Low Space: All Droid Incredibles?

[bgrutter]

Alright, I need to know if all power users have had to deal with this. I say "power users" to clarify that I'm referring to those that are constantly trying new apps and using their phones for hours a day, not those that have 12 aftermarket apps and only use it to make calls.

So, for those of you that use your phone like I do (rooted our not), does most everyone have to deal with this in some capacity? I LOVE my phone for so many reasons, but it's perfect size most of all. But, I'm beginning to wonder if HTC is universally cursed, the DInc, or just some of us unlucky owners.

The reason I ask is because I'm getting ready to warranty out my phone if there's any chance it will help. So, again I will restate my original question and pose one more:

1. For those that really push their phones, has anyone not had to deal with this?
2. Have any of you LCD owners had the "Low Space" warning?

 

[ericDylan]

I got my incredible less than a month ago, so I have an SLCD screen. I have never had the "Low Space" warning. I downloaded 35 applications and I am constantly using my phone, but until recently i have been flashing a lot of roms which involves wiping it.

 

[woop]

Under your criteria, I would consider myself a power user and have never experienced a Low Memory issue (Knocks on wood). I have an AMOLED screen.

 

[CramRazz]

I had this issue before rooting. I flashed an AOSP ROM and haven't had this problem since.

 

[crazydog]

The main reason is because we only have about 150 MB free for our data (according to root explorer). That includes apps and caches, and caches include anything from emails to google reader data to your internet cache.

150 MB is *NOTHING* compared to what kind of storage we should have. Don't like it? Complain to HTC until they increase our data storage.

 

[Old Member]

I've had the low space warning at various times. The best way to fix it is to go to applications and sort them by size. Go down the list and check each one and clear the cache of each one. Once you do that, clear out your in box in both gmail and your text messages. Hope that helps.

 

[bgrutter]

I've become fairly efficient at correcting it, either by using one of two Cache cleaners I have or by cleaning out application caches data in the settings menu. Sometimes, I have to do both.

The point is, this is EXTREMELY annoying. I don't use the HTC mail app for this reason. Which means I rarely check my old hotmail. Deleting my text messages didn't help. Deleting gmail email could be bad.

 

[poland626]

I have this.....soooo....many.....f**King...times. It's a bitch

 

[Aremihc]

I had an issue with this. Found out that the really cool 3D Google Earth takes up 32mb+ of that 150mb of app data space. That was my issue. I can live without Google Earth.

 

[sbmhome]

I had an issue with this. Found out that the really cool 3D Google Earth takes up 32mb+ of that 150mb of app data space. That was my issue. I can live without Google Earth.

This has been a REALLY annoying issue. I just started getting the message yesterday....I couldn't even read text messages anymore!

Anyway, I had the same issue. Google Earth was taking up WAY too much space. I used the method that someone mentioned above of sorting by size and just clearin the cache from the largest to smallest.

 

[WBMc36]

Never had this "low space warning" had the inc since about a month after release. Have since rooted, tried 3 or 4 sense roms, and used CM 6.1 and 7 and this warning has never come up in my time with this phone.

 

[jayDInc]

Friend of mine had this issue. It was due to email Trash folder containing 6000 deleted emails. I use only gmail so I don't have this issue.

 

[sequre]

I had an issue with this. Found out that the really cool 3D Google Earth takes up 32mb+ of that 150mb of app data space. That was my issue. I can live without Google Earth.

Is this phone seriously limited to 150mb of app data?

 

[rushmore]

I have the problem and still have 369mb available space for apps and have no Google Earth, HTC Mail, Facebook, etc and use cache cleaner on normal basis. I do NOT use my phone for email, in part due to the space issue.

I have had the problem with stock 2.1, Skyraider 2.1 & 2.2, Stock 2.2 and Stock 2.2 Lite. It is a problem with most Incredibles and most do not see it until the get to about 400mb available.

I start fresh EVERY rom change- makes NO difference.

HTC suggests a reset, which does NOTHING to fix the problem.

 

[euph_22]

Is it possible reformat that partition, make it bigger to avoid the issue?

I've only had it occasionally, and it generally resolves itself.

 

[FramCire]

I had this problem, which is not surprising for a person who has over 350 total apps on the phone.

Since I rooted and am on CM7, I keep downloading apps waiting for the warning. It hasnt come yet. I will keep on until I get it.

I have 313 MB of free memory (total).

Checking the size in setting>applications>manage applications might surprise you. Yahoo fantasy football app (which work very well) ate up a ton of memory!

 

[jbuck1984]

If you do some searching around this is a huge problem. There are a couple fixes. The first is to clear cache and disable (if rooted) HTC mail, messenger, and friendstream (beware friendstream may be connected to other settings) Mine were not so I was happy to disable all these. This is basically a rooted method however you might be able to kick the warning by manually cleaning out the aforementioned programs non-rooted.

The second and the official fix, is to fully wipe your phone and restore. This method has been deemed appropriate by HTC and apparently gets rid of the low memory app completely. I have never tried this as the method above works.

The problem does lie within HTC apps. They have been unwilling to address it any further than wipe your phone. Probably because HTC only supports their new version of sense now. Kinda sucks, but that is really my only complaint with HTC.

 

[crazydog]

Is this phone seriously limited to 150mb of app data?

Root explorer says so. I know that when I got the low space messages I was down around 10 to 15 MB free in /data/data/

Here's a screenshot:

/data/ (the folder above /data/data/) has 748 MB to work with. That includes:
-APK files
-System settings and data

All other app stuff, like I mentioned before (settings, caches, databases) are stored in /data/data/.

