It all happened when I was trying to emulate Nintendo 3DS games on my phone using Citrus and Mandarin. These emulators require users to create directories in specific locations for game files, shaders, and other configurations. However, Android’s default file management system doesn’t allow apps to freely create directories in certain locations due to scoped storage restrictions. I figured that if I could somehow bypass this restriction, I’d have an easier time setting up the emulator.
So, I had this idea: What if I removed the default Files app? My thought process was that without an official file manager, Android would be forced to prompt me to choose a file manager whenever an app needed storage access. That way, I could use ZArchiver or another third-party app, which I assumed would give me better control over creating directories where I needed them.
At first, everything seemed fine. I was still able to access my storage normally, move files around, and use third-party file managers without any issue. But when I tried opening Citrus and Mandarin again, they started crashing. Sometimes they would crash on launch, other times they would crash as soon as I selected an option to continue or set a user directory. Every time I clicked on the directory selection option, the app would immediately close.
I’ve tried reinstalling both emulators, clearing their data, and even manually creating the required directories using ADB and third-party file managers, but nothing seems to fix the crashes. The logs show errors related to storage permissions and missing file access, which makes me think that something broke in how these apps detect storage after I removed the Files app and changed permissions for Files by Google.
i also reached out to nothing support and they recommended me to reset my phone and i cant do that right now cause i have some very important data on my phone.
If anyone has encountered this issue before or knows how to restore proper file access without doing a full factory reset, I’d really appreciate the help.
