🚀 Quick Start Guide - FastMediaSorter v2

Get started in 5 minutes! Simple guide for beginners.

Choose Your Flavor 📱

FastMediaSorter v2 ships four flavors for everyday phones and tablets - Standard, Lite, Photos, Legacy - plus two headset and sideload builds, VR and noLegal. Six in total; the exact capability grid is generated from the build in FLAVOR_MATRIX.md. Pick the one that fits your needs:

Flavor	Best For	Key Features
Standard ⭐	Everyone	Full features: videos, photos, audio, documents, cloud storage, translation + internet radio / Streams
Lite	Smaller downloads	Photos, videos and local audio files; no cloud, no network folders, no Internet Streams, no documents or translation, and audio stops when the app leaves the foreground
Photos	Photo enthusiasts	Images only, with cloud storage and network folders; no video, no audio, no Streams
Legacy	Older Android (API 23+)	Full media + SMB/FTP/SFTP and cloud; built for older Android (API 23+)
VR / noLegal	XR headset / sideload	VR is the Store-clean headset build; noLegal is the sideload build that adds the immersive player and sideload-only extras

👉 Most users should download the “Standard” flavor for the complete experience.

First Launch: Choose Your Device Profile (30 seconds) 🧭

The welcome flow opens by stating what the app is, as four roles rather than a sample of features: a file manager; a player of photos, video, music, GIFs, documents and text; a reader of sources on the device, on the network and in the cloud; and one-tap sorting. Each tile names the concrete protocols and services it means - SMB, FTP, SFTP, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox - and lists only what your build can actually open, so what you read there is true for the flavor in your hands.

On the very first launch, right under the language picker, the welcome screen asks how you’ll use this device. Pick a profile and the app starts with sensible defaults for that style - layout, thumbnails, fullscreen, keep-screen-awake, background audio, delete/move confirmations, the reading view, link downloads, player controls, the streams start-up view and, where the launcher is available, the desktop itself. It’s a one-time starting preset, not a lock - you can change anything afterwards.

🎯 Recommended badge: the app guesses a likely profile for your device and marks it (Recommended). If it guessed right, you barely have to do anything.
⏭️ Skip: in a hurry? Skip simply applies the recommended profile. No wrong answer here.
⚙️ Change it later: Settings → General → Device profile. Switching there shows a quick warning that names exactly how many settings the new profile will overwrite, and asks you to confirm. Nothing changes until you say yes. A profile that would overwrite nothing is applied without asking.
🧩 Other / Custom: keeps your current settings exactly as they are. No preset applied - handy if you like tuning things by hand.
⬆️ Upgrading from an older version? Your profile shows as Other and your previous settings are kept untouched - no preset was auto-applied. Want one anyway? Pick a profile in Settings.
🎚️ Next - pick what the app does: after the profile, a quick screen lets you switch capabilities on or off (file manager, audio, video, documents, text recognition, translation). Optional parts download right there and turn on the moment they finish - all changeable later in Settings.

The 11 profiles:

📱 Personal smartphone - touch layout, background sync, default security confirmations
🖥️ Tablet & desktop mode - tablets, Chromebooks, Samsung DeX; grid layout, large thumbnails, multi-window browsing
📺 TV / media box - DPAD/remote navigation, large buttons, no tiny touch controls
🚗 Car head unit - extra-large buttons, screen stays on, playback over file ops
🎬 Media player - photos, videos, music with slideshow and resume
🖼️ Photo frame - opens straight into a slideshow; file ops step aside
🎞️ Video player - quick video playback and thumbnails
🎵 Audio player - background audio and the now-playing screen
📚 E-book reader - PDF, EPUB, and text reading
🥽 VR headset - 3D/360° layouts and immersive controls on supported hardware
🧩 Other / Custom - keeps default settings unchanged, no preset applied

Step 1: Add Your First Folder (30 seconds)

Open the app - you’ll see the main screen
Tap the “+” button (bottom-right corner)
Select “Local Folder” (or Network/Cloud)
Choose a folder
Done! The folder appears in your list

💡 Tip: For Network drives (SMB), use the new “Scan Network” button to find devices automatically!

Step 2: Browse Your Files (30 seconds)

Tap on the folder you just added (or long-press)
You’ll see all your media files as thumbnails
Switch views:
- Grid icon = see thumbnails
- List icon = see file details

💡 Tip: Use the filter button (funnel icon) to show only photos, videos, or even Text/PDF documents.

