Android phone "My Files" mystery

Si_Clist

I have a bunch of sound files which I use as references when practicing with my clarinet, and they are stored in "My Files" on my Samsung A14 phone.

I open "My Files", go to "Audio Files" and tap one of them to open it.  What happens is that I then get a "Welcome! Ringtones for Android TM" page.  If I tap on "continue", it takes me to a page inviting me to "Go Premium".  I close that, then end up on their website, and when I close that, I finally get to open my sound file.  That seems to be the only way I can get to the list of soundfiles.

Is opening a sound file supposed to be such a PITA on a Samsung phone, or can I somehow get rid of all this "Ringtones for Android" business and have my phone behave sensibly?

bob2302

Nothing like that happens on my Samsung. Did you perhaps get a few quid off it in return for ads?

I use generally use Google's Files app rather than Samsung's My Files. You could try that. 

flaneurs_lobster

What @bob2302 said. I think Ringtones for Android is a (non-Samsung) app that you could try deleting.

Bonhomie

Si_Clist said:

I have a bunch of sound files which I use as references when practicing with my clarinet, and they are stored in "My Files" on my Samsung A14 phone.

I open "My Files", go to "Audio Files" and tap one of them to open it.  What happens is that I then get a "Welcome! Ringtones for Android TM" page.  If I tap on "continue", it takes me to a page inviting me to "Go Premium".  I close that, then end up on their website, and when I close that, I finally get to open my sound file.  That seems to be the only way I can get to the list of soundfiles.

Is opening a sound file supposed to be such a PITA on a Samsung phone, or can I somehow get rid of all this "Ringtones for Android" business and have my phone behave sensibly?

Uninstall that application if you don't need it. It's obviously associated itself with the kind of file that you are utilising.
Then try again to open a sound file. You can install a free player such as VLC if necessary... or whatever suits your need.

Si_Clist

Gosh  Thank you.  I didn't know that I had options! Ideally I'd like to leave the various tones that are in the "Audio Files" folder of "My Files" where they are but move my music practice mp3s to a separate folder somewhere.  Is there a way of doing that?  If it helps, the phone will apparently take some sort of SD card: might that be a way forward?  (Apologies for my ignorance, but I'm pushing 80 and don't have grandchildren to sort this out for me!)

flaneurs_lobster

Si_Clist said:

Gosh  Thank you.  I didn't know that I had options! Ideally I'd like to leave the various tones that are in the "Audio Files" folder of "My Files" where they are but move my music practice mp3s to a separate folder somewhere.  Is there a way of doing that?  If it helps, the phone will apparently take some sort of SD card: might that be a way forward?  (Apologies for my ignorance, but I'm pushing 80 and don't have grandchildren to sort this out for me!)

It's not trivial to try and organise files on a mobile phone manually (as you might on a laptop using File Explorer). The Android system does everything it can to stop you mucking with its giblets. Instead it's usual to use the organising functionality in whatever app you are using to record/play your mp3s. They might call this "playlists" or something else, but there will be some way of grouping files together.

Si_Clist

flaneurs_lobster said:

... it's usual to use the organising functionality in whatever app you are using to record/play your mp3s. They might call this "playlists" or something else, but there will be some way of grouping files together.

Oh dear.  I had no idea this would be so complicated.  I hardly dare say that I don't use an app to record/play the mp3s: I simply download them to my Chromebook from various musicians sites then "quick share" them to my phone.

Could I perhaps instead gather them into a folder on my Chromebook and then export that to somewhere on my phone?  

Si_Clist

bob2302 said:

... I use generally use Google's Files app rather than Samsung's My Files. You could try that. 

I just have, and it seems to be the solution to my problem.  Thank you!

Si_Clist

My problem seems to be solved now that I've installed Google Files.  Thank you one and all for your help with this 

Newcad

That sounds that you had a 'File Association' set up to open that type of music file in "Ringtones for Android" app.

So when you went to open the files it tried to open that app  - which wasn't installed (or it was but trying to sell you the premium version) so it took you to the store to get it.

You can change what app is used to open any type of file to the one that you actually want to use for that filetype.
See: https://www.samsung.com/my/support/mobile-devices/how-to-clear-and-change-default-apps-on-android/

bob2302

I wrote my other post in a bit of a hurry; it wasn't until I was out the door that it struck me how suspicious this is. It looks even more suspicious on more careful reading.

It sounds unlikely that "Ringtones for Android" is a stock Android app and much less likely that it's a Samsung app. If you didn't install it, then it was most likely installed by malware. IIWY i'd look-up how to do a factory reset.