How to move apps to sd card on an unrooted device: A noobs guide. **Updated 09/02/11**

[sean3lions]

Rooting will let you use custom roms - xda developers has a a board dedicated to the whole custom rom scene. It does however have warranty implications so it's worth researching first.

Hey thanks, i'll check that out

 

[Fishyweb]

Thanks for this. One thing I noticed is that once an app is moved to the SD card in this way, it seems to have a much smaller memory footprint for some reason in Settings / Applications. Dare say there is a good reason for this, though.

 

[jred7469]

I'm getting errors installing or updating any apps now, anybody else experiencing this?

 

[ianb11]

I'm down to 18mb on the internal memory & have as many apps as are allowed stored on the SD card so will have to consider this at some point.

Don't fully understand it though - seems like a minefield.

 

[Geewalt1]

Wow, this has worked for me. I can't believe it. I'm a complete NOOB so didn't have much confidence in myself but I tried it and it worked. Happily moving my Apps across to the SD card now.

Thanks for the instructions...class.

 

[williamj1]

I'm down to 18mb on the internal memory & have as many apps as are allowed stored on the SD card so will have to consider this at some point.

Don't fully understand it though - seems like a minefield.

Go ahead and try it. Any problems post here and ill promise to check back within 24 hours to answer.

 

[ianb11]

Go ahead and try it. Any problems post here and ill promise to check back within 24 hours to answer.

Thanks mate, will do.

Gonna read the whole thread 1st though so I don't ask a load of questions that are already answered

Just one quick one - am I right in thinking I will lose all my existing apps that are on the phone so I'll have to reinstall them to the SD card?

 

[williamj1]

Thanks mate, will do.

Gonna read the whole thread 1st though so I don't ask a load of questions that are already answered

Just one quick one - am I right in thinking I will lose all my existing apps that are on the phone so I'll have to reinstall them to the SD card?

NO!

Not at all. This process sets the phone to install almost all apps installed in future onto the sd card by default. It also enables you to move almost all currently installed apps over to the sd card once you do this process. It doesn't move any or delete any, and it doesn't require you to uninstall any.

You will just have to move the apps currently installed on the internal memory to the sd card manually (whereas before you couldn't do it at all) by going to (for example) - settings/applications/manage applications/ Asphalt 5 / click move to sd. And all future installs will go to the sd card.

I don't think I explained that very well but hopefully you get the jist of it. Basically, it doesn't delete existing installed apps and you just move them to sd yourself, all new apps that you install will now go to sd by default.

 

[ianb11]

NO!

Not at all. This process sets the phone to install almost all apps installed in future onto the sd card by default. It also enables you to move almost all currently installed apps over to the sd card once you do this process. It doesn't move any or delete any, and it doesn't require you to uninstall any.

You will just have to move the apps currently installed on the internal memory to the sd card manually (whereas before you couldn't do it at all) by going to (for example) - settings/applications/manage applications/ Asphalt 5 / click move to sd. And all future installs will go to the sd card.

I don't think I explained that very well but hopefully you get the jist of it. Basically, it doesn't delete existing installed apps and you just move them to sd yourself, all new apps that you install will now go to sd by default.

Cool, thanks for that

When I've got a spare hour gonna have a go at this.

 

[regmigrant]

[/Quote

And, as far as I know, noob doesn't stand for anything. But the word noob just means the opposite of a pro or expert. I am a noob with android stuff as I switched from apple os crap so I really know very little about android. It was a noobs guide because it was simple, for people who didn't have a clue what they were doing.

Like, I was a total noob at using the other guides as they said "open cmd run promt" and I was like whoa slow down wtf? So I made this "noob" guide, for people like me who aren't experts with this techy stuff.[/QUOTE]

noob - short(ish!) for newbie

 

[ianb11]

Brilliant guide mate, just done it, easy!

What can I safely move to the SD card though?

I take it pre-installed stuff like maps etc can't?

Some that I've moved only seem to work again after I've reinstalled them?

 

[M Scott]

Great, clear instructions. Helped me free up 20Mb. Thank you

 

[Tó Madeira]

I don't use HTC sync, I tend to use DropBox to move sdk files etc to my phone

will this process work through that method? and if so, how should I do it?

 

[widehead]

I have a problem trusting someone who has ATK "constantly running".

Get that s#!t off your phone, man!

 

[Crusher3200]

Hey there, im currently stuck on # 12 Open windows command promt. Start / Ru
Where can i find the windows command promt? Do i run the SDK Manager? I cant press anything in the command window ( cant type anything) And what if anything goes wrong? Will i be able to hard reset or something with the phone?

Thanks!

 

[droidzone]

Hey there, im currently stuck on # 12 Open windows command promt. Start / Ru
Where can i find the windows command promt? Do i run the SDK Manager? I cant press anything in the command window ( cant type anything) And what if anything goes wrong? Will i be able to hard reset or something with the phone?

Thanks!

You can't crash your phone with this! It is just an option that comes with Froyo (Android 2.2).It can be easily reversed by toggling the option back.

