Material Files icon

Material Files

v1.7.5guideapp

Material Design file manager for Android

★9,153 stars
•System Utilities•by zhanghai•GPL-3.0•Updated Sep 20, 2026
Platforms:
✓ Shizuku✓ Magisk✓ KernelSU✓ APatch
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app-release-universal.apk

Overview

A robust, trustworthy file manager is an essential foundation for any rooted Android device. Power users frequently need to inspect module configurations, modify system properties in /data/adb/, adjust file permissions (chmod), create symbolic links, and access Scoped Storage directories (/sdcard/Android/data/) restricted by modern Android versions.

However, most legacy root file managers (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer) are proprietary, closed-source applications. Granting superuser (su) privileges to closed-source software exposes your device’s most sensitive data to untrusted binaries. Furthermore, many open-source file managers rely on parsing text output from command-line utilities like ls—a notoriously brittle design that breaks across different Android toybox/toolbox versions and mangles non-UTF8 filenames.

Material Files, created by developer Hai Zhang (zhanghai), solves both challenges: it is a 100% open-source, beautifully designed file manager built strictly according to Material Design principles and powered by native Linux system calls.

Technical Architecture: Linux Syscalls vs ls Parsing

Most Android file managers interact with root by executing shell commands:

su -c "ls -la /data/adb"

The application then runs string parsing and regular expressions across the returned text to extract file names, permissions, and sizes. This legacy architecture suffers from severe flaws:

  1. Filename Corruption: Filenames containing spaces, escape characters, or localized characters cause parser crashes.
  2. Missing Metadata: Standard ls parsers struggle with symbolic link targets, hard links, and SELinux contexts.
  3. High Latency: Executing and parsing shell commands incurs substantial CPU latency.

Material Files implements the Java NIO2 File API and binds directly to native Linux syscalls (stat, openat, readdir, readlink, chmod, chown). This ensures instantaneous directory navigation, atomic file operations, and zero parsing errors.

Root & Shizuku Capabilities

Material Files supports multiple elevation backends:

  • Local Storage Provider: High-performance local file operations via Java NIO2 filesystem APIs.
  • Root Superuser Provider: Direct read/write access to protected partitions (/system, /data/adb, /data/data) via Magisk / KernelSU / APatch su.
  • Shizuku Provider: Bypasses Android Scoped Storage restrictions for non-root access to /Android/data and /Android/obb.
  • Network Storage Providers: Native client implementations for SMB (v1/v2/v3), SFTP, FTP, and WebDAV protocols.

1. Root Mode (Magisk / KernelSU / APatch)

  • Open Material Files -> Tap Root directory (/) from the drawer.
  • Grant Superuser permission in Magisk, KernelSU, or APatch.
  • You can freely browse, edit, and modify system partitions, inspect Magisk module directories (/data/adb/modules/), and edit configuration scripts.

2. Shizuku Storage Provider (Rootless Scoped Storage Access)

Android 11 through Android 15 block standard file managers from accessing /sdcard/Android/data and /sdcard/Android/obb.

  • Start Shizuku.
  • In Material Files, open the left drawer -> tap Add storage -> choose Shizuku.
  • Browse into /sdcard/Android/data with full copy, move, and edit permissions without needing full root.

Network Storage & Archive Management

Remote Storage Client

Material Files includes built-in network clients supporting:

  • SMB / CIFS: Connect directly to Windows network shares, TrueNAS, or local routers.
  • SFTP / SSH: Securely browse remote Linux servers over encrypted SSH tunnels.
  • FTP / FTPS: Legacy server connections.
  • WebDAV: Connect to Nextcloud, ownCloud, or remote cloud storage.

High-Performance Archive Support

The application natively browses and creates archives without extracting them to disk first:

  • View and edit files inside .zip, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .tar.xz, and .7z.
  • Extract split archives and password-protected ZIP/7Z files with AES-256 encryption.

Safety & Permission Verification

When editing system scripts or module manifests in /data/adb/modules/, ensuring correct Linux permissions is vital to prevent bootloops:

# Verify permissions directly in Material Files Properties or terminal:
chmod 0755 /data/adb/modules/<module_id>/post-fs-data.sh
chmod 0755 /data/adb/modules/<module_id>/service.sh

Material Files visually confirms file mode bits (rwxr-xr-x) and SELinux file contexts (u:object_r:system_file:s0) in the Properties sheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I access /sdcard/Android/data and /sdcard/Android/obb on Android 11+?

Android 11 and newer block document providers from accessing Android/data. In Material Files, tap the side navigation menu -> Add storage -> select 'Shizuku'. Grant permission when prompted; you will immediately obtain uninhibited read and write access to all app data and obb directories.

Why is Material Files safer than closed-source root file explorers?

Granting root access to closed-source file managers allows proprietary binaries to execute arbitrary shell scripts with UID 0 across your entire private data partition. Material Files is 100% open-source under GPL-3.0, verified by reproducible builds, and contains zero trackers or remote analytics.

How do I change file permissions (chmod) and ownership (chown) in Material Files?

Navigate to the file in root mode, tap the three dots icon -> select 'Properties' -> 'Permissions'. You can toggle Read, Write, and Execute bits for Owner, Group, and Others, or manually input numeric octal values (e.g. 0644 or 0755).