Properly querying MediaStore records on Android 11

Question

I am working on providing Android 11 support on my audio/video player app. My main concern is actually with not provoking the Google tribe with their no All files access permission allowed for player apps. I do not want my app to be rejected on publishing on the Google store.

In previous APIs, I am using WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission including Android 10 (where I opt out off Scoped Storage). Though, I do not know how to handle Android 11 without having my app rejected on publishing on Google store. I have learned that READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission is needed for querying MediaStore records and I have the following questions:

1. Will asking for READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on runtime on Android 11 be acceptable with Google (when I publish my app on their store)?
2. Can I ask for WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission on runtime instead of READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE for all APIs and the system on Android 11 devices would substitute that for READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or will I need to add conditions where I ask for READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android 11 devices.
3. Will asking for WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on runtime on Android 11 be acceptable with Google (when I publish my app on their store)?

Answer 1

1. Here is function for getting list of all video

   fun getVideo():ArrayList {

        val   marrayList = ArrayList<Video>()
        val contentResolver =context?.contentResolver
        val uri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI
        val selection = "${MediaStore.Video.Media.DURATION} >= ?"
        val selectionArgs = arrayOf(
            TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.convert(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS).toString()
        )
        val sortOrder = "${MediaStore.Video.Media.DISPLAY_NAME} ASC"
        val collection =
            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
                MediaStore.Video.Media.getContentUri(
                    MediaStore.VOLUME_EXTERNAL
                )
            } else {
                MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI
            }
   
        val cursor = contentResolver?.query(collection, null, selection, selectionArgs, sortOrder)
        if (cursor != null && cursor.getCount() > 0 && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
   
            val idColumn = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media._ID)
            val nameColumn =
                cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DISPLAY_NAME)
            val titleCol =cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.TITLE)
            val date=cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATE_ADDED)
            val durationColumn =
                cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DURATION)
            val sizeColumn = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.SIZE)
   
            while (cursor.moveToNext()) {
   
                val videoPath = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA))
                val id = cursor.getLong(idColumn)
                val title=cursor.getString(titleCol)
                val name = cursor.getString(nameColumn)
                val duration = cursor.getInt(durationColumn)
                val mdate=cursor.getString(date)
                val size = cursor.getString(sizeColumn)
                val thumb =
                    ContentUris.withAppendedId(MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, id)
   
                var duration_formatted: String
                val sec: Int = duration / 1000 % 60
                val min: Int = duration / (1000 * 60) % 60
                val hrs: Int = duration / (1000 * 60 * 60)
   
                duration_formatted = if (hrs == 0) {
                    min.toString() + ":" + String.format(Locale.UK, "%02d", sec)
                } else {
                    hrs.toString() + ":" + String.format(
                        Locale.UK,
                        "%02d",
                        min
                    ) + ":" + String.format(
                        Locale.UK, "%02d", sec
                    )
                }
   
                val folder = Video(thumb.toString(),id,title,name,size, duration_formatted, videoPath, mdate)
                marrayList.add(folder)
   
            }
            cursor.close()
        }
        return marrayList
   

   }

2.Here is all [source code]1 for video player project

Answer 2

you may use all these permissions without any ban from Google. you can't/shouldn't use MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, new perm dedicated for Scoped Storage and file managing apps, antivirs and other "privileged" soft