IssueTracker

My SD card's file system supports a last modified timestamp; that is 'adb shell touch /mnt/sdcard/foo' works as expected. I need to check that calling from runtime works as well.

I couldn't reproduce this with a test case.

@hardwick.jim if this test doesn't pass for you, could you paste its output here? As well as your device's full version information. Thanks.

public final class FileTest extends TestCase {
    public void testSetLastModified() {
        File file = new File("/mnt/sdcard/foo");
        assertTrue(file.setLastModified(0));
        assertEquals(0, file.lastModified());
    }
}

[Comment deleted]

Attached is the logcat lines from your testcase and my FileTest.java for line number references.

Device is a Motorola Xoom 3G from Verizon, Android 3.1, HMJ37, rooted. I'm not sure what other device info you need, so let me know if you need more.

I can also post the source and results of my tests on stock HMJ37 Xooms - both 3G and WiFi only - but it will take a couple days to get my hands on those devices again since I only own the rooted Xoom.

Confirmed. When I'm not running as root I can create and delete files, but setLastModified() still fails. That's a bug! It works when running as root.

As a workaround, this ugly hack will set the last modified date to now:
  RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile(file, "rw");
  long length = raf.length();
  raf.setLength(length + 1);
  raf.setLength(length);
  raf.close();

It works for me on Xoom 3.2 Built HTJ85B


    public void testSetLastModified() throws IOException {
        long time = 1316137362000L;
        File file = new File("/mnt/sdcard/foo");
        file.createNewFile();
        file.setLastModified(time);
        assertEquals(time, file.lastModified());
    }

setLastModified doesn't work on Galaxy 10'1 tab OS 3.1 Help !!!

setLastModified doesn't work on Galaxy 10'1 tab OS 3.1 Help !!!

Bug still exists on unrooted HTJ85B. Hayes, did you run your test code as root?

On an Acer Iconia tablet with OS 3.2, it works for /mnt/external_sd (the removable SD card) and /mnt/usb_storage (the removable USB storage), but still NOT for /mnt/sdcard (the internal SD card). The return value is "false".

Also happening in ICS 4.01, Galaxy Nexus.

Any update on this? I'd like to know if it's ever going to be fixed - my app depends on setLastModified for its basic functionality.

Unfortunately Jesse, your workaround doesn't help me. I need to set times other than current.

Any update on this? Samsugn Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 3.2 - it doesn't work too.

an update on this issue is greatly appreciated

On my transformer tf201, chmod and utime both fail with errno=1 (Operation not permitted)
This seems to be an issue with the fuse filesystem.
Test code attached.

... but 'touch' works from the shell.

There are some indications that utimensat may work, at least on ICS.

confirming that it's still not working:
asus transformer prime
ICS
both utime/utimes (C++) and File.setLastModified (C++ JNI)
fails on modifying time of any kind of file on SD card.

[Comment deleted]

utimensat gives linkage error with the latest NDK, looks like declared but not implemented.

Fuse seems to be ok, but the mount is missing allow_utime. So seems like a permission error. Google can you atleast confirm if it's a feature or bug?

This is also a problem on a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy SIII running 4.0.4.

Same issue on Nexus 7 running JB.

Workaround mentionned in comment #5 works to set modified time to current time.

Yeah, same issue on Nexus 7 running JB.

there is a solution?

Now reported to be happening on Galaxy Note 10.1" and Samsung Galaxy SII. It's basically rendering our app to be unusable because we rely on setLastModified(), and we would have to implement hacks/workarounds due to this bug.

