Help Internal memory question

[Tal]

I cannot seem to find it now, but I can remember reading somewhere that not all of the 16 GB internal memory of the S2 is all available for music, apps, videos etc. I seem to remember reading that certain amounts of storage are reserved for different things.

At present I have an iPhone 4. With this the 16 GB (14 GB once its activated) can be all used to store music, video, apps. Has I'm thinking of moving to Android, I'm a little concerned that I would not be able to fit the 7GB of music, 4.5GB apps, 2GB video that I have now on my iPhone on the S2.

Can someone tell me what amounts of the 16 GB are available to store, music, apps, video etc.

Thanks in advance

 

[Slug]

There's 16GB of internal storage, of which approx 11.5GB is available for user data such as music, video, file storage etc. There's also 2GB of system memory, which is the default installation location for apps. So on a new handset you'll have approx 13.5GB total storage available, plus the option of adding up to 64GB (currently) via the microSD memory card slot.

 

[Tal]

I suppose its different for Android, but on my iPhone I have 4.5GB worth of apps. You mention that:

'There's also 2GB of system memory, which is the default installation location for apps'

If I were to put the exact same apps onto the S2 that I have on my iPhone. How would I be able to fit the 4.5GB worth of apps onto the S2, or are Android apps much smaller in size and thus would not take up anywhere near as much space has iPhone apps.

Thanks for the help its much appreciated.

 

[mystvearn]

There's 16GB of internal storage, of which approx 11.5GB is available for user data such as music, video, file storage etc. There's also 2GB of system memory, which is the default installation location for apps. So on a new handset you'll have approx 13.5GB total storage available, plus the option of adding up to 64GB (currently) via the microSD memory card slot.

You can add 64 gb? I thought only 32 gb. Is there no limit on the mSD card? Might as well waight for a 128 gb card when I maxed out the phone's storage

 

[Slug]

How would I be able to fit the 4.5GB worth of apps onto the S2, or are Android apps much smaller in size and thus would not take up anywhere near as much space has iPhone apps.

I've never used iOS, but from what I've heard from those who have Android apps do indeed tend to consume less space. Android also lets you move apps (or the bulk of them - some data often has to remain on internal storage) to the external memory card if so desired.

You can add 64 gb?

Yup, confirmed here by our very own NZtechfreak.

 

[mystvearn]

nice

 

[Tal]

Any others who have had iPhone and then moved to the S2 who can answer my points in post #1.

 

[Sabswifey]

There's 16GB of internal storage, of which approx 11.5GB is available for user data such as music, video, file storage etc. There's also 2GB of system memory, which is the default installation location for apps. So on a new handset you'll have approx 13.5GB total storage available, plus the option of adding up to 64GB (currently) via the microSD memory card slot.

Ok, with that being said, how do I move apps from the 11.5 gb of storage to the EXTERNAL SD card? Do I need 2 go end and change a file/folder name, or what? When I use an Apps2sd app the 'sd card' space shows that 11.5 gb and NOT my 32 gb card. What am I missing? How do I utilize the External_sd card storage? Thx in advance!

 

[Hawker]

AFAIK, you can only move applications from internal memory to the internal SD card. I am not aware of any way to move them to the external SD card without possibly using 3rd party software (i have never used apps2sd so i am not aware of its features)

If you go into settings>applications>manage applications>all you can scroll through all the applications.
SOME (not all) will have the "move to SD card" button enabled, but as i mentioned, this is not the external sd card

 

[Slug]

I am not aware of any way to move them to the external SD card

The built-in 'Move To SD' option does exactly that. Unless I've got a unique handset.

 

[Sabswifey]

AFAIK, you can only move applications from internal memory to the internal SD card. I am not aware of any way to move them to the external SD card without possibly using 3rd party software (i have never used apps2sd so i am not aware of its features)

If you go into settings>applications>manage applications>all you can scroll through all the applications.
SOME (not all) will have the "move to SD card" button enabled, but as i mentioned, this is not the external sd card

But even when I do that it only moves them 2 the 11.5 gb 'internal storage' & not my 32 gb memory card. Some of those apps on the 11.5 gb WOULD be allowed 2 move from the internal storage 2 the external sd card on my myTouch 4g. Let me investigate more so I can give you a specific name of an app.

 

[Hawker]

The built-in 'Move To SD' option does exactly that. Unless I've got a unique handset.

I always thought apps were in the internal 1.7Gb partition, and "move to SD card" moved it to the USB SD card (11Gb partition) and not to the external SD card, as "SD Card" is what it is always referred to within the device for the internal USB storage, and the actual memory card is always referred to as "external sd". Never assume I suppose!

hey ho! every day is a school day on here.

So does the 1.7Gb or the 11 Gb partition hold apps as standard?
If it is the 11Gb one, what is actually stored on the 1.7Gb partition? Is it just for booting?

 

[Sabswifey]

I always thought apps were in the internal 1.7Gb partition, and move to SD moved it to the SD card (11Gb partition) and not to the external SD card.

hey ho! every day is a school day on here.

