Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 4.x There are other questions on this same topic, but I'm finding that on 4.0.4 with my HTC One, I can open file:/// URLs just fine with Firefox, but not with Chrome or the Android browser. Those two simply report a security error and show no content.

Is this something that changed since the 2.x era when it was apparently possible? (edit well I realize there was no Chrome for 2.x but ...)

edit &mdash; sorry; false alarm. It works fine.

All the visible directories on the phone - those you browse through with a file explorer, or when you mount the device as mass storage - are under a top-level directory called "sdcard".  Thus, if you create a folder at (apparently) the top level, then a file in it must be accessed as:

file:///sdcard/your_folder/hello_world.html


Probably most people know that already :-)
As I wrote in an addendum to my question, the issue was user error stemming from the less-than-obvious way the Android OS file system works. Everything visible in the file system is under a top-level (the real top) directory called "sdcard".  Thus, file:/// URLs only work for paths like file:///sdcard/foo/bar.

I'll add with questionable relevance that if you haven't installed the app "AirDroid", you should. I found it while looking around for answers to a related problem.