Here are the specs on both devices:

Galaxy Note:

Model number: GT-N8013
Android version: 4.0.4 (stock ROM)
Kernel version: 3.0.15-1015435-user se.infra@SEP-120 #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Aug 13 22:17:27 KST 2012
Build number: IMM76D.N8013UEALH2

Samsung Galaxy SII:

Model number: SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
Android version: 4.0.4 (custom ROM)
Kernel version: 3.0.8-perf-I727UCLE2-CL526987 se.infra@SEP-98 #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 8 22:27:38 KST 2012
Build number: SkY ICS 4.2E-7

Might be related: issue 36949180

It's a VFS permission problem, the syscall utimensat() fails with EPERM due to root ownership of all files / inappropriate permissions.

in platform/system/core/sdcard/sdcard.c:

> /* all files owned by root.sdcard */
> attr->uid = 0;
> attr->gid = AID_SDCARD_RW;

From utimensat()'s syscall man page:

Old FAT allows offers an override of the iattr->valid flag via a mount option to allow changing timestamps to anyone, FUSE+Android's sdcard-FUSE don't do this at the moment (so the 'inode_change_ok() call fails) and the attempt gets rejected with -EPERM. Here's FAT's ./fs/fat/file.c:

See also here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=25460

I can confirm this also happens on the Nexus 4.

And on the ASUS TF700T

Confirming on Nexus 7 2013. PLEASE solve.

What a silly issue. Android was already miserable when it came to backups, and now I learn it can't even preserve the timestamp of a file, how PATHETIC :D

I'm also affected by this bug on Samsung HomeSync. When I'm copying files there for backup, I see that their modification time becomes current date/time. This is not acceptable as I need to know which file was last modified at what date (for work).

Please fix it. I need sync files with remote storage.

Still not solved at present date and Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 :-(
I coul'd not find any sync&backup tool/app which does not need preserving timestamp.

Huge Issue for me too as I use automatic sync Tools that rely on this. This works just fine on all my non-nexus devices, but since upgrading both to Nexus 7 and 10, I can no longer sync these tablets automatically.

Root cause seems to have been identified in comment #29.  As many have already noted, this bug breaks all sync and backup programs unless the user has rooted his device.   This bug exists on several non-rooted Android devices I own (different manufacturers and models).  It does not exist on any rooted Android device I own.   This is a significant issue.  Can someone fix this?

Reporting on non-rooted Samsung Galaxy S4 - like many others on the list above this bug stops syncing apps work correctly (in this case Syncme Wireless). Their list of known bugs/issues points directly to this issue (see http://goo.gl/9y2XO). Please could this be fixed as soon as possible to enable simple wireless syncing to external devices.

May I ask why this issue has not been fixed yet

So, the Android team will ignore this bug FOREVER just like the others 5k+ bugs ignored on this website???

Google you are making us use MTP instead of Mass Storage because according to you "it was better". Now the files timestamp are messed up.

After transfering all my photos from my Nexus S to my Nexus 4, all the pictures have the same timestamp!! What the hell? The photos order are messed up! PLEASE fix this!!!

P.S. This bug is present in ALL MTP DEVICES!
That includes the following Nexus devices:
Nexus 7 (2012), Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 and Nexus 5.


FIX IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE!!!

Again found my problem in the android bug tracker, unfixed of course, as always.
Forget it guys, google will never fix nerd issues. I bed they not even look at the bug tracker.
We all should be lucky that android still keeps the filename. I see it coming, in the future android will change the filename like this foto.jpg > a1f687f1a851efc2.jpg ;D
But seriously, it is crucial for almost all file sync utilities, and as you may have notices, it's cloud age!

+1 for FIX IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE!!!

PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM -- YOU ARE DRIVING US INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The inability to preserve timestamps is, I propose, a FATAL flaw, in any file management system.
Whatever the reason that Google and other OS developers choose to ignore this flaw, they might consider that it is a sufficient reason to change platforms and unmitigated by the scores of other useless features.
If I can't rely on a file's date, why have one?

Looks like at least some vendors recognize the problem and try to add some workarounds for it. E.g., see these sources from Sony:

  http://developer.sonymobile.com/downloads/xperia-open-source-archives/open-source-archive-for-build-10-4-1-b-0-101/

Here kernel/fs/fuse/ is patched to add the "allow_utime_grp" option, which relaxes the restriction on setting the timestamp; this option is then used by the sdcard daemon in their proprietary ROMs.

HTC used a different option — "allow_utime=0020" (probably copied from vfat); the implementation can be seen here (again as a code dump from the manufacturer, just imported into git, so you can see only the final code and not a separate patch):

  https://github.com/evitareul/android_kernel_htc_evitareul/tree/cm-10.2/fs/fuse

But these incompatible hacks done by some vendors are not a real solution for the problem.

