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Help Low on space - Phone storage space is getting low.

redsmurf

Lurker
Dec 21, 2011
4
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I've Googled this problem for months and ravaged these forums for an answer but found nothing but band-aids. "Clear your cache! "Gmail is the offender!" Uninstall programs!" I have over 19 MB of internal storage space and 1.4 GB on my SD card. I'm not taking that for an answer.

How do I fix this problem?

I clear my cache (again, looking at the plentiful available space, shouldn't have to do) and it sometimes fixes the problem; sometimes it doesn't. FB syncs with my phone and consistently takes 1.1+ MB, Dialer Storage is constantly growing since I text all the time, and GMail's Cache takes up only a few hundred KB of space.
 
Same problem on my incredible. I have enough space, or at least that is what the phone tell me -
SD - 1.4GB available
Internal storage - 5GB available
Phone memory - 547MB available

I am tired of this non-sense storage space issue. Nothing syncs. HTC or Verizon or Google - better fix the problem or I am getting off these phones forever.
 
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I also have a low on space alert with my Incredible. APP 2 SD shows 3.41 GB available out of 3.6 GB on my card and 507.17 MB available out of 748.04 MB on my phone. This is confirmed in my settings. I have cleaned my cache, removed apps, removed and reinstalled my battery. Do I need to root my phone?
 
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The sad fact is that as of the time of this writing, the topic has 3,876 views and 0 solutions. Obviously, a lot of people are having this problem - it is the #1 result for the search "low on space" on Google for the time being.

It is not limited to the LG Vortex, either. See here, here, and here for 3 examples I found in another search. These 3 links are just scratching the surface to a problem with topics appearing to amass by the hundreds, all with the same temporary solution: clear your cache.

I should not be forced to clear my cache (a temporary workaround) for my phone to operate. I am literally unable to text or use many applications when this error occurs. I will take my service to another smart phone. For an entry level smart phone, I expected the LG Vortex to be a more stable device since it has fewer bells and whistles. None of my friends have had any issues with their iPhones, and I am rather satisfied with my iTouch - I'll likely be taking my service to the iPhone platform. I will miss the haptic feedback and third party keyboards, but having a functional and reliable phone more than makes up for it.

With hardware made by LG and an OS made by Google, both companies point fingers at one another. What the above links confirm is that the "Low on Space" is an Android OS problem, not merely an LG Vortex problem. I'm not going to risk buying a high-end smartphone and suffer from the same stupid error. I have an SD memory card with over 1.5 GB of storage and over 20 MB of internal memory - this is simply unacceptable.

Consider the problem unsolved, as the manufacturers are silent on this issue and apparently apathetic to a problem affecting thousands of users.
 
Upvote 0
The sad fact is that as of the time of this writing, the topic has 3,876 views and 0 solutions. Obviously, a lot of people are having this problem - it is the #1 result for the search "low on space" on Google for the time being.

It is not limited to the LG Vortex, either. See here, here, and here for 3 examples I found in another search. These 3 links are just scratching the surface to a problem with topics appearing to amass by the hundreds, all with the same temporary solution: clear your cache.

I should not be forced to clear my cache (a temporary workaround) for my phone to operate. I am literally unable to text or use many applications when this error occurs. I will take my service to another smart phone. For an entry level smart phone, I expected the LG Vortex to be a more stable device since it has fewer bells and whistles. None of my friends have had any issues with their iPhones, and I am rather satisfied with my iTouch - I'll likely be taking my service to the iPhone platform. I will miss the haptic feedback and third party keyboards, but having a functional and reliable phone more than makes up for it.

With hardware made by LG and an OS made by Google, both companies point fingers at one another. What the above links confirm is that the "Low on Space" is an Android OS problem, not merely an LG Vortex problem. I'm not going to risk buying a high-end smartphone and suffer from the same stupid error. I have an SD memory card with over 1.5 GB of storage and over 20 MB of internal memory - this is simply unacceptable.

Consider the problem unsolved, as the manufacturers are silent on this issue and apparently apathetic to a problem affecting thousands of users.

solution

Actually, I don't know if that is THE solution. I just rooted my phone and use link2sd so I maintain 70+MB free space and I don't get the error anymore
 
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The problem all of you are seeing is the same issue that some other phones have (mainly HTC). The only way to actually SOLVE the problem is to root the phone and increase the size of the partition where your apps actually store data. That partition is not something you can see unless you are rooted.

