File manager X-plore learns about touchscreens

X-plore was the best file manager for my Nokia back when Symbian was the best mobile operating system.

Times changed, Symbian died, touchscreens grew up and became useful, and X-plore failed to catch up. Its first Android attempt was a disaster.

But a few updates later X-plore got the hang of it. Their lineup of cloud storage services is growing (it's got Dropbox, box.net, SugarSync, and Google Drive), and they figured out that what works for keypads doesn't work for touchscreens.

The user interface still looks like a construction site after a hurricane, but at least it's usable now. The useless on-screen menu button is gone, you can select multiple files and folders (it only took some checkboxes), and X-plore will use your own media apps if you don't like its built-in player.

Swiping between two explorer windows is a great feature too.

There's still a lot to fix, though. Making the app look less ugly shouldn't be too hard, and it would really help if the back button of my phone would take me back to the previous folder instead of duplicating the function of my home button.

Keep the updates coming in. And if you uninstalled X-plore upon first sight, you might want to give it a second chance. X-plore is no match for ES File Explorer, but I'm sure they're working on it.

• X-plore (Google Play)
• X-plore (Lonely Cat Games)

• ES File Explorer