This issue is still happening in Kit Kat, on my Motorola X Phone. I managed to get the dates on all my photos fixed on my computer, but when I copy them back to my phone(via Android File Transfer) the modified times are all reset to now. This means that due to my large photo library, I cannot find ANYTHING when I browse my photos.

This SEVERE problem used to be specific to only the SD card on my Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, OS 4.3. Now on 4.4.2 it's the internal storage too. It just keeps getting worse. It seems this is intentional. It appears that NASDAQ:GOOG wants to market its Nexus product line like the iStuff:

All identical except for storage:

Tablet A 16 GB storage = $300

Tablet B 32 GB storage = $379

Tablet C 64 GB storage = $439

But the fact that it now affects the internal storage is creepy. For spying on users, not allowing timestamp modifications is a no-brainer, right? NSA thing?

Seems that this bug should be fixed, or "setLastModified()" should be depreciated. Why include an API call that doesn't work on Nexus devices?

Apparently setLastModified() does not work on my Galaxy S4 using Android 4.4.2 and because of that the syncing program I want to use can't determine whether the file on my phone is newer than the one on my computer or not. Grrr....

Remember, "technology is only wonderful when it works" !

internal bug 36949180 to try to get "allow_utime" part of the mainline kernel.

Sorry to spam the list but THANK YOU for adding this to the internal bug system. I would suggest people stop posting "me too" on this bug unless we don't see any progress on it.

(btw, thanks to 'chr.egger' and 'sigprof' for their analysis.)

reading all the comments above, one comment stuck out to me and that's the one about a "sufficient reason to change platforms". 4.4.x has a become a nightmare in regards to managing files on my device (specifically photos and keeping correct timestamps). Android >was< an advantage over iOS in this respect and why I migrated 2 years ago. Times have changed and I'm informing everyone I know that 4.4.x is not much different than the locked down iOS we all left.

This is something that the CynaogenMod devs should be able to fix. I wonder if there are any efforts in that direction...

What an incredibly unnecessary waste of limited attentional resources.

Is this fixed in Lollipop?

Confirmed problem exists on my Nexus 7 on 5.0 lollipop

I'm afraid It will not work never again. They don't even bother to integrate this feature in to their new "much more flexible" API:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27550733/how-to-set-last-modified-file-attribute-using-new-sd-card-access-api-for-andoid

It will be some sort of business/security for normal mortal beyond all understanding decision.
The Android really becomes better and better...

Another Galaxy S4 using Android 4.4.2. Have bought Cheetah Sync to sync files between the phone and PC. However, have run into problems with this running very slowly. Have been told by Cheetah's support that the problems I am experiencing are due to the fact that setLastModified() does not work on Android 4.4.2. Because of this Android bug, Cheetah can't determine whether the file on my phone is newer than the one on my computer or not. Please can we get this fixed.

Galaxy S3 running CyanogenMod with Android 4.4.4. I am also using Cheetah Sync and have been told something like Entry #63 already mentioned by their suppport. This feature was working corretly on Android 4.1.2 for me.

The problem still exists in 5.1 (emulator).

Bug from 2011, not fixed yet
Are you serious, google?

[Comment deleted]

You mean start of 2009, see  issue 36906542 :
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1699

This had the same cause. That one can not rely on times on /sdcard was only because Android did not correctly support SetLastModified. All other OS do it correctly, and many backup solutions rely on it.

This issue totally prevents using a phone's internal storage for any legal, business or time-based information and is totally unacceptable for a "professional" grade device. I am seriously considering going iPhone because at least you can root the device and do what you need, all the new Samsung and many non-Samsung devices have no workaround to get root with their locked boot loaders and this renders the issue unusable.

I am literally and truthfully willing to cover a $1,000 bounty to FIX this bug so I can continue to stick with android and use it as my primary business device. This issue is totally destroying any functional usage of any new android phones.

