Internal storage space woes - where is app2sd??

[dewalist]

I have 9 games (most of them small) four widgets, and 10-15 apps - and I am nearing the 30mb do-not-cross line... But there are games out there like WSOP Legends and Raging Thunder 2 which are 20mb apiece - who can afford to run those?? Do they not install any of the medium-sized things like Pandora, Pocket Empires, Audible, etc?

I really wish I could root so I could install vanilla Android and reclaim space from the many HTC apps that I don't use. I wish even more that app2sd was available...

How do the rest of you manage your apps?

 

[jeffyo]

I have 9 games (most of them small) four widgets, and 10-15 apps - and I am nearing the 30mb do-not-cross line... But there are games out there like WSOP Legends and Raging Thunder 2 which are 20mb apiece - who can afford to run those?? Do they not install any of the medium-sized things like Pandora, Pocket Empires, Audible, etc?

I really wish I could root so I could install vanilla Android and reclaim space from the many HTC apps that I don't use. I wish even more that app2sd was available...

How do the rest of you manage your apps?

Before root I would backup all my apps with Astro, then install them when I wanted to use them. Astro keeps a backup version on your SD card and can manage the installs from the the program itself. No searching, downloading, waiting. Give that a try and you should be able to switch out your apps quickly and without too much effort.

 

[Haxcid]

I only run 6 non stock apps.

 

[50chendt]

I only run 6 non stock apps.

how!? i have like 30 or 40!

 

[apavolka]

I just went through and counted... I run exactly 60 non stock apps. I've got 22mb left on phone storage...

 

[copestag]

I just went through last night and uninstalled about a dozen apps that I dont really use.........

currently: 28 apps - 67mb left

I might be more inclined to keep apps that I occasionally use ..... or larger apps for that matter if I we had a2sd

on 2.1 so cant root ...... just prayin that some dev is working on a 1.49 root or HTC is working on 2.2 for eris

 

[OfTheDamned]

I have 44 3rd party apps on my phone and 72 MB of free space.


There are a few things that I do to conserve space.

Clean House - I find it useful to go through my phone on a semi-regular basis and delete things. If I haven't used an app in a while then I will remove it. I can always install it later if I need it again.

Be Conservative - I look at an apps size before installing it. If there is something else that will do the same thing without taking up as much space then I will use it instead.

Consolidate - If one will do the same job as two there is no need for two. I used to have barcode scanner and shop savvy on my phone. Once I realized that shop savvy will do what barcode scanner will, I removed barcode.

Clear Cache - A lot of apps store cache and increase the size of the app to a great degree. The browser is an obvious example, but plenty of other apps do the same. These will grow and grow until they are cleared, taking your app space with them.

Check Your Data - There are some poorly written apps, Slacker for example, that store data instead of cache. This can make apps grow and doesn't offer a nice way to free up space. The data is listed in the same place as cache. In many cases the only way to free up that space is to delete the app and reinstall it.

I try to do all of these things to keep as much app space as I can, so that I don't have to worry about clearing cache constantly or if I have enough space to install an app.

 

[copestag]

lol I never think to clear cache ....... since you reminded me I just cleared it..... went from 67mb to 87mb free space.......... 20mb tied up in cache and now free for storing more apps

 

[dewalist]

I'm not sure I would like the idea of installing/uninstalling every time I want to use an app. I think I would tend to not bother if it takes that long to launch it... Plus, that wouldn't work for games that save high scores and such, right?

As for cache clearing, I do try and do that on a semi-regular basis. I also try to look for slimmer apps, but sometimes I just want the "better" app and not the smallest.

I guess I just don't understand what Google was thinking when they made that decision. Even WinMo 6 had the "install to SD" feature, and I consider that to be a vastly inferior OS. Android is at version 2.2 and they're just now assigning that a high enough priority? If I was MS and Apple I would have been highlighting this as a significant disadvantage...

 

[jreed2560]

Another thing that OTD hinted to, but didn't directly mention is clearing your call history(which has the added bonus of speeding up the dialer app) and clearing some of your text message threads. Especially if you send and receive a lot of picture messages (and even if you don't, most text threads should be 100-200 messages long). Go thru and save all the pictures you've received to your sd and delete the message. Also the market is another cache killer so be sure when your clearing your cache you hit that one also. Try going into manage applications and sort by size. Then just clear cache on anything over 1 mb.

 

[Grinta]

Sprint/HTC needs to get rid of all those apps: NASCAR, SPRINT TV, Amazon MP3, FM Radio Footprints, Mail, news, Peep, Teeter, etc.. etc...

Or at least give people the option of removing them.

Apple/iPhone is already rolling out the anti-NASCAR stuff. They marketing folks at Sprint should listen.

 

[Bswartz95]

Facebook is a good example of an app that stores tons of data. Although, to get rid of it, you don't need to uninstall. If you logout, then log back in, it will clear the data. I just dumped 8mb.