Basically, there is NO correlation between the amount of storage that you can SEE (internal, SD card, app storage) is available and the error. Every app you use stores data to a specific partition on your phone. This partition may only be limited to about 150MB (varies phone to phone and can only be determined with root access).

For example, let's say you have a phone with 8GB of internal storage, a 32GB sd card, and 768MB for app storage. You see that you have 2GB free on your internal, 16GB free in your sd card, and 100MB free in your app storage. There is 60 apps on your phone using that app storage space, but in this scenario you actually have only ever used 10 of them. In that situation, those 10 apps are only going to be storing a small amount of data (login credentials, cached browser pages, to do lists ect). In that situation you will not receive an error that you are running out of space.

But now, if you have the same exact phone, with the same exact VISIBLE storage space available, and with the same exact apps installed; the ONLY difference being that instead of only using 10 of the 60 apps, this time, you are using 50 of the 60 apps, you are more likely to have the issue. Because the phone is now probabaly storing around 5 times the amount of application data to an invisible partition. In the first scenario, you may only be using 30MB of data in the partition, where in the second scenario you could be using 150MB of data. On most phones made in the last few years, that partition can vary in size from 100MB to 500MB.

So... What's the solution? Like others have mentioned there is no TRUE solution unless you root, then you can actually change the way that data is stored and how the phone accesses it. Of course that is much easier said than done.

So you are left with only band aids, which is to periodically clear the cache AND data for apps. There are apps in the market that can automate the process for you. The most effective ones are only for rooted users though.

For all brand new android phones running ICS (4.0/Ice Cream Sandwhich) the problem has been fixed. Now manufacturers can not set up a specific partition just for apps and app data. ALL of the phones internal storage will be available for apps and their correlating data.
 
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Thank out for a clear and cogent explanation! Can you recommend an effective cache-clearing app? I currently use Cache-Mate for Root User on a daily basis as well as deleting all text messages more than a week old, but still run into this problem frequently.


I personally always used "ng cache cleaner" when I had the HTC Droid incredible and had success with it. But now that i have the galaxy nexus I have no need to worry about my caches :D
 
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from what i've seen with my vortex, it is related to terrible problems with storage allocation. There is more than you can see, as a previous poster mentioned, but it is allocated for system apps. there is not much for user apps- it gets used up quickly. i get the notification when I have less than 20mb or so ( for user app memory on the phone itself), and it's very frustrating to not be able to send or receive text messages...obviously a message will not take up nearly that much space-a few kb at most!

rooting your phone will help, because then you can delete the crap apps that verizon loads on there, which you cannot delete from system storage normally, and you can move user apps to system space if it does not work on SD card. But then, you can also move any app to SD if you root.

as far as rooting goes, it's easy if you don't get that update that blocks it. if you do, it looks like it gets to be a pain. i just did it, very easy with gingerbreak now. i had to get a replacement phone (unrelated to rooting problems, of which i had none) accidentally updated it, and have not bothered to root yet. it is time though - this thread being one of the primary reasons.
 
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Step 1: Root your phone. Use gingerbreak, don't be afraid... it's not hard. There's a great youtube vid on how to do this.

Step 2: Install Link2SD from google appstore. Move your largest apps to your SD card.

Step : Profit! (couldn't resist)

Admittedly, as of late Feb 2013, the Vortex is near if not past the end of its usefulness as a smartphone, but if you are stuck with it, these two steps will save you space and allow you to run many more apps on this phone.

Yes, others have said clearing cache and data regularly will also help. Some apps can be moved through the Manage Applications screen, but Link2SD lets you move MANY others, including the massive (for this phone) Facebook app.

Good luck!
 
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Step 1: Root your phone. Use gingerbreak, don't be afraid... it's not hard. There's a great youtube vid on how to do this.

Step 2: Install Link2SD from google appstore. Move your largest apps to your SD card.

Step : Profit! (couldn't resist)

Admittedly, as of late Feb 2013, the Vortex is near if not past the end of its usefulness as a smartphone, but if you are stuck with it, these two steps will save you space and allow you to run many more apps on this phone.

Yes, others have said clearing cache and data regularly will also help. Some apps can be moved through the Manage Applications screen, but Link2SD lets you move MANY others, including the massive (for this phone) Facebook app.

Good luck!

I spent hours trying to root my phone last year with the guide provided here How to unlock the Orange San Francisco II for free. It didn't work. I have this memory problem and am willing to try gingerbread and link2sd. But which youtube video should I follow for gingerbread? I looked at one and it spent the first minute showing a display of someone typing in the keypad without telling me anything so didn't seem very promising.
 
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