When I poke around in the android source on git, I can find a sdcard.c file which seems to be implementing the fuse filesystem android now uses for all this stuff and it appears to have calls to utime functions in it, so I'm not sure where the disconnect is located, but it would certainly be nice to get this to work again. (Of course, I may not be looking at what I think I'm looking at :-).

I've similar problem with directory.setLastModified(), even on main storage (ie: /storage/emulated/0).
So I can't rely on this timestamp ...

Google, please bring back the function for  File.setLastModified()
Trying to sync files from Android to my computer with Folder Sync cannot compare the date modified to determine which file is newer.

Any solutions? This is kinda stupid!

The only workaround I've found for photos/videos is using the Google Photos Backup application (Mac/Yosemite 10.10.2). Instead of a 10 minute transfer across 3' of USB using rational technology, I must blow my ISP's data cap off in order to go on a 40GB roundtrip with my photos from Mac to cloud to Nexus 6.

Use Android Timestamp Keeper being root:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/androidtimestampkeeper/

The problem still exists in 6.0 (emulator).

It's impossible to understand that there is an issue born with Honeycomb 3.0 (2011) and hasn't been fixed 4 years later, with 6.0!!

Especially because this bug makes it impossible to restore, for instance, your whatsapp backup without messing up the photos in your gallery. In this example you also can not be sure that Whatsapp takes the newest backup file because even this depends on the file modification date and not on the filename. On the other hand I'm very surprised how little attention this issue gets. With only 80 comments in four years this will never get the necessary attention.

Somebody should definitely look at the code and try to figure out what is happening.

If you read through all the comments above you'll see folks have looked at the source and if I understand what is being said, the FUSE filesystems implements the code for utime, but the way android mounts the filesystem denies everyone permission from actually using utime. I suspect we are talking a one line fix here, but for some reason google wants it this stupid.

Shane on you Google for not having fixed this bug yet.

Ugh, upgraded phone and ran into this issue.

Today I got stumbled by this issue and finally I've got here. It's incredible this problem can happen with Android. I will have to change the work of the last two days because of it.

Suffering from this on an unrooted LG G3.
All I'm trying to do is copy files from the internal memory to an sd card (within the phone).  DateTimes get replaced for all the files.  This is using both LGs 'File Manager' and also 'ES File Explorer'

Same issue for me with LG G2 (D802) @ 5.0.2

[Comment deleted]

PLEASE! Fix this! I can't believe that this still hasn't been fixed, I just want to sort my photos on PC and transfer it back to the phone but it isn't possible as it always mess the gallery! LG G3 LP

I to switch back to the "official" non-rooted version of Android, and need the setLastModified to work on the external mircoSD card.  It's stupid to have such a basic flaw not being fixed in all this time!!!!!

Google, please get busy, and do something!!!!!!!  (I get so tired of lazy companies!!!)

Another example - Voice Recordings copied from old phone to new phone, in every way tried (Samsung Smart Switch, ES file explorer, USB etc), get the wrong timestamps --- as this is the only way to see when they were produced in Voice Recorder this is not a good situation.

I don't actually believe anyone responsible for this issue is monitoring this bug - or willing to take ownership and fix it - and would love to be proven otherwise!

Keith

Without root you do not have the right to change or set timestamps. If your device is rooted, Total Commander is your friend.

Unbelievable... it's now 4 years...
I want to kill MTP...

I think this was introduced with Kitkat or Lollipop. I have checked my backups of synced files with 4.3 (on a rooted S3) and the date-time stamps are correct. Only when I introduced my new Tab S with Lollipop 5.0.2 have all my files had their date-time stamps changed to the sync date. Had I known this was going to happen, I probably would have bought an ipad, because the easy syncing is about the only thing holding me to Android, given that SD card access has now been complicated... Very disappointed.

I'm pretty sure this predates even 4.1. Version 4.1 was only announced in June 2012 at a developer conference. This issue has comments going back to before then, in 2011.

Definitely only occurring here on 5.0.2, not on 4.3.

This is so frustrating, countless hours wasted on figuring out what's going on and crappy workarounds for syncing files in an app :-(

Does this still exist in 6.0 Marshmallow?

