Question Is there the concept of a normal text editor on Android nowadays?

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GalaxyA325G

GalaxyA325G

Senior Member
May 11, 2021
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Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
Does Android have the concept of a text editor like Linux does?
You know, you tap on any text file & it comes up in that text editor?

The text file for Windows & Linux is OUTSIDE of the text editor.
The text editor itself doesn't store anything in its private space.
Everything is stored in the text file.

You know, like how Windows & Linux does things.
Does Android have that concept?

Everything I've seen so far in Android works different than that.
The editors seem to keep the text file inside of the editor.
In some special proprietary format.
And database.

An example is Joplin. And Tasks. And Notes. And MS Office.

I don't want that.
I just want a text editor just like Windows & Linux does things.

Usually I copy the text file over to Android from Windows.
But sometimes I make the text file on Android with a file manager.

Is it possible to have a normal text editor on Android
so that I can open any text file from anywhere in that Android text editor?
 
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russ6100

Member
Jan 9, 2014
22
1
I think it has to do with how Android changed since android 11(?), where apps no longer can access each other's data.

So it would make sense that the newer editors would work the way you've described.

If I need to jot something really quick on Android, I open up my terminal emulator and since there's no vim (how do I survive?) I go bare-bones:

touch [FILE]

echo "Here's my message!" > [FILE]

If you want to add (append):

echo "Wait - there's more!" >> [FILE]
 
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Hendrix7

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2023
224
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russ6100 said:
I think it has to do with how Android changed since android 11(?), where apps no longer can access each other's data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually they can, but the user is asked to manually grant access to the directory they want an app to be able to use. Android doesn't let you pick root directory of the user storage or MicroSD card.

Another disadvantage of storage access framework is its bad performance, especially with a high number of files. The removal of legacy storage access broke compatibility with existing apps, including text editors. Some apps were not updated to support Storage Access Framework.

xdaforums.com

Why Google's reasons to restrict storage access are nonsense.

In 2014, Google took away normal MicroSD write access in Android 4.4 KitKat with no official option to bring it back (rooting is non-official). Google's reasoning is to ensure no app can leave files behind after uninstallation: The...
xdaforums.com xdaforums.com

Additionally, Android 14 no longer allows installing 32-bit apps, so pretty much every text editor developed in the past years (e.g. QuickEdit) can no longer be installed. All the text editor apps created over the years are no longer usable.

[This post is in the public domain, CC0 1.0, excluding quotes.]
 
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    GalaxyA325G
    GalaxyA325G
    Does Android have the concept of a text editor like Linux does?
    You know, you tap on any text file & it comes up in that text editor?

    The text file for Windows & Linux is OUTSIDE of the text editor.
    The text editor itself doesn't store anything in its private space.
    Everything is stored in the text file.

    You know, like how Windows & Linux does things.
    Does Android have that concept?

    Everything I've seen so far in Android works different than that.
    The editors seem to keep the text file inside of the editor.
    In some special proprietary format.
    And database.

    An example is Joplin. And Tasks. And Notes. And MS Office.

    I don't want that.
    I just want a text editor just like Windows & Linux does things.

    Usually I copy the text file over to Android from Windows.
    But sometimes I make the text file on Android with a file manager.

    Is it possible to have a normal text editor on Android
    so that I can open any text file from anywhere in that Android text editor?
    View

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