Google is adding support for the NTFS file system in Android

According to the latest report, Google is adding support for the NTFS file system in Android, but they’re favoring Tuxera’s NTFS-3G FUSE driver instead of Paragon’s in-kernel NTFS3 driver introduced in Linux 5.15. They’ve tested this with NTFS USB drives on the unannounced ADT-4 Android TV developer platform.

The patch that was previously submitted by a MediaTek engineer has been abandoned, as Google says it directly conflicts with the work being done to support NTFS-3G in vold.

As for why they’re favoring the FUSE driver, I can’t say. The ADT-4 runs Linux 5.4 so it doesn’t have the kernel driver. We haven’t seen/don’t know if Google plans to backport the NTFS3 driver from Linux 5.15. They didn’t backport the exFAT driver from Linux 5.7.

(There was some drama related to the apparent lack of support for the NTFS3 driver after it was mainlined in Linux. You can read up on that on phoronix.com)

Android 13 devices on Linux 5.10+ can natively mount exFAT drives thanks to the in-kernel driver. Paragon claims OIN’s defensive patent commitment doesn’t cover backporting the exFAT driver to < 5.7, but I don’t know how true (legally) that is.

This FUSE vs in-kernel driver discussion doesn’t mean much for end users. The end result is you’ll be able to mount your NTFS drives on many more Android devices, hopefully in Android 14. There are some performance penalties for using the FUSE driver, but NTFS-3G is very mature.

Whether your Android phone can mount NTFS drives right now depends on your OEM. My Zenfone 9 can mount NTFS drives because it’s using a kernel driver ASUS licensed from Tuxera, but my Pixels cannot mount them because Google did not.

On Google Play, you can download an app that lets you mount NTFS drives. This uses another NTFS FUSE driver made by Paragon, I believe. It’s a paid app, though, and it won’t be necessary anymore once NTFS-3G support is baked into Android.

Leave a Comment