I just tried an rsync on my Nexus 5 which is running marshmallow, and got the same old unable to set time on file error I always get.

I've spent so long trying to figure this out. My OCD is out of control over this. I am trying to use my new moto x pure, transferring from a galaxy s5...now I feel like I should just return my moto x, this is so ridiculous.

I bought a new Nexus5X this week and I cannot copy my photos from my old Nexus5 to my new Nexus5X because of this bug.
Is this bug very very difficult so that nobody can fix it?

I just bought the Nexus 6p and trying to migrate my files to it from an external SD card I found out the timestamp bug persists. I've spent countless hours over the past few days trying different methods and installing different apps suggested by other Android phone users without resolving the problem. The only fix I did not try is the google photos cloud method. Although even if this might work for photos, it will not work for other essential to me files that I would like to keep with the original timestamp. Besides that, all the sync apps are useless if they can not take advantage of the timestamp. The only remedy for the problem right now would be to root the phone which I don't want to do, because it might void my phone's warranty. Google, please fix the timestamp bug.

I have spent whole day long on my Nexus 6p to transfer files to it from my older device: using MTP, FTP, even scp, and thanks god eventually I've got here before toooo late.
Is it a upstream file system bug that cannot be fixed? Or is there any thicks to avoid this?

[Comment deleted]

I used the application File Timestamp (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.pogsoftwares.filetimestamppro) to adjust the timestamp of all the pictures in my devices.
I used on a Nexus 4 with Android 5 and Nexus 5 with Android 6, both rooted.

This bug has been on android for forever and they haven't done anything about it.

This is a REALLY annoying bug, because it affects various programs I tested, like unzip tools, ftp transfer et cetera.

This is unbelievable. After so many years still no fix.
Very sad. Can_'t restore my pictures on the phone.
Gallery is messed up

[Comment deleted]

due to this problem i can't update to marshmallow, i need to restore the phone to update but won't get the gallery in original order.
Also tried with google photos but i can't download them so it's useless...

Does anyone know if this bug happens in application folders too, i.e. context.getFilesDir()?

Just to note that the bug is still not solved in v6.0, tested on my MotoG 2014

This bug does not allow to use file synchronization with Mega application. I will appreciate if it is solved.

Hey, Google!  WTF.  You gonna fix this **** sometime this decade??

With all due respect to google, In spite so many requests from developers, google still does not address this issue. Is there some strong reason why the are avoiding this ?
If not, why not fix it ?

It would be nice to at least get an explanation as to why mtime cannot be changed - if it is a bug or a feature.

I need File.setLastModified() for make the file's modified date back to the original as before edit the exif meta data. Is there any update on this? I am really sad why this bug isn't fixed until now...

Is still the issue exists ?

Yes, the issue still exists, after all these years.  I got the same problem on my new Samsung Galaxy S7.
A similar problem (I believe it has the same root cause) is also in Issue 36940415.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=25460

When will this be addressed?  

I also have same problem on Nexus 5X and Android 7.0.
It is mystery to me why Google can´t fix this.

We all need to give the Google photos app like 1 or 2 stars and explain this bug on there.
Maybe if it's out there they may pay attention to it.
So annoying. Android is so unorganized, coming from an iPhone I'm going right back

I think maybe is permission problem of APP.

I program one download file APP and find the problem when I try modify downloaded file timestamp. I find touch command do not work by Runtime.getRuntime().exec(). In getFilesDir() the setLastModified worked. Then try mv command. I find mv command do not work by Runtime.getRuntime().exec() when from getFilesDir() to Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS. So I think this maybe permission problem. My Redmi Note 3 give me android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE is USB write and read right. I try download file to getExternalCacheDir(). And the setLastModified worked. Then I mv the file to Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS. The timestamp keeped!!!
Can others try and check whether it worked? Or ONLY my phone worked.
Thanks.

My code like:
String download = ...getApplicationContext().getExternalCacheDir().getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + download_file_name;
File file = new File(download);
file.setLastModified(lastModified);
StringBuilder cmdline = new StringBuilder("mv ");
cmdline.append(download);
cmdline.append(" ");
download = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS).getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + download_file_name;
cmdline.append(download);
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmdline.toString());
process.waitFor();

As with many others on here, just wasted a whole evening trying to preserve timestamps copying files over to a new Pixel device to avoid jumbled file listings/galleries.  Now I find out it's not possible.  

