Android does not provide a way to organize files. You will need to install a file manager app from the market to move files around.

yeah - ok, I have 3 file managers I use (Adao, Astro, eFile) The problem is not that I can't move files in general The problem is that Firefox puts its downloads somewhere, and I can't find them. Nor can I find how to change the default.

I have even tried downloading dedicated search apps, like "Search Everything" and nothing can find these files on my device. It appears that they are hidden by Firefox, which seems pretty dumb and pointless, to be frank

This might be caused by http://bugzil.la/596370 - if the file you click on is automatically opened by another application, Firefox will delete it when the browser closes. If you want to save the file permanently instead of just viewing it once, you can press-and-hold on the link and choose "Save Link" instead of just tapping it.

This is a known problem with Firefox that I hope will be fixed in a future version.

Thanks, this sounds as if it might be correct.

These were song files. Each one prompted me to open a music player as it downloaded, so I skipped through that each time.

What you are saying is that the reason I cannot find these files in my Downloads folder or anywhere else on the phone is that Firefox deleted them.

I find that mind-blowingly stupid, and an absolute killer problem which meaans that I will NOT continue to use Firefox. I can't understand how it has got this far ... almost anyone using the web needs to to download files of one type or another.

Default operation should be save. That's a no-brainer. Absolute worst case, there should be a clearly available option in preferences to change this behaviour to be slightly more sane

What is even stupider is that they still show up in Firefox's download view, so the user thinks they ARE stil there and wastes many hours trying to work out where.

Hmmm.

Sounds like a simple and very high priority fix is required here, urgently!!!!

BTW, I've tried again trying the 'press and hold' option and it doesn't work (at least on the Ovi music store ... attempting a download generates a 'download' popup, with a button to manage the process, rather than a simple download link)

However, the evidence supports your theory ... on downloading a song file I was prompted to choose one of my media player apps to play it. I accepted, then immediately paused play and went into my Download folder, and sure enough the file is there during 'use once' mode.

By the way, thanks for re-opening the problem. I obviously can't post on the bug thread myself, but please consider the following input

@Mike Beltzner >>The mobile browser isn't like the desktop browser. Users aren't going to be downloading a lot of files as they browse around.

This is just blatantly incorrect. The mobile is becoming more and more the default device; personally I hardly use my PC anymore. I have 64GB on my tablet and 32GB+ on my phone (a 32GB micro-SD)

Yes, there are files that I want to view once. I go in and delete them sometimes.

I appreciate the thought and soul-searching that has gone into this problem. There is a fairly obvious option which I would like to suggest

You already prompt the user to 'open' the file on download completion. You should update the standard form that opens, so that - whatever the filetype and helper application - there is a (clearly visible & easy to understand) option which has the user click on one of 2 buttons before the file will process: Button 1: "Delete the file when I have finished" Button 2: "Save to Downloads so I can access this file again in future"

Unfortunately, as my experience shows, relying on the click-and-hold to "Save file" has 2 problems. 1: People need to know about a) the problem and b) the solution, and the only way they are going to find out is through personal pain 2: Different webpage implementations may not support this (as in the Ovi Music example I have been trying to use)

My proposed approach at least means that: a) the user is clearly informed and empowered to make the right choice b) it is in your control, not the website's

I'm astounded by this bug. It limits my usage of my own device by not considering that I may want to use it like a desktop machine.

The single reason I use Firefox mobile is that it will handle downloads of NZB index files from my favourite search engine. The Android browser will not correctly handle that combination so I use Firefox. I have SABcontrolPlus installed so it is launched on download but sometimes I would rather just save the file.

If my VPN is not established or my PC not yet woken then my index files are lost and I have to download them again because Firefox mobile won't support basic download options.

This is fixed in Firefox 9. You can help test the fix now by downloading a development build from the Nightly channel. The fix will be published to the Aurora channel near the end of this month, then to the Beta channel in November, and to the stable release channel in December 2011.

Am I correct in thinking that the new behavior is to save all downloaded files after firefox closes?

I'm not sure that this can be regarded as a proper fix, although it does solve the original problem of valuable user files being deleted by the browser.

My own workaround was to use a script to move all downloaded files (*.nzb) to a new location where firefox can't get them, when the helper app fails to connect to my server at home. With the new behavior, problems are caused when the helper app does connect successfully. I still have to run the script and then delete the files before they get sent to my server by dropbox.

A far more useful fix would have been to offer a 'save as...' dialog as an alternative to opening the helper app.