Support "Write to external storage" for SD cards formatted as adoptable/internal storage

[murphyjohn]

Hello. I am enjoying GameNative so far. I ran into a storage limitation I think is worth an idea to try and change behaviour of the app/fix.

The issue
On a device with a microSD card formatted as adoptable storage (Android's "format as internal storage" option, which merges the card with device storage), the "Write to external storage" toggle in Settings > Downloads is greyed out and can't be enabled.
This forces all Steam/Epic library downloads onto the device's internal storage even though the SD card is mounted, has ~1TB free, and is fully writable. If I download non-store games from other sources outside the app and load them on the microSD card, I can add them to the app as a custom game and play them without issue, but this misses all the store features (most importantly cloud saves).

Device info

• Device: Odin 2 Portal (basee model)
• GameNative version: v1.1
• Internal storage: 128GB
• SD card: formatted as internal/adoptable storage (~1TB additional, pooled with device storage)

Steps to reproduce

1. Format a microSD card as internal storage via Android Settings > Storage (adoptable storage)
2. Open GameNative > Settings > Downloads
3. "Write to external storage" is greyed out and cannot be toggled on
4. Install a game from a linked Steam/Epic/GOG store account it downloads to internal storage only, with no way to redirect it to the SD card

What user would expect
The toggle to be selectable so Steam/Epic downloads can go to the SD card, the same way manually-added custom games already can.

Why I think this is a fixable idea
Manually adding games from a folder on the same SD card (via "Add Game" / custom game) works perfectly, so the SD card is fully readable/writable by the app. That suggests that maybe SD card access itself isn't the problem; it's specifically GameNative's detection logic for the "Write to external storage" setting that seems to only recognize portable-formatted SD cards, not adopted/merged ones, even though the adopted volume is still accessible via Android's Storage Access Framework.

Reformatting the card as portable storage is a likely possible workaround, but it's not viable for anyone relying on adoptable storage to extend space for other Android apps too, I'd have to give up that benefit just to get Steam/Epic downloads onto the card. Unfortunately I have too much set up and stored on my own pooled storage to do a reformat for just gamenative.

Suggested Idea implementation
If feasible, detect and allow adopted storage volumes (not just portable/removable ones) as valid targets for the "Write to external storage" setting, since read/write access is already confirmed working via custom game folders.

Happy to provide logs or test a build if that'd help track this down. Thanks for the great app!

[vx2ko]

I would love this option. I also use adoptable storage and would like to choose where this data is stored.

[beechertrouble]

same!

[danielbuva]

I need this too

[kibiz0r]

I specifically up-ended my Armada setup to go back to entirely Android, assuming this feature existed. I've got too many big Android apps to use portable storage for the whole card. I guess I can go back to using mixed mode, but that was a big reason why I ditched Armada.