what I said. It doesn't work. I rebooted the phone, effectively refreshing the album cache, and .nomedia is listed when it searches for photos and videos.

Aitese said:
Dodgy pics of the missus eh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first i read this as doggy pics, which sounded gnarly.
I also just added a fullstop to the front of a folder on my SD card (/media/wallpapers became /media/.wallpapers) and it's no longer showing in the gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does "adding a full stop" mean?
And why is windows referenced above, vs android OS?

I just downloaded Pandora which essentially does the job.

Android is a Linux based OS. A folder with a period in front of it means its hidden to any app that doesn't directly know its there

biemsy said:
Adding a .nomedia file worked for me, but only after a reboot. No more album art showing up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then I realised the .nomedia meant music players ignore the folder too. Doh!

I just do the full stop method and use astro file manager to view the items.

Excluding Folders from Gallery

I've tried the .nomedia method but that doesn't seem to work in ICS. Does anyone know how to prevent a folder from being shown in the Gallery app?
Thanks.

I'd be interested in a solution to this too, don't really want all my album art and images from games etc cluttering the gallery.
Either a method to exclude certain folders or one to only include certain ones would do.

Tried .nomedia as well for my icons folder... doesn't seem to work.

This is driving me nuts. I tried the .nomedia thing too before I found this post. This is such an oversight for the gallery app.. it's pulling all of the downloaded icons/images from my mail app..

i was having issues with gallery not displaying thumbs & even wouldn't open some files. i ended up looking for an alternative and found this:
QuickPic
it is working well and you can specify folders to include/exclude.

Thanks - just downloaded this as well. Should work until someone can find a fix to the .nomedia thing..
Does anyone know what the Scrapbook Photos folder is? I think it may have come from picasa or G+.. but mine is empty and cannot be deleted in the regular gallery.

after putting the .nomedia, try rebooting, or downloading "sdrescan" from the market (free). the android media scanner indexes your files, but its often slow and doesn't update unless the camera puts something there. chances are it just hadn't known there was a .nomedia sucks, they'll probably have a fix eventually

cancerouspete said:
after putting the .nomedia, try rebooting, or downloading "sdrescan" from the market (free). the android media scanner indexes your files, but its often slow and doesn't update unless the camera puts something there. chances are it just hadn't known there was a .nomedia sucks, they'll probably have a fix eventually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it seems that there are certain folders where .nomedia will never work. So far I've found this with the downloads folder. No amount of rescanning or rebooting will stop images in the downloads folder appearing in the gallery.
I found that creating a subfolder with a dot in front of it (ie, .stuff) inside the download folder, moving the images into this folder, then rescanning will work.

you guys are honestly just unlucky. .nomedia works perfect for me. i even have a .nomedia file in my music folder and it works.

neok44 said:
you guys are honestly just unlucky. .nomedia works perfect for me. i even have a .nomedia file in my music folder and it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which application did you use ?
Cheers~

The .nomedia method works for me too in the Gallery app.

no media does not work for me and its extremely frustrating...bump.

sluflyer06 said:
no media does not work for me and its extremely frustrating...bump.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After trying many solutions , finally this one is working for me : https://market.android.com/details?id=com.theronrogers.vaultyfree&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50aGVyb25yb2dlcnMudmF1bHR5ZnJlZSJd
Good luck !
Cheers~

tossero said:
After trying many solutions , finally this one is working for me : https://market.android.com/details?id=com.theronrogers.vaultyfree&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50aGVyb25yb2dlcnMudmF1bHR5ZnJlZSJd
Good luck !
Cheers~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looked to me like Vaulty physically moves the selected files to a folder and renames them so they're 'protected' because when i tried it out (it did work) but the location where the files were was not empty in root explorer.

voxigenboy said:
i was having issues with gallery not displaying thumbs & even wouldn't open some files. i ended up looking for an alternative and found this:
QuickPic
it is working well and you can specify folders to include/exclude.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using this for a bit now. Seems to work really well.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

I second QuickPic. I used to use it on my HTC Magic because it was too slow for the 3D galley and I've used it ever since. Very efficient, fast, and allows you to zoom in to 100%.