Thats what Im asking about! For the Adobe Air app, it can be moved from internal memory on my myTouch 4g to my 16gb memory card, but on my GS2 when I move it (via an apps2sd app or settings) it goes from the 1.7gb INTERNAL storage to the 11.5gb USB storage without giving an option to go to the 32gb EXTERNAL memory card. Does anybody know why? Thx!

 

[Russell Ng]

Lots of post about this already. Move to SD option is already built into the Manage Application (On SD Tab) in SGS2.

Usually (This is what I noticed);
1) When you install an (small) app, it gets placed in the internal phone memory.
2) When you install a large app like Real Football, the APK / EXE files should be in the internal phone memory while the game data (500MB+) is in the internal SD / USB memory.
3) You can select to further move some (additional for the big game and most of the data for the smaller apps) of the files from the internal memory to SD. (Hence move to SD)

However, I remember last time when I haven't gotten the external micro SD, the move to SD actually went to the internal SD / USB memory. I now have a 16GB external micro SD. When I click move to SD, the relevant apps (except the EXE files which is still in the internal phone memory) files would be move to that microSD.

Then the other day I took out the microSD and tried the move to SD again, and instead got an error message that says "not enough memory". Apparently its a pretty common error and basically the move to SD only works when I have an external microSD now.

Anyway, make sure you have the external microSD for the "move to SD" to work. And if you are looking for where these files are, its in a hidden folder called "Android_secure" which you can view via USB connect through the PC.

Cheers

 

[Russell Ng]

So does the 1.7Gb or the 11 Gb partition hold apps as standard?
If it is the 11Gb one, what is actually stored on the 1.7Gb partition? Is it just for booting?

I think the files that are stored in the 1.7GB (Thought it was 1.9GB), is the full apps for the smaller apps like angry birds. For angry birds, if you "Move to SD", its suppose to move to the internal SD / USB memory but seems to have an error. So it should move to the external microSD.

For big apps, data files are in the internal SD / USB memory and the booting files should be in the internal phone memory. Still have option for "Move to SD" so probably some further files can be moved similar to angry birds.

I did notice that when I updated some of the smaller apps like "Burn The Rope", it would have the green tick (in the ON SD tab) indicating its in the SD. Not sure external or internal. But I usually move it back to the phone memory. The reason is I find that there are enough memory for all my apps and I think its better to have running apps in the phone itself so it won't have errors if the microSD card is unmounted. I use the external microSD for songs, videos, documents, pictures, wallpapers, ringtones, etc.

 

[Vin-S2]

Any others who have had iPhone and then moved to the S2 who can answer my points in post #1.

own both phone. so wat i can tell u for ur concern, no need to worry about memory space, u will hav more than enuf with memory card storage on S2

 

[Slug]

There's definitely something going on under the hood that I don't understand. I tested this a few days ago and any apps involved were indeed moved to my external card. However I found today that an identical .android_secure folder had appeared on the internal storage volume!

I've now cleared all apps back to device memory, rebooted, deleted the _secure folders on both /sdcard and /external_sd, rebooted again, re-moved two large apps and four games to SD and after another reboot they are definitely only located on the external card.

SD Card space went from 25.90GB to 25.73GB, Device memory went from 1.41GB to 1.57GB, and USB Storage remained unchanged at 6.25GB. I will watch to see if the 'storage fairy' strikes again.....

 

[Russell Ng]

A fairy is involved?

I think that meant that moved to SD actually meant moving to Internal USB memory for you. Actually some actually want it to be that way. And it was that way last time for me too.

Oh well.

 

[Slug]

I think that meant that moved to SD actually meant moving to Internal USB memory for you.

Yeah, that must be why only the external card capacity dropped and why the files are sitting in /sdcard/external_sd/.android_secure....

 

[Shotgun84]

You're not the only one Slug. The gs2's built in move to sd moves them to my external sd.

 

[Slug]

The gs2's built in move to sd moves them to my external sd.

That's sort-of reassuring, except now I want to know why it doesn't do it for others.

 

[combaticus]

In addition to confmring that the "move to sd card" does indeed move it to the external SD card, I would like to clarify where applications are installed.

The 2gb of "System storage" (as seen in settings > manage apps) is where almost all your apps are stored and the remaining 15.5GB of "USB Storage" is used for your camera pictures, media and certain app files.

http://bit.ly/rM9HEe

 

[Russell Ng]

The internal USB memory is for your use, so yeah you can put anything inside. The apps data that seems to be in there is only the big game data like I mentioned before.

Cheers

 

[ghostchili]

I found that the internal storage is really only about 11gigs.

 

[Vahan]

It's been a week or two that I got my Galaxy S2 i9100
I have read all the confusing and non-confusing threads and none actually propose a solution.

I have the 32GB version so

• 26.64GB USB storage
• 2GB Device Memory

I had already consumed the 2GB- by applications and had to remove some when I was warned that I have reached the limit.

Now I have 1.5GB used and 459MB free

I tried moving (movable) applications, by both Settings(Settings-Manage Applications) and App2SD, to the USB Storage but had the error "Failed to move application: Not enough memory"

I then inserted a 1GB microSD card and retried the above procedure, witnessed the same error.