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Help Can't move apps to sd card?!?!

romeodakins

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May 23, 2012
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You can't move apps to sd card???! Only media area which is internal storage. I googled around and ppl said you can't move apps to sd card. That's ridiculous!! Are they gonna come up with an update to fix this or what?

Also, one random question, when I'm on a flash page like a game or something it doesn't let me type in text boxes. Like when you have to log in this game, I click the text box and when I type nothing appears. How do I fix this? I tried using dolphin browser hd and I set it to desktop mode and it still doesnt work.
 
One thing to note is that an app has two separable things that get stored ... the code itself and the data used by the code. In almost every case, the data used by the code far exceeds the storage space used by the code.

In the Bionic you cannot execute the code from the SD-Ext card. On the other hand, many apps support storage of data either internally (on the SD-card) or externally (on the SD-Ext card).

There is an enormous amount of storage space on the Bionic.

The biggest user of storage is likely the movies you download completely for display at a later time.

If you are having a storage problem with a specific app you might check the options offered by that app and see if it supports storing its data on the SD-ext card.

As noted in "SD Card Naming" in ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/438060-bionic-reference-terms-links.html ... the naming is sometimes confusion from one app to another.

... Thom
 
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One thing to note is that an app has two separable things that get stored ... the code itself and the data used by the code. In almost every case, the data used by the code far exceeds the storage space used by the code.

In the Bionic you cannot execute the code from the SD-Ext card. On the other hand, many apps support storage of data either internally (on the SD-card) or externally (on the SD-Ext card).

There is an enormous amount of storage space on the Bionic.

The biggest user of storage is likely the movies you download completely for display at a later time.

If you are having a storage problem with a specific app you might check the options offered by that app and see if it supports storing its data on the SD-ext card.

As noted in "SD Card Naming" in ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/438060-bionic-reference-terms-links.html ... the naming is sometimes confusion from one app to another.

... Thom
Thanks, but I planned on using the dual core for lots of gaming so my storage is gonna be filled up quickly with gameloft games :( You said some apps you can move the data to sd card right? I'm more concerned about apps that take like 500mb-1gb space, can those be moved to ext sd card?

Are they gonna come up with a software update or something that will fix this. Or will ICS fix this? I HATE this problem!! I wish I had known this before I bought the phone.

This phone sucks :mad: I should've got the photon.
 
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Just curious, have you tried settings > storage location > select drop down to "SD Card"? The default is "Internal Storage."

I changed this and it seems to move my apps to external SD card, rather than the Internal one. I know this only because after moving numerous apps using Apps2SD, the only thing in my internal storage seemed to be some backup files created by safestrap. I know some apps also default to the internal SD card (like SMS Backup.)
 
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Just curious, have you tried settings > storage location > select drop down to "SD Card"? The default is "Internal Storage."

I changed this and it seems to move my apps to external SD card, rather than the Internal one. I know this only because after moving numerous apps using Apps2SD, the only thing in my internal storage seemed to be some backup files created by safestrap. I know some apps also default to the internal SD card (like SMS Backup.)
Yeah I tried that. And it didn't work. It worked for you???!! You have Droid bionic right? How do you do it???? I need to learn that!

This is what I did, I went to settings, then Storage, then under Windows Media Sync it has a drop down menu and I changed that to sd card.
 
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Does jerry's method really work though?
No, not really. While you can move some apps to sd-ext, they will disappear or fail over time.

Some developers have figured out a way to move some of the 100's of Mb's of data in some of the big games to sd-ext and claim it works. If you search the internet for 'bionic apps2sd' you will find links to discussions and forums that may work for you.
 
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Does jerry's method really work though?

I don't know what that method is. The subject is very confusing because Android started out one way and grew and capabilities were shoe horned in to attempt to make work easier for the developers.

In ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/438060-bionic-reference-terms-links.html ... I summarize three of the more popular apps to show the difference ...

"In this forum the term SD card refers to the non-removable SD card in the Bionic and SD-Ext card refers to the removable SD card.

Previous Android devices had internal storage and a removable SD card. The Bionic has internal storage on an internal SD card (SD) (some of which is visible) and a removable SD card (SD-Ext).

The Files app that came on all Bionics refers to them one way, the ASTRO app (from Android Market) refers to them by their folder name, and the Titanium Backup Pro app (from Android Market) refers to them a third way.

Untouchable internal storage ...
none ----------------------- Files
none ----------------------- ASTRO
Internal ------------------- Titanium Backup Pro

Internal SD card (SD card) ...
Internal phone storage - Files
sdcard --------------------- ASTRO
SD card -------------------- Titanium Backup Pro

External SD card (SD-Ext card)
SD card -------------------- Files
sdcard-ext ---------------- ASTRO
Ext SD card --------------- Titanium Backup Pro"

... and Titanium Backup Pro requires that you are root-ed.

I think you will find in just about all cases the killer is the data being stored by the apps and not the installed app or the distribution package of the installed app.

As was pointed out developers of applications are addressing this one app at a time. Apps like Camera, CameraZoomFX, and Office Suite 6.

I don't have any games installed so someone else would have to answer that for you.

What you generally have to do is select Settings in one of the app and it will have an option for you to pick SD card or SD-Ext card as the storage location.

As was pointed out earlier there is no universal naming convention. It will probably be something like Internal/SD-card or SD card/SD-Ext card and you can choose the later in each case.

... Thom
 
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Yeah I tried that. And it didn't work. It worked for you???!! You have Droid bionic right? How do you do it???? I need to learn that!

This is what I did, I went to settings, then Storage, then under Windows Media Sync it has a drop down menu and I changed that to sd card.

