Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() deprecated in API level 29 java

Question

Working on android Java, recently updated SDK to API level 29 now there is a warning shown which states that

Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() is deprecated in API level 29

My code is

private void saveImage() {

if (requestPermission(Manifest.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE)) {

    final String folderPath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/PhotoEditors";
    File folder = new File(folderPath);
    if (!folder.exists()) {
        File wallpaperDirectory = new File(folderPath);
        wallpaperDirectory.mkdirs();
    }


    showLoading("Saving...");
    final String filepath=folderPath
                + File.separator + ""
                + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".png";
    File file = new File(filepath);

    try {
        file.createNewFile();
        SaveSettings saveSettings = new SaveSettings.Builder()
                .setClearViewsEnabled(true)
                .setTransparencyEnabled(true)
                .build();
        if(isStoragePermissionGranted() ) {
            mPhotoEditor.saveAsFile(file.getAbsolutePath(), saveSettings, new PhotoEditor.OnSaveListener() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(@NonNull String imagePath) {
                hideLoading();
                showSnackbar("Image Saved Successfully");
                mPhotoEditorView.getSource().setImageURI(Uri.fromFile(new File(imagePath)));
                sendBroadcast(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE,Uri.fromFile(new File(filepath))));
                Intent intent = new Intent(EditImageActivity.this, StartActivity.class);
                startActivity(intent);
                finish();

            } 

            @Override
            public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception exception) {
                hideLoading();
                showSnackbar("Failed to save Image");
            }
       });
   }

What will be the alternative for this?

Answer 1

Use getExternalFilesDir(), getExternalCacheDir(), or getExternalMediaDir() (methods on Context) instead of Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().

Or, modify mPhotoEditor to be able to work with a Uri, then:

• Use ACTION_CREATE_DOCUMENT to get a Uri to a location of the user's choosing, or

• Use MediaStore, ContentResolver, and insert() to get a Uri for a particular type of media (e.g., an image) — see this sample app that demonstrates doing this for downloading MP4 videos from a Web site

Also, note that your Uri.fromFile with ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE should be crashing on Android 7.0+ with a FileUriExposedException. On Android Q, only the MediaStore/insert() option will get your content indexed by the MediaStore quickly.

See this blog post for more on how Android Q has affected external storage.

Answer 2

Get the destPath with the new API call:

String destPath = mContext.getExternalFilesDir(null).getAbsolutePath();