Step 3: View and Navigate (1 minute)

Tap any photo/video to open full-screen viewer
Swipe left = next file
Swipe right = previous file
Pinch to zoom on photos
Tap screen to show/hide controls

Touch Zones (Screen Areas)

The screen is divided into 9 areas for quick actions:

┌─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
│  BACK   │  COPY   │ RENAME  │
│   (1)   │   (2)   │   (3)   │
│         │         │         │
├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│  PREV   │  MOVE   │  NEXT   │
│   (4)   │   (5)   │   (6)   │
│         │         │         │
├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ COMMAND │ DELETE  │  PLAY   │
│   (7)   │   (8)   │   (9)   │
│         │         │         │
└─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘

Legend:

Back 2. Copy 3. Rename
Prev 5. Move 6. Next
Cmds 8. Del 9. Play

💡 Enable overlay: Settings → Playback → “Always show touch zones overlay”

Step 4: Sort Files Quickly (2 minutes)

Setup Quick Sort folders:

Go to Settings → Operations → Quick Sort destinations
Tap “Add to Quick Sort”
Select folders where you want to sort files (e.g., “Best Photos”, “Vacation”)
Each folder gets a number (0-9) and color

Now you can sort files instantly:

While viewing a photo, tap bottom-left corner (COPY zone)
OR tap the “1” button on the command panel
File is copied to your Quick Sort folder #1!

Step 5: Advanced Features (Optional)

Network Drive (SMB / SFTP / FTP)

Tap ”+” → Network → SMB or SFTP / FTP

SMB: Use “Scan Network” to automatically discover your NAS and network devices. The app will search your local network and display available SMB shares.
SFTP/FTP: Enter host IP, user, and password manually.

Cloud Storage

Tap ”+” → Cloud Storage

Supports: Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox
Tap “Sign in..”, grant permissions, and pick folders.

Favorites System

Tap the star icon while viewing any file
Access all favorites: Main menu → Favorites tab
Works across all folders!

Auto-Translation

Enable in Settings → Media → Other
Tap Translate button (A→文) when viewing Images/PDF/Text
Lens-style mode: Enable “Lens-style overlay” in settings for Google Lens-like in-place translations

EPUB E-Books

Enable in Settings → Media → Documents
Add folder with .epub files → Files will show “E” badge
Chapter navigation: Swipe left/right or use prev/next buttons
Table of Contents: Tap 📋 button for chapter list
Font size: Use -A/+A buttons (14-32px range)
Search: Tap 🔍 button to find text in the book
Dark/light theme: Automatically adapts to app theme

Slideshow Background Music

Add a folder with audio files as a resource
Go to Settings → Media → Images → “Play music during slideshow”
Select your music resource from the dropdown
Start any slideshow - music plays automatically!
Tip: Tap the track name during slideshow to skip to a different random track

Keybinding Remapper

Settings → Operations → Controls & Keybindings - reassign any control to a different key, button, or gamepad input
70 built-in defaults; tap Reset to restore
Press F1 on any screen to view the active key bindings for that surface

Camera Capture

In Browse, tap the camera button in the toolbar to open the in-app camera and save straight to the current resource - local or network
Zoom: tap a preset (0.5x/1x/2x..) or drag the slider for a precise level
Shooting scenario: one button offers normal, night, portrait, selfie, macro and sport - only the ones your device can actually deliver
Photo or video: switch modes right on the camera screen before you shoot

Screen Capture & Edge Gestures

Turn on Settings → Operations → Edge screen gestures → Gesture overlay, then swipe from the left edge to take a screenshot, snap a photo, or start a screen/voice/video recording - see the edge-gestures scenario in HOW_TO.md for details

Link Auto-Download

In any browser or messenger, share an http(s) link to FastMediaSorter via the Android Share sheet
The app downloads the media file and saves it to your selected resource automatically

Internet Streams (Radio & IPTV)

Open Streams from the main window dropdown (or Settings > Media > Streams when it first appears).
Tap ⋮ at the end of the toolbar: Add stream for a radio URL (http/https mp3/aac, HLS .m3u8, RTSP), or Import from URL for a .m3u playlist.
Download the curated FastMediaSorter station catalog from the Extensions screen for a searchable, filterable library with topic and language chips.
Radio plays inline via the sticky bottom bar - the station list stays visible. Video/RTSP streams open in the fullscreen player; Back returns to the list.
Available in Standard, Legacy, noLegal and VR. The Streams screen is absent from Lite and Photos - no protocol works there, because there is no entry point.

Home Screen Widgets

FastMediaSorter v2 ships a variety of home-screen widgets. Long-press your home screen → Widgets → FastMediaSorter to browse them. Highlights include:

Resource Shortcut - tap to instantly open any of your resources
Continue Reading - launches the app straight into slideshow mode

Common Questions

Q: Where do deleted files go?
A: To .trash/ folder in the same location. Use “Empty Trash” to permanently delete.

Q: Can I undo a move operation?
A: Yes! Tap the “Undo” button (or bottom-right zone) within 5 seconds.

Q: How to edit photos?
A: Open photo → Tap “Edit” button → Rotate, flip, filters, adjust brightness.

Need Help?

📖 Full documentation: README.md
❓ FAQ: FAQ.md
🔧 Troubleshooting: TROUBLESHOOTING.md
🐛 Report issues: GitHub Issues

Next steps: Explore Settings to customize slideshow speed, thumbnail size, and keyboard shortcuts!