Why don't you guys just put a dot in front of whatever filer its in? So like if the folder was "Pix" then make it ".Pix"....

nomedia is working for me too

It seems that Gallery mostly respects hidden (.foldername) folders and the .nomedia flag, but some process is alerting the Gallery to new folders and files as they are created, and that process does NOT respect hidden folders or .nomedia.
If you believe your problem is solved with the nomedia app, I suggest you move a photo into your hidden and/or .nomedia-ed folder and see if Gallery does not show it afterwards.
The only workaround that I have found is to Force Stop the system app called "Media Storage", clear it's cache and reboot. When media storage runs again at startup you'll find .nomedia and hidden folders are treated correctly (i.e. ignored) again. Beware though, my ringtone and notification tones were reset and I suspect it was a side-effect of doing this.

[Q] Gallery showing all pictures

So i have following problem:
Lately i was transferring some music and i transferred some photos as album art in folder on sd card music-> and several folders that correspond pictures and artists..
However, all of those pictures are showing in gallery... How to remove them (only from gallery of course)?
Thanks in advance!

i think there is file that is called (.nomedia) will do the trick
when you copy this file into a folder, then the system will not show media inside..
i don't really know where is this file located but try to search for it in system folders..
another way (but i am not sure about it), try to make this pictures as hidden files

An easy way is to use the app Quick Pic

I always used quick pic until the the new jb gallery which is amazing, but certain features are missing,like hide,edit option with different applications,
If some dev could make a mod it would be amazing......
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Thank you all!
I have used .nomedia trick. It worked !
Again thanks a lot
EDIT : now the songs are not showing in music player even when i delete .nomedia file ...

Laynee1 said:
Thank you all!
I have used .nomedia trick. It worked !
Again thanks a lot
EDIT : now the songs are not showing in music player even when i delete .nomedia file ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try clearing the player cache, or check for a resync option. Maybe dropping a new file in will force it to update.
Sent from my Inspire 4G

spycedtx said:
Try clearing the player cache, or check for a resync option. Maybe dropping a new file in will force it to update.
Sent from my Inspire 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that thanks !!!!
Handwritten from my Note 2

[Q] Hide whatsapp images from stock gallery app

Hi!
I want to hide my whatsapp media file from stock gallery app.
I did try the .nomedia file by placing it in the whatsapp folder and it hided the pics
but as soon as I receive any new pic, its starts showing in the gallery.
Can anybody please help to resolve this issue.

imblfmstr said:
Hi!
I want to hide my whatsapp media file from stock gallery app.
I did try the .nomedia file by placing it in the whatsapp folder and it hided the pics
but as soon as I receive any new pic, its starts showing in the gallery.
Can anybody please help to resolve this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have exactly the same problem. I didn't figure it out too. You have to delete and re-create the .nomedia file every time you want to hide the recently received pictures.

underlines said:
I have exactly the same problem. I didn't figure it out too. You have to delete and re-create the .nomedia file every time you want to hide the recently received pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never try it with whatsapp yet, but this apps "storage analyzer" free from play store, can do the hide thingy from gallery n it's work with my games folder that sometimes the picts came out in the gallery. but now the problem solve. :laugh:

To hide it, search for this app
Audio manager/hide it pro
This app is 2 in 1
U can manage all ur audio and also hide app,vids,pics and so on
Its a great app and have been using for a long time now
Heres the link :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartanuj.hideitpro
Sent from the undoubtedly best phone on earth, the Samsung Note II

imrhay said:
To hide it, search for this app
Audio manager/hide it pro
This app is 2 in 1
U can manage all ur audio and also hide app,vids,pics and so on
Its a great app and have been using for a long time now
Heres the link :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartanuj.hideitpro
Sent from the undoubtedly best phone on earth, the Samsung Note II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buddy, Hide it pro takes a long time to hide pics & videos and also work on folders which are fixed
whatsapp folder keeps on updating, hence it doesn't work good here.
I read somewhere its an issue with note gallery app

Download es file explorer.
Then go into WhatsApp folder. Then click new file. Name it .nomedia
Sent from my Galaxy Note II using xda premium

Go to the WhatsApp Images folder. Now create a new file inside this folder and name it .nomedia (Click + New icon and then select new file)
Similarly, create the .nomedia file in WhatsApp Video folder to hide it from Gallery.
Now open up the gallery and it won’t show your WhatsApp stuff anymore!

