Forums » Suggestions
Allow users to specify a custom plugin folder outside of the install location
This can already be done with skins (if you know how), at least on the desktop world this really is a none issue but on Android and maybe iOS (I do not own any Apples as they keep the Doctor away) the future isn't really looking bright for custom plugins or skins that require special folder access. Google already tried to kill this off once and might actually win next time.
I cannot imagine most users will be happy using ADB to push files around on their device, and when the current work-arounds stop working, plugins on these platforms might vanish entirely without some changes. So yeah, this might need addressing sooner rather than later if plugins on these platforms are to continue. I mean, ya'll could just decide it is not worth the effort but a change to where plugins can be stored could alleviate some of these issues now. Some users are already convinced they cannot install plugins as their long-time file managers haven't been updated to use "special folder access" work arounds to get access to protected folders (which VO lives in).
Most Android apps can usually request file access still, but without the above work around (using ASOP file manager access via "special folder access" or fake ADB) they are restricted to the users Documents, Downloads and the likes, so would it be possible to let users specify a plugin location in one of these folders and restrict the Lua sandbox to only allow access to this specified folder instead of the install location? There is already a way for Android to only allow access to a specified folder too.
For example, if I were to create a plugin folder in my Documents folder on Android, and select "Documents" inside VO somewhere, it would look for a plugins folder and I dunno, link to that and treat it just like it does now? IE not allow files to be edited outside of the plugins directory. Hell, even just a tickbox that says something like "use Documents for plugins" and then look at Documents/plugins and use that instead?
I'm a little drunk while typing this but I'm sure you understand what I am getting at? I'll try make a better reply if not at some point but yeah, allow us to change the location that VO loads the plugins from, to a none protected folder (and maybe do that by default?).
Cheers for any time spent reading this!
I cannot imagine most users will be happy using ADB to push files around on their device, and when the current work-arounds stop working, plugins on these platforms might vanish entirely without some changes. So yeah, this might need addressing sooner rather than later if plugins on these platforms are to continue. I mean, ya'll could just decide it is not worth the effort but a change to where plugins can be stored could alleviate some of these issues now. Some users are already convinced they cannot install plugins as their long-time file managers haven't been updated to use "special folder access" work arounds to get access to protected folders (which VO lives in).
Most Android apps can usually request file access still, but without the above work around (using ASOP file manager access via "special folder access" or fake ADB) they are restricted to the users Documents, Downloads and the likes, so would it be possible to let users specify a plugin location in one of these folders and restrict the Lua sandbox to only allow access to this specified folder instead of the install location? There is already a way for Android to only allow access to a specified folder too.
For example, if I were to create a plugin folder in my Documents folder on Android, and select "Documents" inside VO somewhere, it would look for a plugins folder and I dunno, link to that and treat it just like it does now? IE not allow files to be edited outside of the plugins directory. Hell, even just a tickbox that says something like "use Documents for plugins" and then look at Documents/plugins and use that instead?
I'm a little drunk while typing this but I'm sure you understand what I am getting at? I'll try make a better reply if not at some point but yeah, allow us to change the location that VO loads the plugins from, to a none protected folder (and maybe do that by default?).
Cheers for any time spent reading this!
don't blanket-trust AI, I will double-check this later when i'm off work, but if its even half-true I doubt the devs would want to ever openly state an access method using public storage, not to mention how asinine google has been with storage access in apps lately. That being said, you shouldn't need to use ADB, just use your computer's file browser to access /android/data/... (or does that not work on linux/mac? Never tried yet)
https://i.imgur.com/VEchPq2.png
https://i.imgur.com/VEchPq2.png
We are aware of the issue, it has been a challenge on iOS for even longer than Android.
We have some thoughts around how this might be mitigated in a safer way. But, I don't think the best solution is to pull from a data location where it could potentially be overwritten by another (malicious) app.
I don't have an ETA around this, because we're.. trying to redo the entire UI, the update system, the renderer, the game engine, the server and a bunch of other stuff at the same time.
I'm aware it's user-facing and annoys people, and I feel for that. It's also somewhat security-sensitive and we need a good long-term solution that will be robust for years to come, and that's not the most trivial thing to do.
We have some thoughts around how this might be mitigated in a safer way. But, I don't think the best solution is to pull from a data location where it could potentially be overwritten by another (malicious) app.
I don't have an ETA around this, because we're.. trying to redo the entire UI, the update system, the renderer, the game engine, the server and a bunch of other stuff at the same time.
I'm aware it's user-facing and annoys people, and I feel for that. It's also somewhat security-sensitive and we need a good long-term solution that will be robust for years to come, and that's not the most trivial thing to do.