***UPDATE***
As of update MF5 and higher, this feature is now part of Samsung's software (YAY! )
To move apps to SD, simply Go to:
1] Settings
2] More
3] Application Manager
4] Select your app from the list
5] Select the "Move to SD card" option
For those of you on older firmwares or wanting a slightly more powerful tool, read on!
Hi Everyone,
I'm posting this here hoping to save others some trouble of finding how to move Apps to SD Card. Officially it's not supported, but there's already a few methods of doing so. First, some warnings:
Rooting: Currently there is no recoveries for the Galaxy S4, so if rooting somehow goes wrong, you've got an expensive paperweight.
Apps to SD Card: SD Card memory is more vulnerable than the internal memory, so there's always a risk of data loss on them. Keep anything you can't afford to lose in the internal memory!
Step 1: Prepare your phone for rooting:
First up you need to Root your Galaxy S4. To do this:
[On your Phone]
- Go to Settings --> More Tab --> About Device
- Tap "Build number" multiple times - I think after 9 it enables "Developer Options"
- Go back to the "More" menu, and open the new developer options tab
- Enable "USB Debugging"
- Plug your phone into your computer via USB
[On your Computer (Windows only instructions)]
- Download the Galaxy S Drivers from HERE and save them somewhere handy (IE: Desktop)
- Right click "Computer/My Computer", go to properties, and open your device manager
- You should see your galaxy in there somewhere (Possibly under "other"). Right click this, go to "update driver software", and browse for drivers. Select the S Driver folder mentioned above and hit next, and it should update/install itself.
View attachment 1935015
Step 2: Root your phone:
For versions before MDN/MDM - thunderserpent's guide should do the trick: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2266336
For versions ending in MDN/MDM - djembey's guide should work great: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2255190
For older versions (stock without an OTA Update), use the below method:
[On your Computer (Windows only instructions)]
- Once installed, download the Motochopper software HERE to root the phone
- Double click the motochopper "run.bat" in the folder, and follow the instructions onscreen.
Step 3: Install and use FolderMount:
[On your Phone]
- Once rooted, download foldermount HERE
- Once installed, open FolderMount and grant superuser access when asked.
- In FolderMount, you have the options to:
View attachment 1935014
:: Name your folder (IE: "Generic Game 1")
:: Select the "Source" Folder (the one on your local storage)
:: Select the "Destination" Folder (the one on your SD Card)
When you enter these details, it will then move them to your SD Card!
Personally I paid the £1.40 for the FolderMount Pro, because it also shows you filesizes when browsing - and it's finally made my S4 useful!
I know it's not the easiest process ever, but hopefully I've explained it enough to get people started. I have a 32GB external and the measly 8.8 internal I was left with was useless. Now I can move apps to the external card to save space internally!
Common Locations of Large Files:
Two common locations for games (IE: Gameloft games, EA Games, etc.)
Android/data
Android/obb
Potential Downfalls:
- Loading times may increase from the external memory
- Updates may cause problems, although testing so far shows it doesn't have any problems
- You may need to re-mount after reboot, the mount on boot option may not always work
If you get prompted to redownload a game/update that you already have - check in FolderMount that it has been mounted okay
Disclaimer: These instructions are purely to try and help people - I don't own, maintain, or affiliate with any of the downloads. Use at your own risk!
Update
Some people using Adam Kernel/root having been having issues - please see some steps below from abheshekk who managed to get it working fine:
abheshekk said:
Hi,
Follow following steps to resolve this issue, mine is working now:
I9500 should be on stock rom mine was on mdk indian latest firmware.
1. install Adam kernel 1.1 using odin
2. install cofface cwm recovery
3. install busybox
this will work for you enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good how to, and the app FolderMount is well worth the money!
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
Nice How-to,
when I am back home, I will try it
GhostLeader said:
Nice How-to,
when I am back home, I will try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung's response to the lack of built in memory is an SD Card, yet they don't officially support this - so after a bit of looking around I managed to get it working. Figured if it helps even one or two people out, yay
Please note you will probably have to reinstall the apps when updates for the app are available in the market.
Not too mention Samsung's response was misleading and stupid, since misleads customers thinking it fixes the app storage.
Eambo said:
Samsung's response to the lack of built in memory is an SD Card, yet they don't officially support this - so after a bit of looking around I managed to get it working. Figured if it helps even one or two people out, yay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you plz add the information where my installed apps are on android? Dont know the path, its my first android smartphone
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
GhostLeader said:
Can you plz add the information where my installed apps are on android? Dont know the path, its my first android smartphone
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, I'm not entirely sure. They seem to have different locations:
Android/data
Android/obb
Are a huge chunk (6.6GB on mine - mainly games - Gameloft etc.)
