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deckerst / aves

Aves is a gallery and metadata explorer app, built for Android with Flutter.
BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
2.18k stars 86 forks source link

Sort by file created/modified date #97

Open Donkey-Doug opened 2 years ago

Donkey-Doug commented 2 years ago

Make it possible to sort by last modified.

Donkey-Doug commented 1 year ago

Please don't forget about this issue. Currently I download/receive an image and need to use a different gallery app because I cannot find it in Aves.

ledditorandproud commented 1 year ago

Please don't forget about this issue. Currently I download/receive an image and need to use a different gallery app because I cannot find it in Aves.

Can confirm. Genuinely the only reason I can't use Aves. I've had it installed for at least half a year, thinking this will be added eventually, since it's in every gallery app I've used. Is this in the plans at all?

deckerst commented 1 year ago

Well, technically it would be trivial. But I think exposing a single date is clearer. The same date currently used for sorting is the one used for the overlay, stats, filters, etc. For example, it would yield very confusing results if you sorted and grouped by modified date while having the "on this day" filter.

One general issue is that users got used to modified dates that were reliable, at the time Android was letting any app have low-level access to files. This is no longer the case. Aves is not a file manager, so it does not have low-level access to files, and the modified date is not under control. It will change when renaming or moving files, for example.

In the use case described by @Donkey-Doug above, a simple "recently added" filter (showing only items newly discovered in, say, the last 24 hours) would do the trick. No need to bring in the modified date.

In general, explaining your needs ("I want to see newly downloaded items but I can't find them") is more helpful to me than requesting a specific implementation ("sorting by modified date"). So let me know if you have additional use cases.

Donkey-Doug commented 1 year ago

Maybe make a section in the hamburger menu called "recents".

ledditorandproud commented 1 year ago

In general, explaining your needs ("I want to see newly downloaded items but I can't find them") is more helpful to me than requesting a specific implementation ("sorting by modified date"). So let me know if you have additional use cases.

The only use case for me is browsing the images I downloaded, sorted by the date&time I downloaded them on. As it is right now, if I download multiple images through an internet browser, they will be all over the place. I often ended up being unable to find something I just saved, because it's not on the top or the bottom, but in some completely random spot in the middle of all files in my Downloads folder. I understand file storage access has changed for the worse on Android, and I can't speak for everyone, but I personally would much rather deal with the date modified changing everytime I rename or move an image (which is almost always immediately after the file is made/saved), than be unable to sort by the date that file appeared on my phone.

ledditorandproud commented 1 year ago

I appreciate you addressing this so quickly, but I don't think the solution implemented in the last update works. "Recently added" still sorts by date created. An image downloaded from deviantart (using the built-in download feature that downloads the original file) is at the very bottom, seemingly being added to my phone in 2016, before it was even made.

It also creates an additional hoop to jump through when you want to only see images in an album, rather than all images on your phone. Personally, everytime I open an album, I'd have to press the search icon, and tap the "recently added" filter to see my albums the way other gallery apps display them. The ideal solution would be to add recently modified to the sort filters, rather than a search filter. Simple Gallery does this and is open-source, if you're curious about their implementation.

gautamz commented 10 months ago

I am facing a similar issue with sorting, but on the other end of this. I just moved all my photos from old phone to my new phone. Now all the old images have today's modified date and are showing up randomly under today's date in the gallery. Thankfully, I kept separate folders during the import and can use the file manager to sort by date created - but that defeats the purpose of using a gallery. If the option to select the type of date for sorting is there, then it can help a lot. I also think an option should be to use the date from the pics exif/meta data (if present), which may be more accurate for some use cases.

deckerst commented 10 months ago

I just moved all my photos from old phone to my new phone. Now all the old images have today's modified date

That's why people should not rely on file dates. Only metadata dates are meaningful.

I also think an option should be to use the date from the pics exif/meta data (if present), which may be more accurate for some use cases.

Aves uses the date from the pics exif/meta data (if present), so I don't understand your comment.

gautamz commented 10 months ago

Sorry, I didn't realise, so I've updated my comment. I had gone off what I saw happening with my images. I've checked more deeply, and it seems a bunch of my images don't have exif data which was what muddied everything. It's a separate pain I now have to resolve and nothing to do with Aves.

pencilled-robin commented 2 weeks ago

I'm having this problem too and it's a bit frustrating. I tend to download a lot of images, and sometimes when I want to find one of them I have to spend ages searching to see what year the metadata has sent it to this time. It would be really amazing to have an option to sort by modified date.

deckerst commented 2 weeks ago

@pencilled-robin have you tried the "recently added" filter? Or do you mean that you look for your files long after you downloaded them?

pencilled-robin commented 2 weeks ago

@deckerst yes to the second one! I'm not quite sure what you mean by using the "recently added" though - none of the files I downloaded this week show up there. Instead, they pop up sorted at dates months or even years ago.

Thanks for the quick reply btw! I want to say I love your app, it's by far the best gallery I've tried.

deckerst commented 2 weeks ago

"recently added" is a filter in the side drawer. It shows media items that Aves discovered in the last 24h. It's completely arbitrary but it's a way to show "new" items regardless of their intrinsic dates.

I have already stated here why I am reluctant to expose file attributes. However, given the use cases reported here, it seems that exposing the "discovered date" (used by the "recently added" filter) would be suitable, without the downsides of the unreliable file attributes. I'll think about it.

Thanks for the quick reply btw! I want to say I love your app, it's by far the best gallery I've tried.

Thanks, glad you enjoy it.

pencilled-robin commented 1 week ago

I see! Yes, I often look for files past the 24 hours so the filter isn't a great deal of use to me. The possible option you mentioned sounds great - I'm happy to hear you'll consider it.