RPCEmu on Android

Came across a version of RPCEmu for WinCE by Jan Rinze – could something like be done for Tablet running Android?

It would be nice if there was a version like Edit / Zap /StrongEd running on Android so you could peruse Text files like Help in Arc Zip files.

Android is based upon Linux, so it will have no problems opening RISC OS format text files. It’s not like Notepad losing marbles over the lack of CRLF endings.

Until recently, file manager apps were quite capable of opening files in an archive directly into an editor or viewer, but as of Android 13ish, Google have been taking steps to bugger up filesystem access “for our security”. There’s now only one (built in) app that is capable of accessing /android/data; but quite a few apps (like my dashcam app) that dump files in there rather than somewhere useful like /Download.

On my older devices, a saved copy of ES File Explorer ¹ will let me read files directly from an archive. On my newer devices, I have to extract it and then read it. Annoying, but not an insurmountable issue.

¹ I have version 3.2.4.1 from ~2014. It’s old but it works. It was good, like really good. But in 2016 they did something that hijacked the lock screen, in 2019 the better functions became paid extras, and also in 2019 it was noticed to be performing click fraud in the background so it got booted from the app stores. These days the website is dead. But older versions do a good job well. And I’m glad I don’t let things auto-update. I’ve seen this “let’s make a nice app then bait and switch to scam everybody” enough times that I don’t update something unless it is broken. I might reconsider this (given that I have 117 apps saying they need updated) as and when Google Play has the ability to revert to the previous version. But no, they take the idea that if an app isn’t constantly updated then it’s a dead project that should be demoted. I suppose this is to be expected given the amazingly shit quality of some of Google’s own apps, they’re too far gone on the CI/DevOps nonsense to understand that some people like to make an app that is good at what it does, rather than the modern trend of flinging poop at the wall to see what sticks (and terminating projects that become boring)…

Came across a version of RPCEmu for WinCE by Jan Rinze

Do you have a link for this, by any chance?

could something like be done for Tablet running Android?

It probably can be done, but Android development isn’t particularly easy or enjoyable in my experience, between the awkwardness of mixing Java and C/C++, the changes in requirements for newer API versions (such as with SAF, which is linked to what Rick mentioned) and the general attitude of users on the Google Play store. There’s also the more specific issue that RISC OS is designed for use with a 3-button mouse (and a keyboard), which is quite complicated to emulate on a touch screen with no buttons. None of this is impossible to deal with, I just find other platforms more fun to develop or port stuff to.

b-em.bbcmicro.com/Arculator/oldwip2.html

Oh my.. that was like ages ago.

B.T.W., Colin can I have a copy of !Projman in 32 bit? :-)

As a side note, many tablets can have PostMarketOS (Linux) installed. That will allow you to install RISCOS on Linux.
I might have a go at an Android native RPCEmu but that could prove more complicated due to the nature of Android.

Is there a way of contacting you?

Put me on that list you never sent it to me too.