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by StewardMcOy 633 days ago
> if Google supports this, and if it doesn’t then I agree they should drop the support altogether

Last time I used it, the file picker was by file, not folder, and was fairly janky. By that I mean it was slow and cumbersome to use. Selecting one file was bad enough, let alone multiple.

But selecting an entire folder would definitely be better, assuming that the experience could be much improved. I still think there needs to be a way to bypass it for apps that truly need access to every single file--even at the risk of attackers exploiting the app or the developer deciding to turn evil--but that's getting sidetracked from the real argument. So for now, let's assume I agree that the select a folder solution is perfect.

The real issue is that Google should not be the arbiter of what apps are allowed that kind of access, and they certainly shouldn't be making small developers jump through the expensive, ineffective CASA hoop to get it.

That's the real reason iA's discontinuing development on Android, and they're right to do so. Google Drive should have a permissions model that allows for users to control how much access an app should have. That would solve the issue without the unnecessary bureaucracy, the mistakes (like suggesting an editor be read-only), and added expense that other platforms don't put on third-party developers.

1 comments

> Last time I used it, the file picker was by file, not folder, and was fairly janky.

Well, that sounds like Google haha. I’d drop it just for that reason alone, to be honest.

> The real issue is that Google should not be the arbiter of what apps are allowed that kind of access, and they certainly shouldn't be making small developers jump through the expensive, ineffective CASA hoop to get it.

Absolutely. In case of whole Drive access, I think a big scary warning should suffice here: the user should understand what they get into, but still be able to continue if they want. Perhaps the warning can be made less scary if the app passes an audit (something more suitable than CASA, of course).