diff --git a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/SimplexApp.kt b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/SimplexApp.kt
index 5506c72daf..b9dc9b3bfd 100644
--- a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/SimplexApp.kt
+++ b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/SimplexApp.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import android.net.LocalServerSocket
 import android.util.Log
 import androidx.lifecycle.*
 import chat.simplex.app.model.*
+import chat.simplex.app.views.helpers.getFilesDirectory
 import chat.simplex.app.views.helpers.withApi
 import java.io.BufferedReader
 import java.io.InputStreamReader
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ external fun chatRecvMsg(ctrl: ChatCtrl) : String
 
 class SimplexApp: Application(), LifecycleEventObserver {
   val chatController: ChatController by lazy {
-    val ctrl = chatInit(applicationContext.filesDir.toString())
+    val ctrl = chatInit(getFilesDirectory(applicationContext))
     ChatController(ctrl, ntfManager, applicationContext)
   }
 
diff --git a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/model/SimpleXAPI.kt b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
index 969517a22f..f189a0b347 100644
--- a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
+++ b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/model/SimpleXAPI.kt
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ open class ChatController(private val ctrl: ChatCtrl, private val ntfManager: Nt
     Log.d(TAG, "user: $user")
     try {
       apiStartChat()
+      apiSetFilesFolder(getAppFilesDirectory(appContext))
       chatModel.userAddress.value = apiGetUserAddress()
       chatModel.userSMPServers.value = getUserSMPServers()
       val chats = apiGetChats()
@@ -132,6 +133,12 @@ open class ChatController(private val ctrl: ChatCtrl, private val ntfManager: Nt
     throw Error("failed starting chat: ${r.responseType} ${r.details}")
   }
 
+  suspend fun apiSetFilesFolder(filesFolder: String) {
+    val r = sendCmd(CC.SetFilesFolder(filesFolder))
+    if (r is CR.CmdOk) return
+    throw Error("failed to set files folder: ${r.responseType} ${r.details}")
+  }
+
   suspend fun apiGetChats(): List<Chat> {
     val r = sendCmd(CC.ApiGetChats())
     if (r is CR.ApiChats ) return r.chats
@@ -480,6 +487,7 @@ sealed class CC {
   class ShowActiveUser: CC()
   class CreateActiveUser(val profile: Profile): CC()
   class StartChat: CC()
+  class SetFilesFolder(val filesFolder: String): CC()
   class ApiGetChats: CC()
   class ApiGetChat(val type: ChatType, val id: Long): CC()
   class ApiSendMessage(val type: ChatType, val id: Long, val file: String?, val quotedItemId: Long?, val mc: MsgContent): CC()
@@ -504,6 +512,7 @@ sealed class CC {
     is ShowActiveUser -> "/u"
     is CreateActiveUser -> "/u ${profile.displayName} ${profile.fullName}"
     is StartChat -> "/_start"
+    is SetFilesFolder -> "/_files_folder $filesFolder"
     is ApiGetChats -> "/_get chats"
     is ApiGetChat -> "/_get chat ${chatRef(type, id)} count=100"
     is ApiSendMessage -> when {
@@ -535,6 +544,7 @@ sealed class CC {
     is ShowActiveUser -> "showActiveUser"
     is CreateActiveUser -> "createActiveUser"
     is StartChat -> "startChat"
+    is SetFilesFolder -> "setFilesFolder"
     is ApiGetChats -> "apiGetChats"
     is ApiGetChat -> "apiGetChat"
     is ApiSendMessage -> "apiSendMessage"
diff --git a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/ChatView.kt b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/ChatView.kt
index 9bb1f19c76..29c8ef0b57 100644
--- a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/ChatView.kt
+++ b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/ChatView.kt
@@ -147,13 +147,13 @@ fun ChatView(chatModel: ChatModel) {
 
 fun saveImage(context: Context, image: Bitmap): String {
   val imageResized = base64ToBitmap(resizeImageToDataSize(image, 160000))
-  val imageName = "image_${System.currentTimeMillis()}.jpg"
-  val file = File(context.filesDir, imageName)
+  val fileToSave = "image_${System.currentTimeMillis()}.jpg"
+  val file = File(getAppFilesDirectory(context) + "/" + fileToSave)
   val output = FileOutputStream(file)
   imageResized.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.JPEG, 100, output)
   output.flush()
   output.close()
-  return file.absolutePath
+  return fileToSave
 }
 
 @Composable
diff --git a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/item/ChatItemImageView.kt b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/item/ChatItemImageView.kt
index 0b8b208367..f2953fd66f 100644
--- a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/item/ChatItemImageView.kt
+++ b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/chat/item/ChatItemImageView.kt
@@ -12,20 +12,25 @@ import androidx.core.content.FileProvider
 import chat.simplex.app.BuildConfig
 import chat.simplex.app.model.CIFile
 import chat.simplex.app.views.helpers.base64ToBitmap
+import chat.simplex.app.views.helpers.getAppFilesDirectory
 import java.io.*
 
 @Composable
 fun ChatItemImageView(image: String, file: CIFile?) {
   Column {
-    val imageBitmap = if (
-      file?.filePath != null &&
-      File(file.filePath).exists() &&
-      file.stored // TODO more advanced approach would be to send progressive jpeg and only check for filepath
-    ) {
+    val imageBitmap = if (file?.filePath != null) {
       val context = LocalContext.current
-      try {
-        getBitmapFromUri(context, file.filePath)
-      } catch (e: Exception) {
+      val filePath = getAppFilesDirectory(context) + "/" + file.filePath
+      if (
+        File(filePath).exists() &&
+        file.stored // TODO more advanced approach would be to send progressive jpeg and only check for filepath
+      ) {
+        try {
+          getBitmapFromUri(context, filePath)
+        } catch (e: Exception) {
+          base64ToBitmap(image)
+        }
+      } else {
         base64ToBitmap(image)
       }
     } else {
diff --git a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/helpers/Util.kt b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/helpers/Util.kt
index 454e880837..6ad24c3e91 100644
--- a/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/helpers/Util.kt
+++ b/apps/android/app/src/main/java/chat/simplex/app/views/helpers/Util.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package chat.simplex.app.views.helpers
 
+import android.content.Context
 import android.graphics.Rect
 import android.view.ViewTreeObserver
 import androidx.compose.runtime.*
@@ -38,3 +39,11 @@ fun getKeyboardState(): State<KeyboardState> {
 
   return keyboardState
 }
+
+fun getFilesDirectory(context: Context): String {
+  return context.filesDir.toString()
+}
+
+fun getAppFilesDirectory(context: Context): String {
+  return getFilesDirectory(context) + "/app_files"
+}