Yes...Bionic. Again, doesn't work for everything but I have the majority of app folders/data appearing in my sd-ext folder as a result of using Apps2SD.

Windows Media Sync? I don't remember seeing that. I'm in the middle of restoring a backup of Eclipse from AOKP at the moment. I'll take another look at the exact wording in the settings menu once this is finished.



********UPDATE*****
Wow - never noticed before, but yes, the heading says "Windows Media Sync." Not sure how I got these apps to my external SD card - CamScanner, CameraZoom, EvernotePicSpeedWallpapers, etc. I must have gone into each apps setting individually and changed the path to sdcard-ext? Funny I don't remember doing that, but I must have.

Sorry for the false hope Romeo!
 
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Yes...Bionic. Again, doesn't work for everything but I have the majority of app folders/data appearing in my sd-ext folder as a result of using Apps2SD.

Windows Media Sync? I don't remember seeing that. I'm in the middle of restoring a backup of Eclipse from AOKP at the moment. I'll take another look at the exact wording in the settings menu once this is finished.



********UPDATE*****
Wow - never noticed before, but yes, the heading says "Windows Media Sync." Not sure how I got these apps to my external SD card - CamScanner, CameraZoom, EvernotePicSpeedWallpapers, etc. I must have gone into each apps setting individually and changed the path to sdcard-ext? Funny I don't remember doing that, but I must have.

Sorry for the false hope Romeo!

How do you do it? I really want to know. When I go into an app in manage apps, theres no where to change it to ext sd card. It just says move to media area.
 
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It is unlikely that it will ever be modified to operate the way you want. This same structure is shared by many other Android phones.

God luck in whatever you decide.

... Thom

Thanks, what other phones are like this so i can avoid them. Is the photon like this? I dead something that photon does this too. How about the motorila atrix 2? I was thinking of getting that one.
 
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Thanks, what other phones are like this so i can avoid them. Is the photon like this? I dead something that photon does this too. How about the motorila atrix 2? I was thinking of getting that one.

I don't know of any.

We got to this point because there were thousands of applications that existed that referenced the SD card and there was a strong desire to introduce removable storage and not force every one of those applications to be rewritten.

There is an enormous amount of memory in the three sections of the Bionic and one of them is by design removable. Another is hidden from your view.

The idea with the SD-ext card was that you could store some of your favorite movies on it and swap in another card. You could then have a movie or music library with all your cards.

I don't know how many people are actually doing that. It isn't that easy to swap the card.

I think the strategy for you is to store the distribution copy of the game s on your SD-ext card and when you want to use one of them you install it and run it. When done you uninstall it.

... Thom
 
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What apps are you using that take up 500+Mb? I'm yet to come across any that are that large. 8Gb is plenty of storage space for most of us so manufactures don't see this as a problem. Newer phones are even starting to come without external sd card's at all.

Games like nova or modern combat take like 1gb each, real racing takes like 700mb, nfs hot pursuit takes 400mb, this list can go on forever. I intended to play games on this phone because of it's dual core processor but it's gonna quickly fill up.
 
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Seriously - if you planning to play a lot of games on your phone, I think that you are better off with an iPhone. Android has a segmented storage model that does not expose the storage area well, while the iPhone uses a flat storage model - get a 32 GB iPhone and apps and data all store in the same area.

It's possible that a galaxy nexus (stock ICS) device uses a flat storage model like the iPhone, but there is no guarantee that oems like Motorola will choose to use that same method when they upgrade gb devices like the bionic to ICS.
 
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It seems unlikely that Motorola would alter the current storage layout on current devices for the simple reason that the storage is located on multiple internal devices. The management of something transparently that is physically located in two or three elements seems unlikely.

I think the migration to a single structure where part of it is locked will come over time.

Do you know anyone who has multiple SD-ext cards so they can swap in data on their Bionic? I think it is an idea that never went anywhere. The card would have to be a lot more easily accessible for it to be used that way.

... Thom
 
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Seriously - if you planning to play a lot of games on your phone, I think that you are better off with an iPhone. Android has a segmented storage model that does not expose the storage area well, while the iPhone uses a flat storage model - get a 32 GB iPhone and apps and data all store in the same area.

It's possible that a galaxy nexus (stock ICS) device uses a flat storage model like the iPhone, but there is no guarantee that oems like Motorola will choose to use that same method when they upgrade gb devices like the bionic to ICS.

Iphone sucks really bad, Iphone 4S is supposed to be the best and it only has 800ghz dual core, its not 1000 and the screen is really tiny and the device is overpriced. Dual Core android phones are only around 200$ and you can just insert 32gb sd card so it has more storage than iphone.
 
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I don't know of any.

We got to this point because there were thousands of applications that existed that referenced the SD card and there was a strong desire to introduce removable storage and not force every one of those applications to be rewritten.

There is an enormous amount of memory in the three sections of the Bionic and one of them is by design removable. Another is hidden from your view.

The idea with the SD-ext card was that you could store some of your favorite movies on it and swap in another card. You could then have a movie or music library with all your cards.

I don't know how many people are actually doing that. It isn't that easy to swap the card.

I think the strategy for you is to store the distribution copy of the game s on your SD-ext card and when you want to use one of them you install it and run it. When done you uninstall it.

... Thom
That's not gonna work out too good because it takes a long time to move a 1gb file back and forth from folders.
 
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Iphone sucks really bad, Iphone 4S is supposed to be the best and it only has 800ghz dual core, its not 1000 and the screen is really tiny and the device is overpriced. Dual Core android phones are only around 200$ and you can just insert 32gb sd card so it has more storage than iphone.

Well, you'll just need to live with the limitations of whichever platform you choose. Both have them; which bothers you more?
 
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