BendyStraw File Managers app for Android description

BendyStraw

An app for managing NewPipe databases.

BendyStraw imports NewPipeData-*.zip files and lets you:

• Open multiple zips at the same time, so you can combine data from several devices
• Delete Copy Move Rename your custom playlists
• Delete Copy Move streams from one playlist to another
• Delete Copy Move channel subscriptions between databases
• Delete Copy Move remote (bookmarked) playlists
• Re-order playlists, sorting the streams by Title, Channel or Length (just tap the column headings in the tables)
• Streams (audio/video) can be opened directly from BendyStraw, as the URLs are clickable
  • If you set video links (in your Android settings) to open in NewPipe you can make a split-screen view and jump around your playlists
• Export playlist as raw text, for example to be used with yt-dlp
• Dark/light themes

After editing simply export a new zip file, then import it back into NewPipe.

Note about Permissions

On Android 13+, BendyStraw asks for the manage external storage permission, here's why:

• A typical use-case for this app is to open several zip files, concurrently, from multiple locations including Download directories (these files would be, for example, multiple NewPipe exports from multiple devices, which you want to combine).
• Each zip is extracted so that its contained newpipe.db SQLite database can be read/written while you are editing.
• After editing, the extracted files are written back to a new zip, and/or overwrite the original zips.

I aim to minimise the permissions I request in everything I build. Android 13 introduced changes to make doing what I decribed above difficult. I explored alternative methods requiring fewer permissions and felt that it compromised the user experience for my (as the app's first user) typical usage, making it more complicated and annoying.

I treat users as responsible human beings, so give you this info to allow you to make an informed choice. If you are not happy with this, you can:

• Choose not to grant the permission, and uninstall the app.
• Check the source code to see that I'm not doing anything nefarious, or ask somebody to check it for you (at time of writing, everything related to reading/writing files is in /lib/file_manager_widget.dart).
• Build the app yourself from the source using Flutter.