Re: Clever helpful suggestion for portable memory using Windows & Android editors

On Sun, 2 Feb 2025 14:41:48 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote :

I don't "hate" the cloud, as, let's be frank, all of us store our email on
the cloud, don't we? (Even with POP it's still "on the cloud" for a while).

 I referred to me using the google editor with google cloud, which is gratis unless you exceed the quota of 15 gigs.

Hi Carlos,
Being a completely open-minded person... I readily and publicly agree with you that the 15GB gratis cloud storage by
Google is rather generous, and, in fact, I've chided the Apple people many
times for their ridiculously miniscule 5GB of free iCloud storage.
Both are teasers, of course, when your data storage is at least 64GB (not
all of which are documents), but Google's 15GB is, indeed, rather lavish.
Note: To be fair to Apple owners (of which I am also), there are "ways" to
get more than the absurdly puny 5GB, but you have to play silly games.

I did this once, to use the feature of two people simultaneously editing the same file, across the pond.

On that topic, the Apple people always claim how great their "walled
garden" is for such things, but the fact is that if you log into a server
on the Internet - you can do on Android *everything* that Apple can do.
One of those things is what you said - which is two people editing the same
file (which I've done also when collaborating with others - although as I
recall - it's not exactly simultaneous - but it's close enough to work).
To add further value, in addition, at least as I faintly recall, there is
an "AirDrop" equivalent for Android (I think it's called "ShareDrop") which
allows file sharing on the fly - which is - after all - what the Google
edit does (I think) anyway. The Google editor just makes it more seamless
(I think). Note: I am going off of memory from using it years ago so if I'm
wrong, you're welcome to correct me that Google isn't "sharing" so much as
allowing two people to work on a single "copy" - which "looks" shared.
 

Andy and you can double or quadruple your cloud storage also, but at the
cost of thousands of dollars compared to my cost of around ten US bucks.

 I intentionally never edit a file stored in a flash card or usb dongle. I edit the file on the computer, and when finished, copy it over, if there is a need.

I completely understand. I have a lot of sync scripts (since my phone is
mounted as the "P:" drive on Windows, where the "master" copy is stored on
Windows (which has more powerful editing tools, such as Microsoft Office).
In fact, my "contacts" file is stored as an Excel spreadsheet on Windows.
Then it's robocopied to the "P:" phone drive & used there by phone apps.
So I agree with you that editing is much better done on the desktop PC.
(Good thing Andy removed the "editors" folks from this subthread, huh?) :)

This trick I'm trying to help others appreciate, is what allows me to
*seamlessly* double or triple that external portable storage over time.

 Ok, but many people do not need to do that :-)

Well. OK. I agree with you (and with Andy) that if you don't even have an
sdcard, the brilliant trick is worthless to you - and I agree if you use
the cloud to mimic some parts of "portable storage", you don't need it.
But.... a. I was kindheartedly trying to be purposefully helpful after all, and, b. It *is* a neat trick that is both elegant and powerful, and, c. It makes doubling sdcard memory absolutely seamless!
That's the part I love the most. Doing that trick with portable memory makes doubling memory seamless!

Nor would I intentionally label several cards with the same name. I want them different.

I fully understand, and, in fact, for years, especially since nobody can
remember the crazy default volume names anyway, what I used to do was label
each card by the date that they were put in service, such as (for today):
 2025-0202 (for February 25th, 2025)
But what happened was I slept on my first T-Mobile free phone, and it broke
the port (somehow) so I had T-Mobile replace it - and when I popped the old
card into the new phone, the old card was formatted with a name such as:
 2021-0501 (for May 1st, 2021)
As a result, our beloved {OSMAnd~,OSMAnd+,OSMAnd} editor stopped finding
the gpx, kml, waypoint and map files painstakingly stored on that sdcard.
That's when I realized the "trick" would work, so when I next doubled the
size of the sdcard from 32GB to 64GB, I used the trick and it worked.
I was rather surprised when I quadrupled the original sdcard to 128GB that
it's so seamless that I could almost jump for joy.
Note: I'm well aware that, nowadays, with everything stored on the cloud,
phone-to-phone data transfer is pretty much seamless too (albeit at a cost
in privacy, and maybe in subscription fees).

Hmm. How do you save a track & then edit that track when you are in the
backcountry hiking & therefore you can't hope to have Internet access?

 I don't do that. Never felt that need.

Well, I can't be the only person who edits files on Android sdcards, can I?

How do you add a new entry (or change an old entry) in your kdbx files?
Where do you store the (rather huge) databases that map editors save?

 I've never done that. Ok, you are editing maps. Finally, we know what you are doing and things start to click in place :-)

Yes. I'm editing the GPX routes & waypoints more than I'm editing the maps
themselves; but what I do is *draw* the desired track on an offline map.
Then I try to *follow* that drawn track, where, as you know, there is no
guarantee of cellular signal deep in these rugged Santa Cruz Mountains.
 <https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hiker+lost+ffor+days+in+santa+cruz+mountains>
Map databases are, as you're well aware, huge compared to text files; but I
don't always get to control WHERE a map program stores those files.

I'd probably use a tablet in that case, perhaps with a flash card, which in my tablet is easily accessible. Big display.

Funny you mention the tablet as I used to use the iPad for that purpose.
But that's before Android phone batteries got huge, where my free 2021
Android Galaxy A32-5G has a huge 5 Amp battery which lasts forever. As an aside... What I love about Android phones, as compared to Apple iPhones, is Apple
puts the cheapest possible battery into every iPhone, to the point that my
free ($200 MSRP) Android has a far better battery than any iPhone ever
made.  That's why I love that the EU forced Apple to publicly state how
many cycles their phones handle and as a result, Apple was forced to
improve the battery of the iPhone 15 and up to *barely* meet the minimum
lifetime for a phone to be sold in the EU. No iPhone older than the iPhone
15 can be sold in the EU as a result of Apple's use of cheap batteries.