Even untaring an archive on the device with the correct timestamps inside doesn't preserve them.

Nice one Google.  It' be nice if the owner of this bug would actually comment on it and make people aware of the official position rather than just ignoring everyone.  Is this ever going to be fixed?  Why is it always such a battle to get an answer from Google?

Any status change or update on this? It's been over 5 years since I reported it. It would even be good to know if this will never get fixed.

I've long since pulled the app from the Play Store that I was working on when I found the bug since I can't properly support it without setLastModified(), but I still personally use the app and distribute it to a few friends. It would be nice to get this fixed - maybe I could re-release it.

I've fixed the issue on AOSP as a part of moving away from fuse. I have verified that it works on Pixel, and am in the process of verifying that there are no regressions elsewhere.

So this is going to be finally fixed in the next version/update of Android?

(Pixel XL owne)

Thanks very much. Does that include the external SD card when used in portable storage mode as well?

Yes. It passes through the same layer, so portable storage will be fixed as well.

These are great news.

Is there any chance that the correction arrives on the Nexus 5? According to Google's promises security updates shall be delivered until 18 months after end of selling the device, and this would be about March 2017.

Otherwise I will not be able to test it.

this is great news - I really hope the 6P gets the update as well

So MTP is moving away from fuse? How is it going to be now then?
Thanks for considering the issue, it's been already more than 5 years!

For folks needing a workaround, I managed to restore my pictures using a root shell. The operating principle is to run tar as root, so it has permission to set timestamps.

1. On computer:
$ tar -cf pics.tar my_pictures_backup/*
2. Get pics.tar onto phone using MTP. I placed it at /sdcard/DCIM/Camera
3. On phone:
$ su
# cd /sdcard/DCIM/Camera
# tar xvf pics.tar
# rm pics.tar
4. Update media database using something like Media Re:Scan.

This works assuming you have enough space to temporarily store two copies of your entire collection of pictures/videos, and you have root.

So if this issue is fixed, will there be a way to support older sdk version?
Can there be a setLastModifiedCompat method?

Just upgraded oneplus 3 to Nougat and the issue still persists..

user workaround

Android6 + root + Xposed + XInternalSD
copy file by ES Explorer in Root mode to /storage/A9F7-11F1/
timestamp = current time
copy file by ES Explorer in Root mode to /mnt/media_rw/A9F7-11F1/
timestamp same as timestamp source file

There's been a way to get correct timestamps since the day this bug was reported - but it requires root. That's not an acceptable workaround when the majority of Android users don't or can't root their devices.

I have a samsung galaxy note 2 sgh-i317M on android 4.4.2. I have over 40+ .m4a voice recorder files that I recorded with note 2's default voice recorder app. I want to transfer this to PC keeping date and time stamps original. Is there a workaround for my phone ? thank you...

@anmac1 #140: installing sshelper and copying the files with scp should work.

[Comment deleted]

@empee584 #141: is sshelper from the google play store ? also, what is scp ?

have the same problem with the latest android build (running on Pixel XL)

any idea when the fix will be available ?

Thanks!

If it can be fixed for rooted, Google, please add the fix to the base.  Affects Moto G4 Plus.  OTG copied files to save on network transfer...ended up being pointless.

after upgrading oneplus 3 to android 7.1.1, it seems this issue is finally fixed! need to do bit more testing but looks great so far!

after upgrading oneplus 3 to android 7.1.1, it seems this issue is finally fixed! need to do bit more testing but looks great so far!

Can you share more information on this please?

Tried right now on my brand new Huawei P10 Plus (Android 7.0, Sec Patch Level 02/2017) Still the same problem... I will test it on my 6p with latest Android Release later.