The rest are in 100s of MB at most, so those seem to be the main places. If you get the 'paid' version of the FolderMount app, it shows you the folder sizes in the app which helps a lot
As for updates/reinstalling, this may indeed be true. I haven't had a chance to test/play with this unfortunately! If I get an update anywhere, I'll update this!
Edit: I deleted one of my folders from NFS MW and it redownloaded to the SD Card which was handy - however I don't know how google play will work with updates, whether it does a "smarter" check or not.
I can't find most of my apps. There's a few in Android/data. . But idk where the rest are at. Nothing in obb
opz187 said:
I can't find most of my apps. There's a few in Android/data. . But idk where the rest are at. Nothing in obb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
opz what apps are you using?
As an update, I just updated an app through Play and it looks to have updated without a problem to the SD Card - I can't really poke around much to tell, but it launched and looks fine to me, and looks to still be mounted on the SD Card
Seems to be updating the apps on the SD card just fine. Cheers OP.
beagio said:
Seems to be updating the apps on the SD card just fine. Cheers OP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming that - from the description of FolderMount it sounds like the phone should be unaware of it being external, so I was hoping there wouldn't be a problem
Eambo said:
Thanks for confirming that - from the description of FolderMount it sounds like the phone should be unaware of it being external, so I was hoping there wouldn't be a problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to me that it's basically created a symbolic link pointing to the external SD card. Android shouldn't know the difference. That's just a guess tho, as I'm new to this Android malarkey
I had an update today for Iron Man 3, which is on my external card. It updated fine through Google Play, and when I launched it it just went "Verifying Files" then launched - no issues
The only problem I've found so far is with the gallery and hidden folders. I went into the gallery and hid a folder - a few times I couldn't get the option to show hidden folders. I rebooted, and can no longer either hide or show hidden folders - which is strange. The option is entirely missing now...may be unrelated, but not entirely sure.
Eambo said:
I had an update today for Iron Man 3, which is on my external card. It updated fine through Google Play, and when I launched it it just went "Verifying Files" then launched - no issues
The only problem I've found so far is with the gallery and hidden folders. I went into the gallery and hid a folder - a few times I couldn't get the option to show hidden folders. I rebooted, and can no longer either hide or show hidden folders - which is strange. The option is entirely missing now...may be unrelated, but not entirely sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So as im new to Android guys with this method you can download,install and run/play apps/games straight from a micro sd card thus freeing up the internal storage ?
Wow, I'm using it on S3, and it works much better than Directory Bind, than never did work on my S3 (I don't know why)!!!
Thkx a lot for this!!! Now I finally can have all my big games installed!!!
drenco said:
So as im new to Android guys with this method you can download,install and run/play apps/games straight from a micro sd card thus freeing up the internal storage ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delayed response - yep, that's exactly what it does. Again it has some negatives as the external is a bit slower to load and has a higher chance of failure, but I know I certainly had no room internally - this allows me to use the 32GB External for games, apps, etc.
Link2SD
Hi all,
I installed Link2SD from market. Working nicely, also with updates and new apps.
Does this this foldermount option do the same, or is it more efficient?
Seems to do the same thing. No problems so far.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
FolderMount allows you a choice in moving your large app data and obb folders and even media like the whatsapp photos folder to the external SD.
It's more flexible in what you can do.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
Hello everyone.
I recently got a Xperia L, and it's my first android device, so I'm still new to this.
So I bought a 16gb sdcard (class 10) so I could install more games and apps and stuff in the card, but I read somewhere that with the 4.1.2 version you can't do that, only videos and images. Then I heard about this root thing that would make us able to install games in the sdcard with usb connection and stuff like that, so I did root my phone following some guides and got the root checker app and it says that I have root access.
So my question is what to do next? Because my sdcard has only a LOST.dir folder and 2 other files, don't see any android folder or anything else, so I can't install games in the sdcard. I googled everything but can't seem to find any solutions to my problem, I don't really know what the problem is, maybe the sdcard or the root. Sorry I'm really new to this
Thanks in advance
popino01 said:
Hello everyone.
I recently got a Xperia L, and it's my first android device, so I'm still new to this.
So I bought a 16gb sdcard (class 10) so I could install more games and apps and stuff in the card, but I read somewhere that with the 4.1.2 version you can't do that, only videos and images. Then I heard about this root thing that would make us able to install games in the sdcard with usb connection and stuff like that, so I did root my phone following some guides and got the root checker app and it says that I have root access.
So my question is what to do next? Because my sdcard has only a LOST.dir folder and 2 other files, don't see any android folder or anything else, so I can't install games in the sdcard. I googled everything but can't seem to find any solutions to my problem, I don't really know what the problem is, maybe the sdcard or the root. Sorry I'm really new to this
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome!
I'm afraid that this is not possible (yet(?))...
But check this thread instead http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2368262
kazabubu said:
Welcome!
