Deleting save files is very hard on modern Android

[kparal]

Preliminary checks

• [x] I've checked that there aren't other open issues on the same topic.

Describe the problem requiring a solution

Currently, fheroes2 present a list of save files in the save/load dialog, but no option to delete them. The full path is shown in the right-click menu (two fingers on Android). There are two major problems:

1. People won't realize that there's a "right-click" menu, which means they won't know where the files are located. When I first installed fheroes2 a few months back, I had to search the internet and read the forums for quite a while, in order to find out how to remove my hundred save files that started to pile up and was getting really hard and tedious to navigate. The idea that save files would be deleted manually didn't even occur to me. And even if it did occur, it would be hard for me to find them. The hidden "right-click" menu is essential for locating them.
2. Even if you know where the file is located, deleting it on modern Android is very hard. A few months back, I could simply open the default file manager, navigate to ~/Android/data/org.fheroes2/files/files/save/ and delete them. That's no longer possible. After recent update to Android 16 and Samsung One UI 8.0 (I have no idea whether One UI affects this, or it was caused by the Android OS update itself), any subfolder in ~/Android/data/ is inaccessible. The default Samsung file manager (My Files) shows a message that due to security, this folder can only be accessed through a PC. Third-party file managers show an Access Denied error. So in order to delete save files, I have to connect the phone/tablet to a PC and do it from there. That's tedious. Also, because my kids play fheroes2 too (many thanks for allowing me to show them my favorite game from my youth!), but they can't do this process themselves yet, they drown in save files until I have time to prune the list for them. If only they could remove the old saves by themselves...

I think both of these issues are quite an obstacle for newcomers, especially on mobile systems, and limit the fheroes2 audience.

Describe the possible solution

Both of these issues can be resolved by adding a Delete or a trash-can icon button into the Load game dialog.

(I find more useful in the Load game dialog than in the Save game dialog, because at least on Android, you heavily depend on the auto-generated name for the new save, and clicking on other items in order to delete them would overwrite the target file name, leading to confusion).

Here's a masterpiece example of how it could look like. A nice trash-can symbol could of course look even better and take up less space.

Additional info

Version: fheroes2 1.1.12 installed from Google Play Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 + Samsung Galaxy A33

[oleg-derevenetz]

Hi @kparal there is already a "companion" activity on Android (fheroes2 Toolkit), which allows you to do exactly what you want - delete, export and import save files and custom maps both individually and multiple at once.

[kparal]

Oh, that's nice, I had no idea! Thanks a lot!

Maybe it would be good to add this info to https://ihhub.github.io/fheroes2/README_android.html and https://github.com/ihhub/fheroes2/wiki/F.A.Q. ?

But anyway, I think this ticket still makes sense, it would be much more convenient (and discoverable) for people to be able to handle it directly from the game.

[ihhub]

@kparal , we also need to consider that this is a video game, not a file manager. So, adding such obvious functionality might impact user experience as they expect to play a game.

[kparal]

I installed fheroes2 on my PC and found out that saves can be deleted from the Load game dialog using the Delete key. So the expected functionality is there, it's just not accessible to touch users.

Thanks for your response, @ihhub, and thanks a lot for the whole project. I'm just not sure I understand, though. Deleting saved games from game UI is the expected functionality basically anywhere (I don't remember a game that would require me to manually delete save games from OS), and fheroes2 already supports it, it's just hidden and keyboard only. I'm not asking for implementing a file manager, just exposing the action to touch users as well. I understand there can be UI considerations, e.g. available space in lower resolutions. Well, I think I described the current mobile challenges thoroughly, and this would benefit PC users as well (the Delete key is a bit hidden functionality, even though quite discoverable), so it's now up to you to decide whether it makes sense and what to do about it 🙂 Thanks for your consideration.

[ihhub]

@kparal , thank you very much for the detailed and polite explanation!

We will consider this feature but might be not implementing a new button but something different.