Internal Memory on Eris

[kinakomochi]

L0sts0ul, thanks for being patient with us newbs. Learning how things work is supposed to be fun.

I also have a bit over 100mb left -- have to triage apps, as intuitively I didn't feel that should go much lower. Thanks for clearly explaining why.

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

Is there a way to tell how much memory each app consumes when it isn't running?

I just noticed Menu | Settings |Applications | Manage Applications.

When I look at the Storage numbers there, is that telling me how much memory the app is consuming when it is running or how much memory is used to store the app?

 

[L0stS0ul]

that's how much physical memory in storage including any cache data and the application's file size. That is not how much memory it uses when running.

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

that's how much physical memory in storage including any cache data and the application's file size. That is not how much memory it uses when running.

Now I'm confused.

When I asked a couple days ago "Is there a way to tell how much memory each app consumes when it isn't running?" you responded, "No there is not."

Isn't the "application's file size" the amount of memory it consumes when it isn't running?

Please educate me.

Thanks.

 

[L0stS0ul]

what type of memory are you talking about? There are two types of memory. Physical memory which is the ROM or application storage. And then there is the running memory which is RAM. From your question it sounded like you were asking how much ram an application uses when it isn't running which there is no way to tell.

ROM is storage, RAM is memory which is why I thought you were talking about RAM

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

what type of memory are you talking about? There are two types of memory. Physical memory which is the ROM or application storage. And then there is the running memory which is RAM. From your question it sounded like you were asking how much ram an application uses when it isn't running which there is no way to tell.

ROM is storage, RAM is memory which is why I thought you were talking about RAM

I was asking in the context of the discussion at the beginning of this thread, which was concern about installed apps eventually consuming the memory on the Eris, not the memory used by an app while it's running.

When I run InfoDroid it tells me that the phone has 106 of 159 MB of "Internal memory" free. I presume that is the nonvolatile memory that is used to store apps and that as I install more apps that number will decrease, correct?

 

[OfTheDamned]

I was asking in the context of the discussion at the beginning of this thread, which was concern about installed apps eventually consuming the memory on the Eris, not the memory used by an app while it's running.

When I run InfoDroid it tells me that the phone has 106 of 159 MB of "Internal memory" free. I presume that is the nonvolatile memory that is used to store apps and that as I install more apps that number will decrease, correct?

Correct. The 106 of 159 is ROM the "hard drive" of the phone. As you install apps this number will decrease. Apps that cache information will also take up some of the space on this memory. This is easily regained by clearing the cache for that app. The browser and the album are the to 2 cache glutons that I know of. You can clear the cache for an April by going into applications and select the app. Then just hit clear cache. Sorting the apps (menu - sort) will make it a little easier to find the glutons.

 

[cmotion]

I was wondering about clearing out the cache... on the Album app particularly. When I look in the Manage Applications my Album app is now usually number 1 or 2 (depending how often I clean out my browser), and I noticed that the vast majority of Storage (4.2 of the 4.28MB) is in the cache section. I just want to make sure that by deleting that I'm not going to delete the actual pictures in my albums.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I was wondering about clearing out the cache... on the Album app particularly. When I look in the Manage Applications my Album app is now usually number 1 or 2 (depending how often I clean out my browser), and I noticed that the vast majority of Storage (4.2 of the 4.28MB) is in the cache section. I just want to make sure that by deleting that I'm not going to delete the actual pictures in my albums.

No, you won't delete you pictures by clearing the cache. The cache is short term memory and it is stored to bring things up faster. If you clear the cache in the albums app everything will still be on your SD card.

 

[rick12]

I've removed several apps from my Eris this morning, and according to Android System Info, it hasn't made a dent in the amount of memory used. It lists download cache, "Data Max" (159mb, 26 free), external storage, total and free RAM. I would have expected "Data" to be include under RAM. Which of these is the ROM?

 

[scary alien]

I've removed several apps from my Eris this morning, and according to Android System Info, it hasn't made a dent in the amount of memory used. It lists download cache, "Data Max" (159mb, 26 free), external storage, total and free RAM. I would have expected "Data" to be include under RAM. Which of these is the ROM?

rick12,

I assume Android System Info is an app? (I don't have this one, but I do see it in the Market)...

I think the simplest way that most of us use to tell the free memory for apps is in Settings -> SD card & phone storage and the last/bottom section:

Internal phone storage
- Available space
- 78.42MB (you number will vary here)

This is what I use to tell to see how much application memory I have left...is that what you are looking for?

 

[nomarsgirl]

Regular maintenance is all that is needed to keep this phone running well. Periodically clear your cache, delete old messages (or back them up) and consider uninstalling apps you never use. We all like to download lots of apps and play with them to see what they do. Most of them are fun for a little while, but don't end up being something you use often. If it is a free app you rarely use, remember that you can always download it from the market when you need it rather than always keeping it on your phone.

There are also a lot of different apps that do the same thing. Pick the one you like best, and get rid of the duplicates. You should have plenty of space to store the apps you really need.

 

[scary alien]

Regular maintenance is all that is needed to keep this phone running well. Periodically clear your cache, delete old messages (or back them up) and consider uninstalling apps you never use. We all like to download lots of apps and play with them to see what they do. Most of them are fun for a little while, but don't end up being something you use often. If it is a free app you rarely use, remember that you can always download it from the market when you need it rather than always keeping it on your phone.

There are also a lot of different apps that do the same thing. Pick the one you like best, and get rid of the duplicates. You should have plenty of space to store the apps you really need.

+1 ...when I rooted, I only re-installed about half of the apps that I originally had installed in 1.5. I just used AppBrain and/or kept a list of what various apps I liked (there's always Market search too).

 

[Jdiulus]

Dude how many apps could you possibly want to put on your phone? I would never even come close to using 159mb.