The built-in WP8 File Picker may have been updated in WP8 GDR2

We all know the “file manager” from the Office hub. I put it in inverted commas because it can be barely called a file manager since you can’t really manage files and it is also limited to SkyDrive only. Recently however, after flashing my NL 920 to GDR2, after sharing some pictures in a SkyDrive folder today I have found something interesting. I don’t know if it is really new and how long it already exists but it leaves space for speculation.

When tapping on the shared link the native file explorer opened. I expected IE to open since it is a link but the folder, which was shared using the official SkyDrive app, opened in the file explorer.

When I tried to open the folder in the Office hub I failed because it is full of pictures but hasn’t got any document in it so it wasn’t shown on the main page of the explorer. However the link opened in the file explorer was definitely a sub-folder of the Office Hub because pressing the “back to the top” button on the bottom of the screen bought me back to the main page I was seeing in the Office hub already.

After asking some people who are also using WP it can also be said that only your own folders open natively because the others who were opening the link had to use IE.

Maybe I am wrong but I am pretty sure even own links opened in IE before, so I am assuming MS is working on the file manager and as can clearly be seen it is linked deeper into the OS than we have seen before, so maybe there is improvement coming in this also, as a file explorer is a feature many people miss on Windows Phone.

Update: According to Nokiapoweruser the file manager is more or less confirmed. The support at Nokia Care in India has responded to the need of a file manager positively saying:

“file manager will be available for Nokia Lumia 720 after amber update.”

We are very sure this feature is not limited to the Lumia 720 and all Lumia devices will get it but we don’t know if this feature is Lumia-only or made by Microsoft for all Windows Phones (or most importantly if a Nokia Care service rep would actually really have access to such information).

As previously mentioned however, a file manager is a badly requested feature for Windows Phone and the second most voted feature suggestion at Windows Phone User Voice Forum, so it may very well be the kind of hole Nokia plugs along the way to making the OS more salable.

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