Android Applications: 5 Best File Managers

ASTRO File Manager is a solid app to organize your pictures, music, videos and a whole lot of files in your smartphone. The app has an easy customizable user interface to perform a wide variety of tasks; it comes with a sliding toolbar at the top of the screen for this. Its main window shows all the folders the system holds. Navigating through these files is made easy by the Up, Back and Next buttons. Sorting can be done by name, date, size or type. It also comes with a reliable search tool. The most important, process manager, gives you an idea of the currently running apps, services and processes, just like your computer’s task manager does. Currently, the app supports 11 languages.

ES File Explorer gives you total control over your phone’s file management. This utility comes with handy features to not only cut, copy or rename but also to deeply explore all the files and direct to the Application Manager with a clear interface. With a support for 19 international languages, the app makes management easy, lets you stay connected using 3G, EDGE or WiFi, upload photos and watch videos. You can multiselect files, manage apps by install, uninstall, backup, shortcuts and category, unpack RAR and ZIP files. It supports varied file formats of all kinds, has an inbuilt image browser, text viewer and editor and shows thumbnails for images.

For users preferring a simple app to organize files and folders on their phone, OI File Manager is a great choice. Built with minimal options, which makes it more user friendly, the app lets you browse through your SD card, create directories, rename and delete files. It supports viewing files with thumbnails for images, sends files through email, and can understand various file formats and mime types.

This powerful app for file management on Android not only manages file storage, it also combines the outside world without using any separate hardware support. The app can share files stored on local SD card, local WiFi network or over cloud storage. It is also equipped with complete features for advanced users exploring root files. With a clear UI, its FTP/HTTP server avoids using a USB for web management. Its Bluetooth feature includes OBEX FTP and OPP along with others. Inbuilt with an archive manger to create and compress ZIP, RAR files, its App Manager allows installing/uninstalling applications.

For root users, more involved in the inherent system files, this app is a must have on your smartphone. It can easily access the entire Android file system (including the elusive data folder!). It is well backed with a solid review from its users and includes a number of other features as well. The app is well designed using a familiar graphical interface, and has a fast search through the entire phone contents. For deeper actions, the Explorer also displays timestamps, permissions and sizes next to the thumbnails of files and folders.