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I am looking for a lightweight file browser for my Android 2.2 device. I used Astro File Manager before, but it looks like it has expanded with a lot of features, and does not fit on the limited space I have left.

Basically I am looking for an app that

  • Runs smoothly on Android 2.2
  • Not occupying tons of space (few MBs only)
  • Provides a file browser, and options to open files from there.
  • Less is more, as basic as it can get without losing functionality
  • Is gratis

My main use of the app would be to browse some folder containing some PDFs. I do not need anything fancy. Can you recommend such an app?

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3 Answers 3

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Though you already seem to have found your choice, I might point you to Ghost Commander. Similar in size (at least concerning the .apk size), it is not only "gratis", but fully open source. Offering a dual-panel view (at least on tablets) and being able to access network sources (FTP and SFTP out-of-the-box, Samba/Windows Shares via addon), and on the device itself also can access all locations (not restricted to the SDCard), inclusive root-mode if wanted. You can have bookmarks for your most used folders, it has ZIP support, a built-in editor and more.

Ghost Commander Network Access Ghost Commander
Ghost Commander Screenshots, presenting its capabilities (click images for larger variants)

**How does Ghost Commander meet your requirements?

  • Runs smoothly on Android 2.2: Minimum requirement is Android 1.6
  • Not occupying tons of space (few MBs only): .apk size is almost exactly the same as your mentioned choice (775 kB)
  • Provides a file browser, and options to open files from there: Sure it does. Even lets you edit text files, look into ZIP archives, and more.
  • Less is more, as basic as it can get without losing functionality: Uh, that's rather opinion-based of what belongs to "basic"...
  • Is gratis: Free and Open Source

For more alternatives, be welcome to browse my listing of file explorers, which has – where available – links to reviews and more.

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  • This one sounds worth a try. Double panel view is for FTP? Does it support scp as well (not a requirement, but would be useful for me, now I think of it)?
    – Bernhard
    Commented Oct 5, 2014 at 19:48
  • As far as I understood, dual-panel is a general feature (not restricted to FTP). And yes, SCP = SFTP as I've learned ( but SCP ≠ FTPS, so not confuse it ;) To be honest, I didn't yet try it out myself. After my vacation I might take a look at it on my "good old Wildfire", which has the same space limitation ;)
    – Izzy
    Commented Oct 5, 2014 at 19:52
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After some searching I tried File Browser by Ideatec Team. It runs smoothly and I can quickly launch my pdf files from the browser.

The application takes 824kb on my device, and you can easily put in on the SD card as well.

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I recommend Total Commander.

  • It runs smoothly on 2.3.6 (I never had older Android, so I don't know how works on it; Playstore lists Android 1.5 as minimum requirement),
  • On my phone, it uses 4.23 MB for everything (or at least default Android's app manager said that),
  • It has minimalistic interface built of two panels, which gives access to quite much functions
    (I'm sure there is many of them which I don't know )

What else can I say? That's my first answer here.

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  • 1
    Congrats to your first answer :) According to Playstore info, TC should run on 1.5 and up, so this part is covered. But compared to the other two candidates, it's twice as big. Might still be in the limits of the OP, though :) // BTW: I've edited your post to include this fact, and adjusted the Playstore link to auto-select the language again (was fixed to Polish ;)
    – Izzy
    Commented Oct 5, 2014 at 20:34

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