Preview on Long-Press for Images & Videos in Selection Screen

[dAtA-TRoN]

Hi,

Some apps allow inserting images or videos directly. When I want to insert media in an app that supports this, tapping the insert button opens the Android built-in file picker.

From there, I can select an image or video. The nice part: if I long-press an item, a preview appears as long as I keep touching the screen. Videos are also previewed this way. I find this very useful.

However, I often find the sorting in the Android built-in file picker confusing, so I usually choose the option to select media via Aves. In Aves, I can pick an image or video normally, which is then transferred back to the original app.

But I’ve often missed the preview feature from the Android file picker while using Aves. Would it be possible to implement a similar long-press preview in Aves, so images and videos can be viewed or played before selection?

I just wanted to ask cautiously first, but if you like the idea, I’d be happy to open a proper issue with more details.

Thanks a lot for considering this, and for your work! 🙏

[deckerst]

When selecting multiple items, you can use the icon on the bottom right corner of a thumbnail to switch to the preview mode.

Not sure how it works when picking a single item though. I'll need to take a look in that case.

[dAtA-TRoN]

I wasn’t able to reproduce this on my end, since the app I’m using to initialize the picking process only expects a single image -so when I go through the buildin explorer to aves, it doesn’t allow me to select multiple images, just one. Also, the current implementation, as you described it, seems a bit unusual -don’t you think? I only need this function for single image picking. Would be cool if Aves would support this like I mentioned at the beginning 🙂.

[deckerst]

it doesn’t allow me to select multiple images, just one

Yeah, that's what I thought. So I'll need to rethink the flow and picking validation in that case.

Also, the current implementation, as you described it, seems a bit unusual -don’t you think?

You mean the icon in the corner? It's done that way with some other galleries (Samsung Gallery, as I recall). And the long-press gesture during selection is already used for range selection. An alternative is a FAB (a floating button in the bottom corner of the page) but I tend to avoid them when possible.

[deckerst]

I tried and see exactly what you mean.

The issue is to have every feature and every gesture working well together, in all cases (single selection, multiple selection, as a picker, within the app).

[dAtA-TRoN]

I made a video just so both of us are on the same page.

This video demonstrates the built-in media picker. First, I show what I mean using an image, and then with a video.
(don't be confused, the first thing you see is the app from which I start the process)

screen-20250821-164218-ezgif.com-resize-video.mp4

[dAtA-TRoN]

Do you think you can implement this, or do you even want to? If so, I'll file an issue.

[deckerst]

I'm not sure I'd implement this way. But I see the need for the case of single picking, so I'll think about it. Don't worry about it. I'll convert this discussion to an issue.

[dAtA-TRoN]

Great. Thanks.