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Total Commander forced to stop letting you install APKs
The dev took action following a Play Store policy complaint
One of the handiest features on Android that sets it apart from the mobile competition is the ability to install apps from outside the Play Store. APK installation is why you can still play Fortnite — even as Epic's legal battle with Google continues — and it's how you can skip the wait for automatic updates to bring the latest features to your favorite apps. Unfortunately, one of Android's most trusted file browsers has removed the ability to install APK files after receiving takedown warnings from Google.
The best third-party file managers for Android
Because sometimes, you want something other than the default
You might be wondering why we're rounding up file browser apps if the latest Android smartphones already come with perfectly-functional versions. Frankly, there's too many in the Play Store not to highlight the ones worth checking out. And if you're a frequent device hopper, switching between your phone, tablet, and Android TV device, you might be looking for a file browser with a bit more functionality than what the default Google, Samsung, and Motorola versions have to offer.
Total Commander 3.0 hits the Play Store with biometric unlock and split APK support (APK download)
The 90s called, they want their file explorer back
Total Commander (or Windows Commander back in the 90s) is one of the best-known orthodox file managers out there and made the jump to Android back in 2012 (check out our hands-on for some nostalgia). Version 2 followed soon after in the same year, and apart from a visual update to make it fit better within Holo and Material Design, the basic interface has been the same up until today. Version 3,0, which has been in beta since 2018, doesn't change that, but at least it packs a slew of new features compared to Total Commander 2.91.
Android has supported external drives connected via USB for years, but the file system support hasn't been great. Paragon Software has been developing disk and file management software for years, and back in 2012 even released a root-only app for mounting exFAT and NTFS drives on Android. Now the company has released "exFAT/NTFS for Total Commander," finally allowing access to more file systems without root.
If you haven't heard, there's an Android version of the popular desktop file manager Total Commander. It has been around for years, and through all of that time, it hasn't been a particularly pretty piece of software. Okay, it started out somewhat fine by Gingerbread standards, but successive versions of Android have not been nice to it. If you go to the Play Store right now, here's one of the screenshots you will see.
"Because the history of computing has taught us is that data will not be contained. Data breaks free. It expands to new media, crashes through barriers; painfully, maybe even dangerously. But, uh, there it is… Data finds a way." - Jeff Goldblum as Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Gift Shop)
I've noticed something: people who love Total Commander really love Total Commander. Like, they won't even consider another file manager most of the time. After seeing TC's extensive feature list, though, I can kind of see why - this thing's chock-full of useful features. And with v2 - which was released as a beta in early September - it just got a lot more powerful.
Total Commander, one of the most powerful file managers for Android, has now been updated to version 2.0 beta. Like previous TC betas, this one isn't yet available in the Play Store, but can be found on the official TC for Android forums. It's worth noting that this version will install on top of the Play Store version if you have that one, so you're not stuck with two different versions on your device.
Total Commander, which only graduated to the "final" status yesterday, made it all the way to the Play Store today, along with all three of its plugins: FTP, LAN, and WebDAV. This event concluded the saga that started back in July of last year when the very first preview release was unveiled by Christian Ghisler, the author of the wildly popular application for Windows.
Total Commander, my favorite go-to app for powerful dual-pane file management on both Windows and Android (see our overview for features and screenshots), reached v1.0 final today, dropping the incredibly annoying mandatory expiration which was present in the release candidates. One such expiration caught me on a plane with no Internet access and forced me to literally turn back time on my tablet just to get it to work again. Needless to say, I welcome the first version that will no longer refuse all functions after an arbitrary period of time.
About a month ago, I discovered that my favorite desktop file manager, Total Commander, had an Android implementation, written by the author of the program himself - Christian Ghisler.
So, you've rooted, checked out every single app from our first three root-only-roundups (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), and are looking for something new and exciting?
If you've visited Android Police over the past weekend, you've probably already seen my enthusiastic review of Total Commander for Android, which for me is replacing both ASTRO and Root Explorer going forward as the top Android file manager. Ad-free, $0, root support, dual panes, plugin support, and other advanced functions, which you can read about in the review, make Total Commander an easy choice for both novice and advanced users.
When we found Medieval Software's new app called Dual File Manager XT yesterday, we jumped on it right away due to its 2-pane support. Ever since the '90s, 2-pane "orthodox" file managers like the Midnight, Norton, Volkov, and most recently Total Commander have been an absolute necessity on any computer I use.