In this series, we remember apps from the past that were very popular then and we don’t hear so much about today. After remembering QuickPic, Link Bubble, Fring and Advanced Task Killer, today we remember which was the best file manager of its time: ES File Explorer.
ES File Explorer is an app that almost everyone who had Android before 2014 installed at some point, featuring many advanced features that weren’t easy to find in other alternatives, but nowadays we don’t ‘don’t hear much about it. What happened to ES File Explorer?
What was its particularity?
In the early days of Android, it wasn’t that common for mobiles came with a good file manager pre-installed. If one came, it was usually used to view files from the mobile and nothing else. Forget about complex operations, connecting to network drives or playing video files without installing an application capable of doing so.
This is where ES File Explorer comes in, which more or less brought the idea we have of a PC file explorer and brought it to mobile. You can select multiple files, copy and paste from one folder to another, connect to FTP, Windows shares and WebDav storage, create and unzip ZIP and had its own recycle bin, to name a few of its features.
ES file explorer in 2015 Another advantage of ES File Explorer is that integrated visualizations for all types of files. That is, from the browser itself, you can open audio files, videos, images and documents without relying on third-party applications. This idea became popular over time, but in those days with mobiles with very little memory in which to install an additional app sometimes was not an option, it was a big difference.
In the beginning, ES File Explorer was one of the best file managers – you could do anything
In short, ES File Explorer has become the standard for a capable file browserFeature rich and lightweight, not for nothing in 2012 we described it as the Total File Explorer. Unfortunately, that would end up changing drastically later on.
What happened to ES File Explorer?
ES File Explorer is an application developed by ES Global which, as is often the case with Chinese applications, is difficult to follow. There is no physical contact address and what goes on behind the scenes is rarely made public. At one point in its history, ES Global is part of DO Global, who are the creators of the infamous “Du” applications, such as Du Charger, Du Recorder, Du Cleaner or Du Browser.
ES File Explorer was spoiled by the same thing as many other apps of its time: greed and bloatware.
In the course of 2015, the course of ES File Explorer started to change. It was no longer the total lightweight file explorer, but started to fill up with bloatware or additional functions not strictly necessary for Clean Master: recommended applications, too many advertisements and various cleaners.
The highlight of the fall of the ES File Explorer empire was with Charging Boost The worst came in 2016 with Charging Boost, which It was displayed on the mobile lock screen for, in theory, “to accelerate the mobile so that it charges more quickly”. The system was horrible on its own and was on by default, so there were so many user complaints that a few weeks later it removed the feature.
The application then began a facelift – literally, its interface was renewed – but the damage was already done. User perception was not because ES File Explorer was the norm, but a good app gone wrong, as has happened to so many before, with subscriptions and more and more additional features.
It was then that the controversy over advertising fraud began: applications that waited for the user to install an application to take credit for the installation and thus get the reward because the installation came from an advertisement in their applications. A scam for ad networks, developers, and a way to consume more energy for users.
In the weeks that followed, Google removed several Cheetah Mobile apps from Google Play, then six DO Global apps. ES File Explorer got rid of this first purge, but it’s finally deleted from Google Play in 2019 in April 2019 and for the same reason.
ES File Explorer has since disappeared from Google Play (although there are clones of the same name), but the application continues and updates. The latest version can indeed be downloaded from its website, curiously being also available for iOS, from the App Store.
The latest version of ES File Explorer Therefore, ES File Explorer is still alive, but you won’t find it on Google Play. The app continues and still contains all bloatware: subscription with seven-day trial, cleaners, advertising. The old ES File Explorer is still there, but buried by all those additional functions that do not interest the user much.
Does that still make sense today?
Today, the most common is that mobile phones come with Google files installed, a simple but somewhat efficient file manager with which you can perform most of the basic functions. Phones from Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, and other layers of customization include their own file manager, which is generally pretty good.
So there is not so much need to install a file manager like before, especially with the decline of rooting and the resulting mobile file manipulation. Yet the power users they still have great options in the app store for managing files, like MiXplorer.
MiXplorer, one of the best file managers that exist today There are tons of apps out there for managing great files, so the concept of ES File Explorer is still valid. At least the ES File Explorer concept in 2012, not 2021. With so many great alternatives, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to use an app with a ton of stuff on it and a history of cheating. ES File Explorer is not what it used to be.
