On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 9:35 AM, Mark Carter <[email protected]> wrote: > Sure, although I'm not going to update my app to call the Media Scanner, > because it has nothing to do with Media. The problem is, your average user > will see "Galaxy Nexus" in their Windows Explorer and assume it behaves like > a regular USB drive. > > In fact, I don't understand this at all. If MTP is supposed to be for media > only then why is the whole file system exposed? At least, why expose the > parts of a file system that are nothing to do with media. Better still, > shouldn't the media be presented in a more media-friendly way: e.g a flat > hierarchy with Music, Videos, Photos etc?
Android switched from USB Mass Storage to MTP to get past an even bigger problem: simultaneous access. USB Mass Storage was the cause behind the whole "if external storage is mounted, apps can't get at it" problem that plagued us as developers since the outset. That's because USB Mass Storage assumes that the "storage" has all the brains of a thumb drive. MTP assumes that both the storage (e.g., MP3 player) and the one mounting the storage might want simultaneous access. And Windows has a built-in MTP client. Now, I am no USB protocol expert. It is possible that there is some other protocol that could provide the benefits of MTP without having the word "media" in it. However, all else being equal, the MTP approach seems to me to be a net gain for us. And that's coming from a guy who uses Linux, whose MTP support ranges from "dismal" to "decrepit". -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://github.com/commonsguy http://commonsware.com/blog | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android App Developer Books: http://commonsware.com/books -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
