Android 11 Scoped storage permissions

Question

My App use the file paths of images provided by Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() to create albums of photos, but with Android 11 I won't be able to access directly files.

According to the Android developers documentation they recently introduced the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, but I didn't understand if adding this permission I'm able to continue to access file by Environment or not.

I tried my application on an Android 11 Virtual device and it seems to work perfectly even without requesting the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission!

Reading the documentation on Android Developers, it seems that the applications that uses the File API for accessing Photos and Medias only locations can continue to work, but I'am not sure.

Is there anyone who better understood the Android Documentation???

Answer 1

Android 11

If you are targeting Android 11 (targetSdkVersion 30) then you require the following permissions in AndroidManifest.xml for modifying and document access.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"
    android:maxSdkVersion="28" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

For Android 10 you place the following line in your AndroidManifest.xml tag

android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true"

the method below checks if the permission is allowed or denied

private boolean checkPermission() {
    if (SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R) {
        return Environment.isExternalStorageManager();
    } else {
        int result = ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(PermissionActivity.this, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE);
        int result1 = ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(PermissionActivity.this, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE);
        return result == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && result1 == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
    }
}

The below method can be used for requesting a permission in android 11 or below

private void requestPermission() {
    if (SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R) {
        try {
            Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_MANAGE_APP_ALL_FILES_ACCESS_PERMISSION);
            intent.addCategory("android.intent.category.DEFAULT");
            intent.setData(Uri.parse(String.format("package:%s",getApplicationContext().getPackageName())));
            startActivityForResult(intent, 2296);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            Intent intent = new Intent();
            intent.setAction(Settings.ACTION_MANAGE_ALL_FILES_ACCESS_PERMISSION);
            startActivityForResult(intent, 2296);
        }
    } else {
        //below android 11
        ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(PermissionActivity.this, new String[]{WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE}, PERMISSION_REQUEST_CODE);
    }
}

Handling permission callback for Android 11 or above versions

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, @Nullable Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (requestCode == 2296) {
        if (SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R) {
            if (Environment.isExternalStorageManager()) {
                // perform action when allow permission success
            } else {
                Toast.makeText(this, "Allow permission for storage access!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        }
    }
}

Handling permission callback for OS versions below Android 11

@Override
public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String[] permissions, int[] grantResults) {
    switch (requestCode) {
        case PERMISSION_REQUEST_CODE:
            if (grantResults.length > 0) {
                boolean READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE = grantResults[0] == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
                boolean WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE = grantResults[1] == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;

                if (READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE && WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) {
                    // perform action when allow permission success
                } else {
                    Toast.makeText(this, "Allow permission for storage access!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                }
            }
            break;
    }
}

NOTE: MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE is a special permission only allowed for few apps like Antivirus, file manager, etc. You have to justify the reason while publishing the app to PlayStore.