To get Windows command,
In windows 7, rightclick the Tools folder in SDK, and choose "Open command window here".
In other flavors of Windows, find cmd.exe, right click and drag it to the tools folder, and Choose the option to create a shortcut. Double click on the shortcut

Of course before typing the commands, one needs to run the sdksetup.exe

 

[droidzone]

Brilliant guide mate, just done it, easy!

What can I safely move to the SD card though?

I take it pre-installed stuff like maps etc can't?

Some that I've moved only seem to work again after I've reinstalled them?

It's easy. After using this method, download and install AppstoSD from Market. It'll notify you when an app that can be safely moved to sdcard has been installed by you, and will help you move it.

 

[williamj1]

I have a problem trusting someone who has ATK "constantly running".

Get that s#!t off your phone, man!

who you talking to? I said in the first post / guide that no one should ever ever use a task killer?

 

[kalfou]

Thanks dude, your a G, this has saved so much internal memory, seriously, how long did it take you to produce this material?

This has inspired me to share.

 

[dudemyster]

thx william, ths worked in 10 mins so easy only thing is it seems for every app installed to sdcard a lil bit still goes on internal as my memory is still shrinking??? i was hoping to really load up my sdcard with games and apps but have only got 10 mb left internal...

do u know if poss to move big files like Maps, Contacts to sdcard?? iam greedy and want as many as possible lol

edit: also noticed i have dictionary.com installed the app works fine from sd card but the word of the dau widget doesnt, so i removed it and tried to add the widget again but did not show in the widget list...any ideas?

edit 2:LOL sorted i onlky moved app to sdcard so uninstalled it an re Dl it widget reapperared in list

thx again regards

 

[jred7469]

still unable to update apps....... anyone else????

 

[redlinezak]

still unable to update apps....... anyone else????

I am also unable to install any new apps or update existing ones. I have found that if you move the app back to phone memory it updates fine but i still cant download new ones.
Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[uzetaab]

As I may have made clear already... I am a total noob! But ill ask anyway



You can run linux on an HTC Desire? :O

PS: Why in hell would you want to?

Heh. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, but Android is a version of Linux

Also, I thought I would expand on a comment earlier about what a noob is. You have the general gist of it right, & where the name came from is pure laziness when typing.
Newbie became newb which became noob.

I should point out that there are 2 variants on the definition of what a noob is though. & it really depends on which online community your interacting with as to what a noob means.

The first meaning is exactly as was described, a newbie. In gaming, the opposite is usually called a vet or veteran. In other things like using Android, the opposite is usually an expert.

The other meaning though, is intended to be an insult, sometimes written as n00b, but still might still be written as noob.

In the context of an insult, a n00b is somebody who has advanced from newbie status, but hasn't quite reached Veteran status. N00bs are usually considered to be people who think they know more than they actually do, they are also usually prideful & boastful. Some people can be quite offended to be called a noob because of this, so I recommend that you avoid using the word noob until you get to know a new community better.

In those communities where n00b is still an insult, they usually still use newb and/or newbies.

Thankfully though, n00b as an insult seems to be disappearing, and noob to denote newbie is becoming more common.

Don't quite know where they are saved, but I wouldn't think it would matter as just copy every folder on the sd card onto the new one and I'd have thought that would work just fine.

indeed, but you must go into windows settings & turn on "show hidden windows and folders"* to make sure you get everything. It can be found here:

My Computer>tools>folder options>view>

*different versions of windows have different versions of that name, but the meaning is the same. In Windows 7 it's called "Hide protected operating system files".

 

[williamj1]

Heh. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, but Android is a version of Linux

Also, I thought I would expand on a comment earlier about what a noob is. You have the general gist of it right, & where the name came from is pure laziness when typing.
Newbie became newb which became noob.

I should point out that there are 2 variants on the definition of what a noob is though. & it really depends on which online community your interacting with as to what a noob means.

The first meaning is exactly as was described, a newbie. In gaming, the opposite is usually called a vet or veteran. In other things like using Android, the opposite is usually an expert.

The other meaning though, is intended to be an insult, sometimes written as n00b, but still might still be written as noob.

In the context of an insult, a n00b is somebody who has advanced from newbie status, but hasn't quite reached Veteran status. N00bs are usually considered to be people who think they know more than they actually do, they are also usually prideful & boastful. Some people can be quite offended to be called a noob because of this, so I recommend that you avoid using the word noob until you get to know a new community better.

In those communities where n00b is still an insult, they usually still use newb and/or newbies.

Thankfully though, n00b as an insult seems to be disappearing, and noob to denote newbie is becoming more common.



indeed, but you must go into windows settings & turn on "show hidden windows and folders"* to make sure you get everything. It can be found here:

My Computer>tools>folder options>view>

*different versions of windows have different versions of that name, but the meaning is the same. In Windows 7 it's called "Hide protected operating system files".

Thanks for the clarification and somewhat in depth information

Having said that, 3,809 views later and only 1 comment on the word n00b being offensive.... I think i'll stick with the guide title for now

 

[ianb11]

still unable to update apps....... anyone else????

Just done a couple of updates on mine with no issues.