Unfortunately I can not confirm that this issue is fixed. I tried my code now on my Nexus 6p with latest Android 7.1.2 on it and it still not changes the date and "file.setLastModified" returns "false" all the time. Here is my code if somebody want try as well...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Z07rh5qVs_ZGJlQXJYN0hyZWc

You have to create a file first on the phone you can test if you can modify the date. I did with "adb shell"

- adb shell
- angler:/ $ cd sdcard
- angler:/sdcard $ echo "Testfile" > testfile.txt

Still doesn't fixed on Galaxy S7 Nougat.
No way to change timestamp if phone is not rooted.

Same error on Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 SM-J710FN firmware J710FXXU2AQA8 (Android 6.0.1)

I think Google will fix this by migrating to sdcarfs. The sdcardfs code in android-common kernel has already fixed this. Sdcardfs has large performance boost, almost the same performance as its host file system. I guess fuse will be obsoleted. I don't expect Google fix this on fuse.

When will it be? Android 8? Android 9?

This change was shipped in the first O Developer Preview.
https://www.xda-developers.com/nexus-pixel-devices-migrate-to-sdcardfs-in-android-o/

It would be desirable to have an option in Developer Options to preserve timestamps one way, the other, or both at the same time.
There's the issue also with Google Drive that doesn't preserve timestamps when you perform a backup or restore or pictures for example, or if you use FolderSync alternatively.

This question really bothers me

Sony XZ1. Oreo 8.0
Problem is NOT solved.

MOTO Z2 Play Android 7.1.1 TIM
I am using Cheetah sync since many many years with HTC android and I'd really appreciate if Google could fix the timestamp update so that the app could work again on the new phone. Thanks. Maurizio

Dare I ask if this is fixed in 8?

I feel that it will NEVER be fixed, it is now over 6 years....

so it is true then... even after android 8.1 and new pixel devices running on stock versions of android O. this issue is still not fixed ? can someone verify this on pixel devices ?

I can't believe it hasn't been fixed yet. i want to throw my s7 away everytime i open the gallery

Please fix this!

Please fix this!

If you guys use this functionality for gallery sorting with jpg file format, you could use DateTimeOriginal or CreateDate or ModifyDate from EXIF metadata depends on your requirement

moving any files to new directories on local file system does not preserve the date. I don't know any other OS that is as brain damaged as this even MSDOS got that right.

why is this issue been disregarded for so many years - fix it. While ther might be a workaround for image with EXIF data. that does not help other file type.

Adding comments about how stupid or old is this issue won't help. The only result is seeing people like you and me, who are tracking this issue because they're interested in getting it fixed, getting annoyed. If you want to add visibility, star it, that's why this feature exists. Please, avoid useless comments.

It should be fairly obvious by now that they do not intend to work on this / nobody is listening to the issue anymore.
Creating a new issue might be more useful then commenting here. I agree with the star suggestion by the way.

I was brought here by Mega, but I always found it hard to understand why I never found any sync app that had the functionalities I needed. I've tried several ones!
By the way, I even had problems with Google Photos. I was saving my camera pictures into the internal storage (what a stupid default setting some ill person could have thought of!), and when I decided to change to another device I was offered to the option (from the app) to move the pictures to the external storage. I instantly messed all my pictures after accepting the usefull option. That day I didn't know about the issue being from AOSP. Then i gave ONE STAR to the app in the Google Play Store. This means at least two things: 1) not even Google Apps work properly under android enviroment; and 2) Google Photos probably work better under iOS than under Android.

This has been fixed in AOSP for a while. I just double checked on my unrooted Pixel XL that I could modify timestamps. This should be working on all Pixel devices. There's also a cts test for it, so it should be working elsewhere on at least 8.1, although I think I'll expand the test a bit as it currently is just checking inside app specific folders.

So this is really a conspiracy to get us all to shell out big bucks for new Pixel phones :-).

Well I'll be damned. It does work on 8.1.

Is that dependent on switching to SDCardFS?
I think folks here were more aiming at even other fs working as expected.

will this work on android O 8.0 with samsung s8 ? thank you....

Trying on Samsung s7, 7.0 and doesnt work.

It was marked as fixed in January 2018 so there's no chance to have it in Android 7.0 released in 2016. Neither in 8.0. It may be added to an 8.n version or will go into 9.