X-Plore : the one File Manager that suits my needs

As you might have noticed, yesterday I started a selection of best apps in different software categories. I am not doing a comparison here, just picking the app that has the little plus that makes it stand out of the crowd and be the one I personnaly prefer. Advanced Call Manager was my pick in the call manager utility section.

Today's category is File Managers and my vote goes to X-Plore by Lonely Cat Games (read about it on the official site).

When it comes to file managers, there is a point when you start to wonder if you really need one. Well, the answer is easy: if you need to access D and Z drives on your phone, the answer is yes, if you don't then the answer is no. It's as simple as that. Frequent file manager users might scream "Blasphemy!" but to me it is as simple as that. It's true that file managers do just more than just access D and Z drives, but most of these features are those who are used by advanced mobile users, hence users who usually need to access D and Z drives. Does it make sense now?

In the seek for a good file manager, I have passed by many: Nokia's pre-installed File Manager, Y-Browser, X-Plore, F-Explorer... and there are many others like SysExplorer, Active File, SkyExplorer, don't blame me if I forget one, it's just that there are many. If you need to know more about (and/or download) these file explorers, just read this post by Antony Pranata on his s60tips blog.

Although X-Plore is no longer a freeware, it can still be installed and working on your phone: it's just a matter of an additional screen that lasts 3 seconds before the app opens and 3 seconds before it closes.

Now let's get to the point: file managers usually allow you to access all drives on the phone (C, D, E and Z), to copy/paste files. Most of them also allow you to access the inbox (for any file received via bluetooth), most have a hex viewer (whatever that is). Some of them have shortcut abilities, some allow you to see and change file attributes, to send files via BT IR or email. A couple also allow you to take screenshots or see detailed information about your phone or send an sms.Now why do I prefer X-Plore? It's because it has a couple of features that made me stop searching for a file explorer:

- Extracting .zip and .rar: people might need a separate program (like Handy Zip and Mobile Rar) to zip/rar and unzip/unrar files on their mobile. I only need to unzip/unrar files and X-Plore does it for me. I can choose which directory to extract my files to and it does the rest.

- Viewing/Extracting .jar: although on a phone you might not be able to edit .jar files, opening them is still a very good plus for me. I spend hours trying to come up with tricks on my phone, and being able to read .jar is a must. It allows me to check the MANIFEST file inside any java app and hence see if it fits my screen size, if the icon is good, the name is good, the language is right... Sure I would need a pc to correct a mistake (if any) but it saves me from having to check all my apps on my pc before sending them to my phone.

- All text files viewing: doc, txt, ...

- Quick folders: gives quick access to 10 different folders: your favorites, you pick them.

- File Associations: if X-Plore can't open a file by itself or find a default program to do it, you can always set the file associations. For example I have set my .pdb extension files to automatically open with iSilo.

- Inbox emptying: most of the time (if not always), I use bluetooth to send files to my phone. These end up in the inbox. Since the mobile doesn't automatically open some files (zip, doc, pdb) I have to copy them to my memory card, which can not be done without a File Manager. Via X-Plore, I get to see all my inbox files, copy them to drive E, but more importantly cut them because X-Plore, unlike Y-Browser for instance, allows you to delete an inbox file by simply clicking the "c" button. This is extremely useful if you have a couple of files in the inbox you need to delete. You don't need to go to the inbox and start scrolling through messages in order to get to this particular one with the BT icon that you need to delete. Just delete it from X-Plore.

- Good search function: allows you to specify which folder / drive to search in (the one highlighted) and to search for file types: for instance, queue in *.jpg for image searching.

- Image viewing, Themes, Device Info, Tree viewing, On-screen memory details of each file...

Now despite the fact that X-Plore can't send sms, tell me details about my device, or take screenshots (there are freeware for all those features), it still gets my vote as the best File Manager.

Now don't get me wrong: I am not saying that the other file managers don't presend all those features: I don't know because I haven't tried all file managers: X-Plore made me stop my search. It had exactly all the features I was looking for. The inbox emptying, .zip .rar and .jar opening, on-screen memory details of each file, and file associations: all are must-have for me.

N.B: the native symbian file manager is still essential in order to access private and sys folders on the memory card. Using the search function of X-Plore doesn't show up the hidden folders as they do in the native file manager.