getExternalStoragePublicDirectory deprecated in Android Q

Question

As getExternalStoragePublicDirectory has been deprecated in Android Q, and the recommendation is to use other means. then how can we specify that we want to store the generated photos from a camera app into the DCIM folder, or a custom sub-folder within the DCIM?

The documentation states that the next 3 options are the new preferred alternatives:

1. Context#getExternalFilesDir(String)
2. MediaStore
3. Intent#ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT

Option 1 is out of the questions as it would mean that the photos get deleted if the app gets uninstalled.

Option 3 is also not a choice, as it would require the user to pick the location through the SAF file explorer.

We are left with option 2, the MediaStore; but at the time of this question there is no documentation on how to use it as a replacement for getExternalStoragePublicDirectory in Android Q.

Answer 1

Based on the docs, use DCIM/... for the RELATIVE_PATH, where ... is whatever your custom subdirectory would be. So, you would wind up with something like this:

      val resolver = context.contentResolver
      val contentValues = ContentValues().apply {
        put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME, "CuteKitten001")
        put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE, "image/jpeg")
        put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.RELATIVE_PATH, "DCIM/PerracoLabs")
      }

      val uri = resolver.insert(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, contentValues)

      resolver.openOutputStream(uri).use {
        // TODO something with the stream
      }

Note that since RELATIVE_PATH is new to API Level 29, you would need to use this approach on newer devices and use getExternalStoragePublicDirectory() on older ones.