Only one way is to rename whatsapp media folder with ".media".
But by doing this, whatsapp create new media folder when you download a new file.
I got solution to solve this using tasker.
I have tried hiding apps, .nomedia file. But all will not work.
sent from my GT-N7100. Press thanks if I helped..

.nomedia in my case don't work..

Quickpic has the option to put the nomedia file automatically, try it
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 con Tapatalk 2

as easy as 123.
1-ES File Explorer
2-Hold the folder
3-Hide
now it is hidden from ES and Gallery only.
whenever you wanna browse it just use other browsers OR settings>hidden files.
not sure exactly where :S

but in this case whatsapp recognize the folder correctly?

No
sent from my GT-N7100. Press thanks if I helped..

darkn3ss1 said:
but in this case whatsapp recognize the folder correctly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, only the gallery would miss it and ES. I use this all the time. Whatsapp can't find it when you hit upload from gallery. but it will be able to put files inside because the Directory isn't hidden.

Download audio manager . Has built in picture video and app hider that works perfect. Plus has awesome volume contols
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

1.copy sdcard/whtsapp/Profile pictures to sdcard/whtsapp/media
2. Now delete sdcard/whtsapp/media/Whtsapp Images folder
3. Rename the folder sdcard/whtsapp/media/Profile Pictures TO sdcard/whtsapp/media/Whtsapp Images

suael said:
1.copy sdcard/whtsapp/Profile pictures to sdcard/whtsapp/media
2. Now delete sdcard/whtsapp/media/Whtsapp Images folder
3. Rename the folder sdcard/whtsapp/media/Profile Pictures TO sdcard/whtsapp/media/Whtsapp Images
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested not working. It requires reboot every time after downloading image. As this is using .nomedia file.
sent from my GT-N7100. Press thanks if I helped you...

MBariya said:
Tested not working. It requires reboot every time after downloading image. As this is using .nomedia file.
sent from my GT-N7100. Press thanks if I helped you...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did u do exactly as wht i said..not just copying nomediafile....am able hide medias successfully

Yes done exactly same. But after downlaoding new media. It appears in galleries.
sent from my GT-N7100. Press thanks if I helped you...

You can use the "WhatsApp Media Gallery" app to manage all the media from WhatsApp. Just like android gallery, but with an added feature to hide them.

Pics in "Download" folder magically disappear?

Only happens on my wife's phone and not mine. She can download the pics from an email or text and after about 24 hours "poof" She just sees a black template for each one. Can't bring them up on PC and or QuikPic- You can see the templates in the Download Folder but no where else nor can you do anything with them other than delete. She is stock and its done this out of the box-
Thanks in advance for any help!

Anyone... thanks = )

Do the file sizes change?

Murasaki no Kaze said:
Do the file sizes change?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jut looked at her phone to verify and now the thumbnails are gone... I saved some more photos and will verify for you-
Also path is the typical... /storage/sdcard0/Download/NAME OF FILE.JPG
Thanks!

If she's plugging it into a mac (or any computer) it's probably set to auto copy then remove from phone.
Also check any apps that "sync" or auto-upload pics.

Just verified, she does not hook it up to any PC even the one at work... only charges off the wall.
Thanks

See if she's using any apps with her pics. Other than that just check to see if the file size is changing. It mostly sounds like something is moving/deleting the pics.

She was completely stock before last night putting the Quikpic on there to see if that program could still see them. Other than stock gallery and stock settings- I haven't found any setting within Gmail or Messaging or within Gallery or Settings that does anything weird to pictures unless I have missed something.
Thanks again for all of your help so far...

It won't be the gallery, you'd look to that for thumbnail problems.
Check if she uploads to facebook/instagram/etc.
If she does, HOW is she uploading? Web? App?

