Can Synthesia load MIDI files from SD card on Android 11?

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Daniel18
Posts: 9

Post by Daniel18 »

Hi, I just upgraded to Android 11, and when I go into Synthesia's settings to add the folder that contains all my MIDI files on my SD card, Synthesia only lets me select a folder on the internal storage, not the external SD card. (Previous Android versions would let me select a folder on the external storage.) When I try to navigate to external storage within Synthesia's menu, it shows a blank screen, as if Synthesia cannot read the external storage location. Is there a way to get Synthesia to load MIDI files located on external SD card, or am I forced to move all my MIDI files to internal storage? Thanks.
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

This is a new "feature" in Android 11: restricting all file access through one of Google's new APIs. Before November, we are going to be forced to update the app to use this new API before we'll even be allowed to push an update to the store. It will (mostly?) be fixed at that point. But the folder view won't work on Android anymore, I'm afraid.
Daniel18
Posts: 9

Post by Daniel18 »

Oh, I see. But even when it's updated, will we still be able to grant Synthesia access to the folders of our choice? Because I have all my MIDI files organized in one particular folder, and in that folder are additional subfolders, and I love being able to navigate my MIDI library through Synthesia this way. I hope there aren't drastic changes on the way, because I love the way the app works currently. But I understand that Google likes to change things up once in a while. :roll:
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

I'm not sure of the particulars yet (although, I will necessarily have to be sometime around November :grimace: ) but from what little I've seen so far, it looks like Google now gives access through a new "multimedia database" where we get to ask things like "tell me about any audio/x-midi files you might have available" and the OS gives back a flat list of every MIDI file on the drive... assuming it knows that mimetype. And I'm not sure what to do if it doesn't. We'll cross that bridge in a couple months.

(The title of this article says most of what needs to be said.) :lol:
xecutiv
Posts: 2

Post by xecutiv »

Hello! The Google Play Store version seems to be from before November 2021 (mentioned by the last reply above), so I thought that perhaps using the APK of the newest development build might address this issue of loading MIDI from an external SD card on Android 11.

I noticed that the latest dev build still isn't able to do this - is it expected to? Or is it still being investigated? I also noticed it can't "see" MusicXML files even when they're located on internal storage. Thanks!
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

I wasn't able to find a workaround that Google permits on the store. For now, if you've got Android 11+, the OS doesn't let Synthesia see .musicxml files.

Here's the latest in the saga.
xecutiv
Posts: 2

Post by xecutiv »

Thank you, so if I understand correctly, the same problem is causing both symptoms i.e. 1) not seeing MusicXML on internal storage and 2) not being able to see the external SD card at all. So if that problem is overcome then we'd expect both symptoms to be resolved.

As a dev, I relate to and feel your struggle with dependencies that suddenly introduce non-backwards-compatible updates :( It's tough for a one-man show to keep up with
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