Using MediaStore

One of the Google-recommended alternatives to working directly with external storage is to use MediaStore. MediaStore, unfortunately, has never had particularly good documentation. And, some aspects of using MediaStore changed in Android 10.

For general-purpose apps, the Storage Access Framework is a better solution for storing content. However, if your app has a particular focus on audio, video, or image media, then MediaStore is well worth consideration.

What Not To Do

Due to the shortage of documentation, proper use of MediaStore has always been a mess, rife with anti-patterns.

The biggest anti-pattern involves the use of the DATA column. Too many developers try using query() on a ContentResolver, given a MediaStore Uri, to get the DATA column. Those developers then treat the result as a filesystem path to access the media.

However:

• There is no requirement that the DATA column have a value
• There is no requirement that the DATA column have a filesystem path
• There is no requirement that the filesystem path in the DATA column be a file that you can access, even with READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

And, on Android 10, the MediaStore specifically will redact the DATA column from any query results.

To get a Uri that you can use with ContentResolver for things like openInputStream():

• Query for the _ID column
• Use ContentUris.withAppendedId() to assemble a MediaStore Uri from the base Uri that you used in the query() and that ID value returned by the query()