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Wanting to exclude the Download from being scanned by the Gallery application, I do as required, and create a:

.nomedia

file in the Download folder. That correctly causes the Download folder to vanish from Gallery. And all is well.

But then

If I Save an image from Chrome, the Download folder reappears in Gallery. This coincides with Chrome adding a special file to the Download folder:

ic.bin

enter image description here

Deleting the ic.bin file does not cause the folder to disappear from Gallery. Deleting, and re-adding the .nomedia file to the Download folder does cause the Download folder to vanish from Gallery.

I could ask this a number of alternate ways:

  • how do I really prevent a folder from being scanned by Gallery?
  • how do I deny file creation permission of a file called ic.bin in the Download folder?
  • how do I deny file creation permission of a file called ic.bin in any folder?
  • how do I stop Chrome from creating an ic.bin file in the Download folder?
  • how do I stop the Download folder from reappearing in Gallery?
  • how do I prevent Chrome from causing the Download folder from reappearing in the Gallery?

What I'm really asking is, "How do I exclude a folder from the Gallery?", given that .nomedia doesn't always work.

Device: Nexus 4
Android version: 4.2.1

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  • 3
    That really looks very strange. Not sure if it helps, but lacking other ideas: Remove both files, then create an empty ic.bin (making it read-only) plus the empty .nomedia (in this order). It's a wild guess, but maybe the contents of ic.bin are a key to it. Thus having created a read-only ic.bin should prevent Chrome from placing its own copy. No guarantees, as said -- just a wild guess, but worth a try.
    – Izzy ♦
    Dec 4, 2012 at 23:10
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    Ian, it would be nice if you could let us know whether the hint solved your problem. If so, I'd convert it into an answer -- so other users with the same problem would know about the solution.
    – Izzy ♦
    Dec 16, 2012 at 17:45
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    As for marking r/o: You could use a file explorer on Android for that. Dunno about the other app you mention, sorry...
    – Izzy ♦
    Dec 17, 2012 at 19:31
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    @Izzy The point was that ic.bin is a red herring. It seems that .nomedia is only honored if it is the last file written to the folder. Edit: which might provide a solution. If it is date based, then perhaps Android has a way to alter the date of a file to December 25th, 3091
    – Ian Boyd
    Dec 18, 2012 at 0:30
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    Just another though, using atomics: you could use Tasker: If file_created(ic.bin) then delete(ic.bin, .nomedia) & create(.nomedia)...
    – Izzy ♦
    Dec 18, 2012 at 6:57

1 Answer 1

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1

I know this doesn't answer your exact question. You'll save yourself a lot of time and effort going with another picture app such as QuickPic

It's fast and customizable, and you can select which folders to include OR exclude :)

Do yourself a favor and disable Gallery.

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1
  • 2
    I do use QuickPic; for this exact reason. But it would still be nice to have a solution for everyone else (and me).
    – Ian Boyd
    Nov 21, 2014 at 22:12

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