Hai Zhang's Material Files Beats Google's App With 4 Network Protocols and Faster Android File Management
Updated
Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 14
Hai Zhang's Material Files Beats Google's App With 4 Network Protocols and Faster Android File Management
2 articles · Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 14
Summary
Material Files, a free open-source Android app by Hai Zhang, stood out as faster than Files by Google, opening folders more quickly and loading thumbnails with less delay.
Beyond speed, the app adds deeper control through Material You and Material Design 3 themes, per-folder layout and sorting settings, and root access for advanced users.
4 built-in network protocols—FTP, SFTP, SMB and WebDAV—let users connect remote storage directly without a cloud account, though Google Drive integration is absent.
Archive browsing, APK explore-or-install options, built-in compression to ZIP, tar.xz or 7z, hidden-file access and a local FTP server push it beyond Google's simpler file manager.
The trade-off is fewer Google-centric extras such as cloud integration, private folders, storage cleaning and AI suggestions, in exchange for more privacy and control.