Edit::
Ok - It seems that although /data/app/ (the folder that stores the downloaded apk files for your installed apps) is included in the 748 MB storage in the /data/ partition, but that doesn't matter. You'll get the low space warning when the /data/data/ partition gets too near its 150 MB limit. Sure you can have 748 MB of apps, but if the combined data of your installed apps is ~150 MB, you're not going to be able to install any more.

If you want to use all 748 MB of app storage, each app will only need to use ~5 MB of data storage, less depending on how much of your /data/ partition is being used already.

 

[Mskgreenel]

I've had the warning pop up a few times. I'm a heavy user/addict. At one point I've had 120 apps installed.
When it happens I clear caches and re-evaluate apps and that usually solves the problem. I usually find 10-12 apps that I don't use or remember that I've had.

 

[VTENGR]

I had this issue come up this past weekend for me for the first time... I've had the phone for a year. I cleared the cache on my Dolphin HD browswer and haven't seen it since.

 

[dibs ODDJOB]

I've ran in to this a few problems. I've always fixed it by deleting large apps, or moving them to SD whenever possible. Also, clearing cache/data for apps may help temporarily. I have 120+ apps probably.

 

[laurel25]

I've had it, too and one day it got so bad I couldn't do anything with my phone because it would completely freeze up. I managed to fix it without having to do a factor reset by deleting all the emails out of my trash in the Mail application, clearing all the cache on all programs, and changing the settings on my account in the Mail application to limit the number of messages to 40, moving as much as I could to the SD card, and deleting all apps that I didn't really use. That was back in the end of November/beginning of December, and so far with a little bit of upkeep (clearing cache occasionally & keeping trash folders empty) I haven't had the issue come back.

 

[bgrutter]

First off, I apologize in advance for sounding like a condesending Ass. As I'm sure that's what I'm about to sound like, but I'd rather not waste 30 minutes trying to be PC.

If you do some searching around this is a huge problem.
Been there, done that, still same problem.

There are a couple fixes. The first is to clear cache and disable (if rooted) HTC mail, messenger, and friendstream (beware friendstream may be connected to other settings) Mine were not so I was happy to disable all these. This is basically a rooted method however you might be able to kick the warning by manually cleaning out the aforementioned programs non-rooted.
These are not fixes, these are simply bandaids for broken legs, short-term resolutions to the greater problem addressed below. These apps simply use a more substantial portion of that 150mb.

The second and the official fix, is to fully wipe your phone and restore. This method has been deemed appropriate by HTC and apparently gets rid of the low memory app completely. I have never tried this as the method above works.
"Official Fix" eh? Never read that. And if I had, I'd laugh hysterically. I've hard-reset 3 times and it still comes back. Once again, a bandaid solution.

The problem does lie within HTC apps. They have been unwilling to address it any further than wipe your phone. Probably because HTC only supports their new version of sense now. Kinda sucks, but that is really my only complaint with HTC.
Now THIS, I will agree with. Really makes me dislike HTC. As much as I like the phone and Sense, unless I hear that the problem is corrected in future phones, there's no chance I'm buying another HTC (this was also a problem with Eris - still not been fixed. Really?!?)

I have the problem and still have 369mb available space for apps and have no Google Earth, HTC Mail, Facebook, etc and use cache cleaner on normal basis. I do NOT use my phone for email, in part due to the space issue.

I have had the problem with stock 2.1, Skyraider 2.1 & 2.2, Stock 2.2 and Stock 2.2 Lite. It is a problem with most Incredibles and most do not see it until the get to about 400mb available.

I start fresh EVERY rom change- makes NO difference.

HTC suggests a reset, which does NOTHING to fix the problem.

Sounds like you're in the same exact boat as me. Insanely frustrating.

Root explorer says so. I know that when I got the low space messages I was down around 10 to 15 MB free in /data/data/

Here's a screenshot:

/data/ (the folder above /data/data/) has 748 MB to work with. That includes:
-APK files
-System settings and data

All other app stuff, like I mentioned before (settings, caches, databases) are stored in /data/data/.

Edit::
Ok - It seems that although /data/app/ (the folder that stores the downloaded apk files for your installed apps) is included in the 748 MB storage in the /data/ partition, but that doesn't matter. You'll get the low space warning when the /data/data/ partition gets too near its 150 MB limit. Sure you can have 748 MB of apps, but if the combined data of your installed apps is ~150 MB, you're not going to be able to install any more.

If you want to use all 748 MB of app storage, each app will only need to use ~5 MB of data storage, less depending on how much of your /data/ partition is being used already.

Thank you for so specifically directing me to the actual proof of the flaw. I'd read about the 150mb limit, but hadn't seen any actual evidence of how it affected things. Your screenshots make it much more clear.

It really amazes me that they take a phone that has soooooo much potential and then handicap it in such a way. It's really obsurd. To be honest, I'm not sure I see any reason to partition the drive at all. There's probably sound logic to it, but I'm not seeing it. Would make my life a whole hell of a lot easier if it weren't. It'd be nice if I could somehow use the remaining disc space until I needed to spill over to the 150mb "Emergency space".

It also seems like the DInc does a poor job of memory management. Why do I reach that maximum on a daily basis? I have a cache cleaner set to run every single day and still have to do it again throughout heavy use days. Maybe that's what I get for using my phone like a computer replacement.

 

[tmarr]

Never had this problem. Im rooted, LED screen, and apparently im a "power user"

 

[dgold82]

My family constantly sends pics to each other via MMS since we all live in different states. I always get the low memory warning when I have too many MMS pics or videos in a conversation. Once I delete the thread the warning always goes away.

I would rather keep all those conversations so I can go back to them and look through the pics but apparently they are being stored in that "data" folder with only 150mb. I need to wipe conversations about once every 2-3 months.

Without fail, it is always too many MMS messages for me that causes the warning. I wish there was an option to store them somewhere else.