Before you let an app move your files, ask this
Last reviewed: September 23, 2026 · Markdown version
Four questions, and they are answerable from an app's own documentation before you install it. Does it copy first and delete only after the copy is confirmed? Can you undo what it did? Is what it does a permitted use of the permission it is asking for? And will it tell you when Android has put it to sleep, or quietly do nothing?
1. Does it copy first, and delete only after the copy is confirmed?
Across two filesystems a move cannot be done as a single rename. The mv(1) manual page is explicit: "As the rename(2) call does not work across file systems, mv uses cp(1) and rm(1) to accomplish the move" (mv(1), FreeBSD Manual Pages, read 23 September 2026). So there is always an order, and only one of the two possible orders is safe: copy, confirm, then delete. Delete first and an interruption leaves you with nothing. The mechanics in full.
2. Can you undo it?
Two different mechanisms count here — a trash you can restore from, and a history you can reverse. Files by Google documents its trash with a number: "Files remain in Trash for 30 days and then are automatically deleted" (Move files to Trash & restore files from Trash, read 23 September 2026). Whatever an app offers, look for that kind of number in its own documentation; if the app never says how long you have, you have no way to check.
3. Is its use of the permission permitted?
For anything asking for All files access, Google Play's policy already names the categories: "intended and permitted use includes file managers, backup and restore apps, anti-virus apps, and document management apps". It also sets the bar — use of the permission must be tied to the app's core functionality, which "is defined as the main purpose of the app. Without this core functionality, the app is "broken" or rendered unusable" (Use of All files access (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission, read 23 September 2026). If moving files is a side feature of something else, that is a reason to look harder.
4. Will it admit when Android has stopped it?
Anything that promises to work in the background is subject to two power-saving features. Doze holds back "background CPU and network activity" while the device sits unused for long periods, and App Standby holds back background network access for any app that has seen no recent use (Optimize for Doze and App Standby, read 23 September 2026). An app that promises a schedule without ever mentioning either is promising something it does not control. Why background work stops.
Where Adinand Auto File Sorter fits
The same four answers, for this app. It copies, verifies the copy and only then removes the original, and a failure at any step leaves the original untouched. Every sort is recorded and undoable, with no time limit, putting files back at the exact path they came from — free undoes the most recent sort, Pro any past one. Moving files is the app's whole purpose, which is the core-functionality test the policy sets, and it sorts only the folders you chose — Downloads unless you add more. And when Android has not let a background run happen, a health indicator says so rather than letting you assume it did.
What the app does comes from its own code audit.