Motivation: I've just installed ICS 4.0.4 BCM RC4.1U2 on my HTC Desire, and I am finding I have low internal storage. Browsing around, I found lots of people talking about app2sd, link2sd, app2ext, and need some clarification on them all.
As I understand it:
app2sd is about moving part of an application to the SD card. The application will still take up some space on the internal memory. This is the concept, and apps like app2sd and link2sd do this.
app2ext is about making a partition on your SD card, which the phone thinks is part of its internal memory. To do this, I'll have to format my SD card and install a zip from CWM recovery.
So my questions are:
1 - Is my understanding correct? Have I missed any other big apps or tricks to do with freeing up internal memory.
2 - For app2ext:
- I guess that your phone's speed will then be linked to your SD card's speed. What class of SD card do you need for good performance.
- Is there a limit on how large you can make your virtual internal memory?
- Will applications with widgets work if moved to the ext partition of the memory card?
3 - I was previously on Cyanogenmod 7, and had more free space (only about 70mb was used, as opposed to 110mb now), is this just because I've got the next version along, with more features, so it takes more space?
4 - Is it possible that previous ROMs have left data behind that is eating up my internal memory, is there some way to purge this?
Related
Nexus S have a lot of storage for the apps plus it shares internal memory any way, so is there point to move apps to SD?
Does it make apps to run slower if they moved to SD?
Some of the apps installs to SD by default, should I move them back to phone?
Thanks.
as a general rule, it's more beneficial to install apps that can run properly from SD to SD during installation
this saves internal memory space
it doesn't really affect performance
the original concept of App 2 SD was for the older phones that had very little internal storage memory
AllGamer said:
as a general rule, it's more beneficial to install apps that can run properly from SD to SD during installation
this saves internal memory space
it doesn't really affect performance
the original concept of App 2 SD was for the older phones that had very little internal storage memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally disagree with the general rule part.
I think it's pointless to bother moving something to the /sdcard on a Nexus S (Galaxy S, Vibrant, Captivate, etc) unless you're running out of internal ROM space for apps. Even with 130+ apps (many of them larger ones like co-pilot, 3D games, etc), I never have gone above 500mb used for apps on either my Galaxy S or Nexus S.
I won't say I can't imagine ever needing more than a gig, but it doesn't seem likely in the near future.
There's also a downside to using apps2sd when you're not out of space on the internal memory: you're giving up limited sdcard space for media storage like music and movies. Granted not much, but without an external sdcard, our Nexus S is even more limited in that regard. On my Galaxy S I had almost 28 gigs of stuff on the two cards (int and ext sdcard)...YMMV.
Everyone's usage patterns are different, so there's no right/wrong answer here.
ok so i have taken the mighty step and rooted my desire, the main reason was the shortage of space for apps a poor 150mb! Followed a noob guide on here and rooted and s-off'd, and also partitioned 1gb on my sd card as ext 4.. i have put on a insertcoin GB sense 2.1 cm7 1.08 rom on and it has installed all my apps and data and phone contacts by its self (previously tried another rom and add to add all this on myself) so all my apps are on and i go and check my internal memory and i have 22mb of room left!!!??? i have manualy moved as many apps to the sd card as possible but i thought they would all be on there? how come my internal storage is getting so full? This makes the rooting process pointless.
thanks
When you move apps to the SD not all appdata is moved to the SD.
For example:
- Ponon DLX: 9MB on SD - 400KB is still on the phone
- Pulse: 2MB on SD - 3,84MB is still on the phone
- Angry Birds Rio: 16MB on SD - 300KB is still on the phone
- CardioTrainer: 7MB on SD - 3MB is still on the phone
That's 8MB of the internal storage used. So if you have many apps, then you'll see that it takes a big bite of your internal storage. The reason for this is that many apps uses features/processes of the system that can't operate from the SDcard like the clock, camera, flash, facebook, messaging, widgets and so on.
This is something that my friend has done in a SGS to increase the system memory the phone. It seems a good idea for those who like to have a lot of apps,games and gps maps installed and don't want to move all apps to the sd external memory everytime we have to install more games.
The theory is simple, we have to edit a code line and prepare the external memory cloning the internal one. But I have some questions:
- I'm gonna use a class 10 microsd. But which format it will be the fastest? Fat32 works really well, But ext4 could be faster and safer...or what?
- Have anyone of you try this for a long time? I'm exceptic about performance and durability of the microsd memory...
- What would happen if I try to remove the microsd in the system settings? It will remove the microsd, or the internal memory?
- And if I plugged the phone as a massive memory? In the pc should appear internal memory as external memory, or what?
I'm waiting your answers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1446973
I have HTC sensation 4G. I bought a 16 GB SD micro card and also have an 8GB card. Both my cards are full with videos which I need to access often for my exam purposes. But each time I change the cards, the applications don’t run properly and I have to re install the apps. Also I doubt that frequently changing the SD card would age my phone quicker. Does anyone here have any experience with this? What is the best way to keep swapping sd cards frequently without any hassles?
Are your apps located on the SD Card when you go into Settings > Applications > Apps on SD Card?
If so, move them to internal memory.
switching sd cards very often
Like everyone knows HTC Sensation has a very low internal memory which will not be enough to move all apps to internal memory. Moreover I swap sd cards at least twice a day and I don't want to move apps each time. So is there any way I can just swap SD cads without moving apps to internal memory.
switching sd cards very often
k0zmic said:
Are your apps located on the SD Card when you go into Settings > Applications > Apps on SD Card?
If so, move them to internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like everyone knows HTC Sensation has a very low internal memory which will not be enough to move all apps to internal memory. Moreover I swap sd cards at least twice a day and I don't want to move apps each time. So is there any way I can just swap SD cads without moving apps to internal memory.
Gulfcoastowl said:
Like everyone knows HTC Sensation has a very low internal memory which will not be enough to move all apps to internal memory. Moreover I swap sd cards at least twice a day and I don't want to move apps each time. So is there any way I can just swap SD cads without moving apps to internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have big apps or a lot of apps! I have around 78 and around 50% remaining. 1GB isn't a lot but it's not 'very low' either IMO.
Gulfcoastowl said:
Like everyone knows HTC Sensation has a very low internal memory which will not be enough to move all apps to internal memory. Moreover I swap sd cards at least twice a day and I don't want to move apps each time. So is there any way I can just swap SD cads without moving apps to internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well without magic, no. You have two options. Apps go to the internal memory, or the SD card. If you can't put them on internal and you take out the SD, then they won't be there.
Possible Solution 1: Remove some apps? I use like 12 third party apps total.
Possible Solution 2: Download a converter such as Mobile Media Converter or SUPER and re-encode the videos at a lower quality - allowing for less storage to be used.
Possible Solution 3: Deal with it.
Move the app data to both of your SD cards.
Get a 32GB card? lol
I used to use an 8GB card, then I bought a 16GB one. I just copy all the data from the old card to the new one, insert it in my phone and all the apps works.
Can any developer make use of the scripts used here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1281964 and make a detailed tutorial to increase the internal memory without having to use apps like link2sd
Some suggestions:
making the 2nd partion ext3 instead of ext2 to be able to handle more space
explaining the part of the htcfs
Cheers
Well, it's something quite similar.. and it's easier to use Link2SD actually. You can set the ext4 partition on the SD card to anything and just move everything.
Also, mounting /data/ to SD card will cause some lag; you'll need a higher SD card class. IMHO it's not worth the trouble - I have around 50 apps installed, including Sygic Aura (which is about 18 MB) and moved them all with Link2SD. Internal free space is 40 MB right now.