No uploading... she just keeps them in her Download Folder and eventually they turn into a black thumbnail template.
Whats funny is the ones that she moves to a folder (With a Category Name) no issue and they never dissapear... Only that folder...
I have removed everything and cleared up the directory and let the stock android file structure- re-create everything. its very weird...

Saving to a sdcard or internal?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Is the by chance a file in the directory called .nomedia I believe is what it's called? I get weird issues with pictures downloaded from time to time .I had the nomedia file deleted that and haven't had any issues with images since
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.

blaker13 said:
Saving to a sdcard or internal?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
internal. Default download directory.
mkfryan said:
Is the by chance a file in the directory called .nomedia I believe is what it's called? I get weird issues with pictures downloaded from time to time .I had the nomedia file deleted that and haven't had any issues with images since
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.nomedia doesn't directly affect files. It's used to tell galleries/music players/etc not to bother reading the current folder. It will make stuff not appear in apps, but it doesn't touch files. There's no reason for that to be in a stock download folder, but never hurts to check.
Love the signature btw

Is she going into her "downloads" app in her app drawer and clearing that list out? I know I accidentally do that from time to time.
Try using File Manager to move them to external storage. Does she maybe have a cleaning app that clears out her downloads?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Alright so a little more info-
When she downloaded Quikpic to try and view the thumbnails the program actually removed them. So thats why the templates were deleted this time.
However, one thing is certain- The download is set to internal storage and the category folders are on the Micro SD.
So if she moves them to a category on the Micro SD they are fine and never turn into a black template/thumbnail. If she keeps them in the Download Folder however, they eventually turn to a black thumbnail ans stay there until maually deleted... its like the picture disapears and the thumbnail looses contact with the original file.
-Thanks again for everyones help so far... :good:

Will check this tonight... .nomedia thing-

Be sure to ask what thenewguy1 asked.
If all else fails, she can just install a download manager and have it intercept and save the pictures to a different folder.
Also, does this ONLY happen to pics? No other file types are affected?

Alright so some wild updates... may be onto something (She doesn't clear downloads and she doesn't have the no image file)
However... it happened again yesterday- Here is the scenario on how it occurs.
She has an email with a image in Gmail-
Saves the picture-
File is saved in Download Folder and visible within Gallery Download Folder-
She then takes the email within Gmail and moves it to a folder-
Several minutes later this happens to the image-
Blacked out thumbnail and the size and data or there but no image-
Unable to see it at all or explore for it-
It gets better, if she moves it back to the Inbox or where it was saved orig the image will reappear-
So in theory its like it saves the shortcut to the image and when the image is moved the shortcut defaults to blank template.
What causes this??? LOL Thanks = )

So she's saving from the gmail app? Or from gmail web?
She clicks on pic -> menu -> save ?
Is that how she's saving them?
In trying to simulate your problem, somehow my thumbnail cache got screwed lol, cleared through quickpic and it seems to be working fine, haven't seen it black out yet... for me it doesn't give me the save option, it shows me the picture, and if I check the folder or gallery, it's already been saved to disk.
Now gmails tripping lol
Try clearing data and see if this problem persists.

senfinger said:
Alright so some wild updates... may be onto something (She doesn't clear downloads and she doesn't have the no image file)
However... it happened again yesterday- Here is the scenario on how it occurs.
She has an email with a image in Gmail-
Saves the picture-
File is saved in Download Folder and visible within Gallery Download Folder-
She then takes the email within Gmail and moves it to a folder-
Several minutes later this happens to the image-
Blacked out thumbnail and the size and data or there but no image-
Unable to see it at all or explore for it-
It gets better, if she moves it back to the Inbox or where it was saved orig the image will reappear-
So in theory its like it saves the shortcut to the image and when the image is moved the shortcut defaults to blank template.
What causes this??? LOL Thanks = )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is she saving it? I am also trying to replicate the issue. I am opening the attachment, hitting menu and save. I have moved the email but the image is still working fine. If she uses file manager to move them to another folder does it also corrupt the file? Is she somehow saving a link or shortcut? I am about lost
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app