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Help Does an SD card help with most apps anymore?

JohnJSal

Android Expert
Jun 17, 2010
952
72
I remember reading something about how Google stopped allowing apps to have read/write permissions for SD cards, but I'm not sure if it's just Google apps, or most apps on the Play Store.

With my Fire tablet, everything I download gets stored on my SD card. Is this the case with an Android tablet? Will I actually be able to use the card, or are apps no longer allowed to install to external storage?

Thanks!
 
Even Apps? I thought it was just movies books and music.....

(btw... I hope you're right, i have one in a box at the moment waiting for someone's birthday in a few days time....)

Yeah, that's what I love about it. I think there may be one or two apps that can't install to the card, but almost all of them do.

And since there are a lot of "actually free" apps I want to try (mostly hidden object/adventure games), I like to download them as I find them and play them at my leisure. So this takes up quite a lot of space doing it that way, but I have a 64GB card, so I'm good for a long time.
 
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Yeah, that's what I love about it. I think there may be one or two apps that can't install to the card, but almost all of them do.

And since there are a lot of "actually free" apps I want to try (mostly hidden object/adventure games), I like to download them as I find them and play them at my leisure. So this takes up quite a lot of space doing it that way, but I have a 64GB card, so I'm good for a long time.

I know I didn't answer your question.... But thank you so much for answering mine... the tablet isn't for me, its for may daughter (MsPsionandy ;) ) and this will be awesome for her.... I'll go and buy her an sd card to go with it :D
 
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I know I didn't answer your question.... But thank you so much for answering mine... the tablet isn't for me, its for may daughter (MsPsionandy ;) ) and this will be awesome for her.... I'll go and buy her an sd card to go with it :D

No problem! I have a Fire Tablet and a Nexus 7, and as good as the Nexus is, I just get drawn back to the Fire for some reason. It's become my gaming tablet, mainly for the reason above -- it can hold a ton of apps, which the Nexus can't do, lacking external storage as it does.

P.S. I think everything (apps, movies, pictures, books, etc.) installs to the SD card by default, but to be sure you may want to go into the storage settings and see that all the options for SD storage are checked.
 
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Could you be a little more specific? Did they change and go back to allowing apps to install on the SD card? Or did I understand what was happening incorrectly?

Thanks!
Yes if you use your SD card as Internal storage you can merge your SD card to the system memory and you can move installed apps to the card.
 
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Yes if you use your SD card as Internal storage you can merge your SD card to the system memory and you can move installed apps to the card.

Ah, I see. So it doesn't really count as external storage anymore. But it still means I could have, say, an extra 64GB to use for anything, including apps?

Does it depend on which brand of Android I get, like a Samsung Tab, for example? Because I have an S7 and I don't think the merging thing is an option.
 
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Sorry, I'm not familiar with that option. What does portable storage mean, and how does that differ from the other options?
Portable storage means you use your SD card independently, if you remove that card it will continue to work with other devices or computers. If you use the SD card as Internal storage it will only work with your device.
 
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So if I'm understanding all of this correctly, then a device with stock Android will not let me install apps to the SD card, and other devices (Samsung, etc.) may or may not, depending on the tablet model and Android version?

This is confusing. I may just end up sticking with my Fire for games. I'm thinking of upgrading my Nexus 7 to something newer, perhaps a Samsung tablet, but I want to be absolutely sure I can install apps to the SD card.
 
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If the manufacturers don't want you to use the SD card as Internal storage, they must have some valid arguments.

1. Frequent read/write operations on the SD card might make your device run slower.

2. If your device is malfunctioning, all data on the SD card will be lost unless you have made a backup of it.

3. A device must be able to run with or without the SD card, and as the SD card is optional, they can decide whether to let users use the OS's new feature.
 
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Phone companies or carriers - if you buy through a carrier they add their own bloat (Verizon Wireless being the worst in the Western hemisphere, just don't ask about some of the stuff on Chinese market phones...). But it actually only helps if they reduce the size of the system partition by the same amount: removing that stuff (possible if you are rooted) doesn't actually give you more space because it's in a different partition.

Personally having done both I'm happier not moving apps to SD, just using it for media and documents (and backing those up regularly - sd cards do fail, and anyway devices can be lost or stolen). But that only works if you have an adequate internal storage for apps: these days I personally wouldn't buy anything less than 32GB + SD, and would much prefer 64GB + SD.
 
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I have a class 4 microsd card set as adoptable storage and apps that are on it run noticeably slower than if they were in internal memory. Which class of cards do you guys use and what are your experiences with apps performances? I am thinking of getting faster class 10 card but better to ask here first.
 
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I have a class 4 microsd card set as adoptable storage and apps that are on it run noticeably slower than if they were in internal memory. Which class of cards do you guys use and what are your experiences with apps performances? I am thinking of getting faster class 10 card but better to ask here first.
Class 4 is the slowest card available nowadays. A Class 10 isn't fast enough. You want a UHS 1, UHS 3 if you can afford. Even then it will still be slower because the fastest SD card is still slower than the onboard flash memory.
 
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