I'm afraid that this is not possible (yet(?))...
But check this thread instead http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2368262
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm don't know how to change permissions of the script inside the filemanager :s
QUOTE=popino01;45824488]Hm dont know how to change permissions of the script inside the filemanager :s[/QUOTE]
You must have installed some file manager which allows you to reach root files.(You must be rooted,of course...).(I use Root Explorer).Navigate through system files and when you find the file you want long press on it and choose (in Root Explorer) Permissions.A window will open with a horizontial column which has 3 parameters (Read,Write,Execute) and a vertical one with Owner,Group and Others.In our case rw-r-r means that you must check Read and Write for the Owner column and Read for the other two.Hope I helped...
Ok I'm able to load games that are installed on the sdcard/android/data, but the obb files that go on the obb folder I can only install them in the internal memory, in the sdcard they dont seem to work :s
Hello,
I have a Gt-I9105P and am interesting from few times about Root, Rom....
I did the root and installed Spirit Rom 4.4.4, version 1.6 and everything seems OK. Faster, battery life better....
but I have 2 problems, not importants but disturbing :
1) How can I have set my SD card as storage by default when I do some pictures ?
2) I cannot "cut" my files from device storage/SD card to SD card /device storage...I have to connect my phone to pc and do it on....
Someone can help me please to set my phone ?
Thanks a lot
Corse62
ps: I am not english so sorry for eventuals mistakes.
Can't remember what camera application the Spirit ROM has, but if you can't find in it's settings to make the save on your sdcard, download another camera application from Google Play Store that has this option, or installing xposed installer and a mod for it called Picture2SD (http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/xposed-installer-versions-changelog-t2714053) .
Here is the Thread of this Mod: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-pictures2sd-v1-0-6-makes-camera-t2408880
Conclusion: is not a ROM related issue.
As for moving files from internal to external storage, you have to be sure that you rooted your phone and have a working superuser. You can use this application to see if you have the phone rooted:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joeykrim.rootcheck
To do the moving (cutting) use a file manager such as this ones:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedsoftware.explorer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop
If you grant them root permmision, it should be no problem (as long as the files you want to move are not system files).
Our device has a complete guide about rooting here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2303395
I wish you all the best.
Yes my phone is root. Thanks for you help, it works :good: .
Corse62
Dear S7 users, I recently bought a Samsung EVO SD-Card for my Samsung Galaxy S7, Android 6.0.1 "un-rooted" device. It works fine, but some apps require more permissions to write on it. I installed a file manager, and checked the access-rights of the SD-Card. It's set rwxr-xr-x (755). This must be the reason of the conflict with those apps which is trying to write on sd and fail.
Do you know "any" way to remove this protection and give it to full access, without rooting it (or tripping knox)? I will be really thankful.
Wouldn't that simply be a permissions setting for each app that needs it?
Sent from my LG-V522 using Tapatalk
Unfortunately no. The storage permission option in Android is way too superfacial for some kind of apps. Some apps can't modify a file on sdcard or create new one, although the permission option is on. The same error never occurs with the internal memory. I'm not an android master, but as I searched on internet I think this is a common problem. And I hope someone here knows a method to fix this issue without tripping Knox.
Please let me know if there is something can be done about it. Thank you
I've got the same problem with the FTP Server app, with Lollipop on my S5 I could write to the External MicroSD via FileZilla on the PC, soon as I upgraded to Marshmallow, both on the S5 and S7, write access is denied
Have to write to the Internal and then copy from there to SD via a file explorer on the phone
Rooting will be your only option. It's just the way permissions are set up on these phones. I have a PDF editing app and if I open a file on my SD card from a file explorer the PDF app can't save any changes until I open the file from within the app. Some apps handle it better than others.
Sigh... Isn't there really an alternative way such as connecting to device with pc, or formatting the sd-card, or flashing something etc etc? If rooting was a reversable option, I wouldn't worry about it a second. But once knox is tripped, there is no turning back.
No it's the way the Marshmallow is written. Apps have full access to their data folder on the internal and external storage. Other locations aren't always fully supported
Well, let's hope it'll be changed in Android 7 Nougat. But actually I'm sure they'll force users to face with even more restrictions with even more stupid ideas. I hope idiots surprise me...
tvf_tez_e said:
Well, let's hope it'll be changed in Android 7 Nougat. But actually I'm sure they'll force users to face with even more restrictions with even more stupid ideas. I hope idiots surprise me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with idiots is that they're so predictable . The more I use my S7, the more I miss my Nexus 5. Things just worked, I never had stupid little problems like this.
Why even bother write-protecting the SDcard? It's my damn SDcard. For chrissakes.
Not possible without root.
Possible with root by changing the permission file in system.
I had a bug that caused external devices like a pc to lose write permissions. Had to factory restore