Google Files Go Now Supports Tablets, SD Cards

Google made quite a surprising move when it launched its own Files Go file manager, not just for Android Go but for any Android device. Well, technically only Android smartphones. That changes today with Google updating the app with support not just for the big Android screens but a few new features as well, perhaps reinforcing the fact that this is no dream. Google really did launch a file a manager and is actively maintaining it.

It is almost out of character that Google launched a file manager app at all. Earlier iterations of Android didn't include one and left it to third-party apps to address the absence. Android followed iOS' paradigm of not exposing the filesystem though it still left it open for others to explore. And while Google eventually added one, it buried it deep in the Settings app and didn't exactly make it behave like a traditional file manager.

That said, Google doesn't exactly advertise Files Go as a file manager per se. It describes it more as a way to free up storage space on your device, which often requires you to drill down into files and folders. But Google is also applying features, namely machine learning and AI, to achieve that effect without users having to do that manually.

In the first update since it launched, Files Go is gaining support for Android tablets, admittedly a dying breed. It now also has support for SD cards, another thing that Google would have preferred didn't get used, just like file managers.

Last but not least, there is a new "Open with" option when handling files. This would allow you to bypass what has been set by the native Android picker as the default handler for that particular file type.

SOURCE: Google