Total Commander

I have a Xiaomi Redmi Note 11. I have protected some apps with AppLock. If from TC i try to open a file which is opened by such an app, i get the AppLock password screen, so i enter the code and then instead of the app opening and loading the file, i just get returned to TC. I press the file a second time. Now the AppLock screen does not appear (since i've already entered it once) but instead the app loads the file normally.

Is this a TC thing or an issue with AppLock or perhaps MIUI? This used to work normally, up to a point in the past. I'm not sure what's gotten updated (and when) that caused this issue.

I don't think it's a TC thing: I just create a so-called intent which tells Android to open a certain file, and Android does the rest. So in this case, the file is passed to AppLock, which then asks to unlock the app. It would then be the duty of AppLock to pass the file to the target app.

Can you try the same with other third party file managers?

Well, the built-in Xiaomi File Manager and Gallery Image Viewer are working fine. I downloaded another FM (File Manager Plus) and when i tried to do what i describe in my OP, the same thing happened. It seems it's a MIUI thing then...

Thanks for the help.

Well, the built-in Xiaomi File Manager and Gallery Image Viewer are working fine.

They are included system apps and probably still use file URLs as parameters.
If the target app still supports file URLs, then you can make TC also send the link as a file URL by defining an internal association for the file type, and unchecking content:-URL in it.

Thanks, i'll try it.