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I recently found out that Google introduced a new runtime in May 2016 to run Android apps on Chromebooks.

I'm already using the original ARC which was introduced a couple years ago. Unfortunately, the only way to access storage outside of the private runtime is by enabling { "enableExternalDirectory": true }, which prompts the end-user to mount a directory at startup, and then they can manually re-mount + restart as needed. This is not user-friendly.

The new Android Runtime is only supported on a limited set of devices, and requires a setting to be enabled. If I had one of those devices I would be able to test myself, but I'm hoping someone out here will already know the answer...

Can anyone confirm whether apps using the new runtime includes API access to external storage devices? For example, USB Thumb Drives? If so, this would solve the problems I've been having.

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  • AFAIK, there is no access to removable storage. The `Downloads` directory on the Chrome OS device maps to the `Downloads/` directory on Android external storage. That is the only place that I have seen that is in common between the Chrome OS and the Android environment. – CommonsWare Sep 27 '16 at 18:07
  • I just fired up an Android app that uses the Storage Access Framework on a Chrome OS device. Even that does not see a thumb drive. – CommonsWare Sep 27 '16 at 18:17
  • Thank you. Do you know whether this same app would see the USB Thumb Drive on a traditional Android? (assuming OTG or other USB interface is present) – 700 Software Sep 27 '16 at 18:21
  • Yes, the Storage Access Framework (e.g., `ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT`) supports removable storage on Android 5.0 in general. If the drive is formatted oddly, there may be issues (I seem to recall somebody complaining about lack of exFAT support), but standard stuff works fine. – CommonsWare Sep 27 '16 at 18:23
  • Well, just tested by trying to attach a file in Gmail. It appears that `ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT` will not look at USB Thumb Drives by default. (tested on Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 running Android 6.0.1) This must be because USB Drives are accessed with a different API than your usual removable SD Card. So it is quite possible the app you tested with was not looking at USB Storage. Maybe I'm too hopeful... – 700 Software Sep 27 '16 at 18:35
  • :: shrug :: It worked for me with a USB OTG drive on a Nexus device, last I tried it. – CommonsWare Sep 27 '16 at 18:37
  • Thank you for the clarification. This answers my question. – 700 Software Sep 27 '16 at 18:38
  • My response to a similar question: https://stackoverflow.com/a/44123748/295004 Credit goes to CommonsWare. – Morrison Chang Nov 30 '17 at 19:18

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