SD card, what's it for?

Usually, if you have an SD card inserted everything you download will be saved to it. Installing apps is a different story. Depending on your version of android and your settings, some apps may install to your SD card, while others will install directly to the phone.

 

Most everything except apps go there automatically, including the stuff you mentioned. To free up more memory, there are several apps that move installed apps to the SD. There are also file managers so you can see what’s in there. You can also back up your SD card to your PC.

 

Good thread !!! I was just thinking about going to Staples and purchasing an 8gb card.
Are we saying that anything stored on the Sd card, if I reset my not-rooted phone (2.3 gingerbread), will still be there?
I had to reset my wife's Galaxy Note the other day, and now she has to download again her apps. If she had an SD card, would they still be there?

 

Doing a factory reset will always remove all apps from the phone regardless of where they are stored. But other than that, all other files will remain on the SD card after a factory reset.

 

Thank you for your reply.
How about if I remove, the SD card, then reset. When I reinsert the card, can I reuse the apps?
I am thinking about my old Palm Treo. I had three SD cards, which I would rotate, and I kept all my data backed up on them.
Can the Android SD work the same way?

 

I have a 16 GB SD card that I use only for my Music and to backup my apps. All my documents, pictures, etc. are stored on the phones internal memory. My logic behind this, is that if I lose or phone is stolen, I can remote whip the internal storage so my personal stuff isn't used. I back up my entire phone to my PC as well. Most people can just remove the SD card and view all files, if they are not encrypted.

 

The apps would still have to be reinstalled I believe... because even though most of the app's files are stored on the SD card, some necessary installation files are still put onto the phone which are lost during the factory reset.

 

Hi. I also have a Micro SD question. I am ready to order a Galaxy S lll, but can not decide if I should go with one with a larger internal memory or the smaller internal memory and a larger Micro SD card. Is there any real advantage to more internal memory vs less with a large SD? Is there any lag time when using one or the other? Will my music play from the Micro SD card easily or does it all have to be saved in the internal memory? Thank you in advance for answering my newbie question.

 

You can just store more stuff on your phone without having to move it to the SD card.
Some things can't be moved to your SD card and will remain on your phones internal storage, so having more internal memory is a good thing to have.

 

It should also be noted that a good number of apps will allow you to move it to the SD Card (You don't need root access for this). Just go into MANAGE APPS & scroll down to the app you want to move to the SD Card

There are also some apps that will do the searching for you. I recommend App 2 SD Free for this task

Hope this helps.....

Cheers

PC Bigboy

 

The more internal memory you have the better. (Since you can't add to it.) Another thing to think about, which most people don't, is that you really are not going to be able to use all the internal memory that the spec's show. Some will be used for apps only storage and the OS and other system apps. Example: I have an Atrix 4G which has 16GB of internal storage, right out of the box I only had just over 10 GB for my personal use. 2 GB went for apps storage and around 4 GB was for the OS and system apps/programs.