Memory Issues...or How to Install Apps on SD Card

[GranniePurpyl]

I've had to uninstall several apps due to low memory warnings. My SD card has lots of room, but I've never been given the option to install an app there. How can I move some apps to SD card? I have the original Droid. Thanks.

 

[jrmdroid]

with Froyo 2.2 you can move some apps to the SD Card.

goto settings
select applications
select manage applications
select downlaod tab at top
go through app by app
If the "move to sdcard button" shows up you can move that app to your sdcard

Thare are some apps in the market that will also do the same thing, Move to SDCard, apps2sdcard are a few that i can recall....

If you are rooted you can use titainum backup to do it for you. Keep in mind that some apps need to be on the internal memory in order to function correctly.

hope this helps.

 

[takeshi]

The apps themselves aren't the only thing that use internal memory. Don't forget to check data and cache usage.

 

[Darkseider]

Aaah you see there is more to this young grasshopper OP. Check my signature and it will allow the moving of apps that normally don't allow it either. You have to be rooted to do so but it is well worth it. For those of you too lazy to check my sig.

open terminal
type su and press enter to switch to root
then type
pm setInstallLocation 2
press enter

**NOTE** after you enter the command and press enter just hit home or back out of the terminal app. Also note that it is case sensitive so what you see there is how it has to be entered.

 

[furbearingmammal]

I've had to uninstall several apps due to low memory warnings. My SD card has lots of room, but I've never been given the option to install an app there. How can I move some apps to SD card? I have the original Droid. Thanks.

:welcome: to the forum!

Low memory is due to the internal storage being full. Unfortunately, most of the apps on the market, even with the ability to install to the SD card, still install to the internal memory by default.

The method for moving them goes as follows:

Settings> Applications> Manage Applications> All tab> Manually check EVERYTHING to see if it can be moved to the SD card.

If there are apps in the market that do it for you, I recommend you investigate them as this process is a major pain.

There are a lot of other things that can use up your internal memory, but the problem is most of them require, yeah, that you be rooted.

 

[dietche]

*sighs heavily*

Tried all the above, cleared as many caches as I could find, installed as much as I could to SD that it let me, and I'm still having serious issues with app install room. I have very few games, almost every app I have I need. Yet, there are several more that would be a help for my work if I could install them.

At this point, I really have no choice but to uninstall the couple games I have that pass time. It's funny though because these games are pretty small and I'm not really going to even get a lot of room back.

Isn't there any other way to increase the available app install space? I'm rooted with BB04, froyo, and IndigoBlue theme (if that matters).
--Dietche

 

[Lars1]

FWIW, I have a D1 with 140 apps installed. All but 68 are on my SD card (mostly widgets and apps that won't allow themselves to be moved) and I have about 45 megs of internal space left.

BTW, I am rooted running UD8 (and loving it!).

 

[Guinn]

I have the 2.2 update, I doubt that matters, but when I go to update an app the phone says there is not enough space on the phone.

Here are my stats:
Internal Phone Storage
Total space 6.60 GB
Available space 6.22 GB

Phone Memory
Total Space 748MB
Available Space 617MB

Whats wrong with my phone!!

 

[furbearingmammal]

I have the 2.2 update, I doubt that matters, but when I go to update an app the phone says there is not enough space on the phone.

Here are my stats:
Internal Phone Storage
Total space 6.60 GB
Available space 6.22 GB

Phone Memory
Total Space 748MB
Available Space 617MB

Whats wrong with my phone!!

I'd suggest posting this question in the Incredible Rescue Squad section. I'm not sure if the Incredible expert who comes here would ever see this post and I'm not familiar with the Incredible hardware.

 

[craigcap]

I have a stock D1...got this low phone storage memory error, then text memory full. Have deleted everything (including cache everywhere), moved everything I could one-by-one to SD card (only a few apps allow), AND, spent 1 hour+ with VZN (joke) and (motorola). It's an absolute disgrace what these tech support folks don't know. VZN answer alwasy is "hard reset". I said, "I'm happy to do that if you can tell me this is a know fix to known prob.." Answer - well, lets get Motorola on phone and I'll go through with you (everything we discussed for 15 mins). Motorola picks up, VZN chick drops off - and moto guy needs me to start again. 5 minutes after explaining, moto guy "I'm sorry, I need to transfer you to dept who can help". 20 minutes with proper moto guy - he hasn't a clue. First he says 'you have 1,000 contacts, that may be the problem. I said "buddy, sorry, but that's crap. If this phone can't handle 1,000 contacts (my outlook list built from 15 years), then thsi device is a peice of ****. Don't tell me devices on this level can't handle this many contacts. Then he said, lets try to "export your contacts to SD card". Sounds good, so I do it, but realize SD card storage availability didn't decrease, nor did internal memory availability increase. He has me go through all this ****, and I say "dude, is it possible that this export just exports a "copy" of the file to SD, but doesn't remove from internal. After 10 minutes of this (I thought he knew this was a fix), he's like, hmmm...would you like me to connect you with 2/3rd level tech....?" Um, yeh that'd be great. The upper level tech, as nice as he was, was, I mean, clueless. I was shocked, I knew much more than him and I'm not tekkie. After an hour +, I said, i'll just keep working on it and see if I can figure out.
In the end, I just deleted a few apps and freed up some memory. THat worked for a week. Now it's back. And I can't receive txts that come to me. This is ridiculous that no one knows how to fix. The 256MB of internal memory was a criticism of the droid when it launched. How true that criticism was. If I could, would return this peice of **** and get something else. Unacceptable.
Would rooting fix this?

 

[dietche]

@craigcap

Ya, I feel your pain, friend. I had a similar experience with those guys when I called them about something wrong with my wife's phone.

To answer your question: Yes, rooting may indeed help you. You'll be able to delete a few more apps that you can't delete right now that you probably don't use, like, say, AmazonMP3 or the built in calculator that you have already likely replaced with a better one, and so on.

The flip side of this is that it's only a bandaid and you can still get into a situation like I am in where, no matter what you, cannot have anything 'fun' on the phone at all, and are still scrimping and scrounging for that next tiny KB worth of space.

Naturally, caveat emptor. *STUDY* and *READ* before rooting your phone. Also, find a local Droid guru friend near you in case you bork things badly. And, make damn sure you make backups of everything before you even touch that phone.
HTH;
--Dietche
P.S. If something bad happens during the root, don't forget about the awesome guys here at the Rescue Squad. They are just... wow... sharp little bastages.

 

[faithmusic]

I seem to be losing internal memory everyday, and I am not doing anything. What's up?

 

[furbearingmammal]

I seem to be losing internal memory everyday, and I am not doing anything. What's up?

Internal storage is taken up by many things; data cache, Dalvik cache, text messages, etc.

 

[craigcap]

Yeh, it's crazy...believe it or not, I had to delete my flash app which was I think 11MB (I made a choice b/c I think the functionality is terrible anyway - so besides the hype, what's the point of keeping it - its clunky, laggy, slow - I think b/c of hardware restrictions). I don't have "extra" apps to delete...this is a bizarre problem and I'm not sure there is anything I can do. I am just very surprised there aren't loads of people with this issue. I don't have a ton of apps (25?)...I don't get it.