0

After recording with Field Recorder, I connect my Lenovo S6000L via USB to my PC. However, the newly recorded audio files in WAV format are not visible until I reboot the tablet. Android version is 4.2.2.

Is that likely an OS or an app issue? Can I avoid the lengthy reboot?

Community
  • 1
feklee
  • 510
  • 2
  • 6
  • 14

1 Answers1

2

It's a bug in the app. Android has a thing called the , which scans newly added files for metadata, so they can be included in media players, photo albums, etc. It relies on the app that creates the file signalling the media scanner process to scan the new file. If the app doesn't do this, the new file won't be added/visible.

If you look at other questions with the tag, you'll see some ways to force a full re-scan, at the cost of draining the battery somewhat.

Dan Hulme
  • 35,000
  • 17
  • 90
  • 155
  • 1
    I installed an app called Rescan Media, and that did the trick, without reboot. – feklee Nov 09 '14 at 16:41
  • Pfitzinger Voice Design, the maker of the app, now told me that this is a feature, not a bug: "If you just check the option "Settings--Rec--Media scan after new recordings" then the media scan runs automatically after each new recording. Default is unchecked because the scan takes time and battery and is only necessary in cases like yours." – feklee Nov 09 '14 at 23:33
  • I'd suggest them to think about the changes to the media-scanner API introduced with Kitkat (Android 4.4), which lets an app define what directory to scan (IMHO the "old method", i.e. triggering a full scan, is no longer possible for user-space apps anyway). That way they could limit the scan to the directory the current/last recording was stored into, saving time and juice for that specific task. – Izzy Nov 10 '14 at 10:03
  • 1
    @Izzy There was always a method for an app to scan a single new file, and it doesn't use much battery. The KK changes were to prevent apps triggering a full rescan, which uses a lot of battery. If this option in the app causes a full scan, instead of just adding the new files individually, that's still a bug in the app. – Dan Hulme Nov 10 '14 at 11:22