Even with SD card set as primary storage most apps still reside on local storage - Honor 6X Questions & Answers

When I first got the phone I set the 32 gb SD card as the primary storage because I read the phone lacks the feature at least in 4.1 to manually manage moving apps to SD card. I thought everything was fine but now I notice in the details of almost all of my apps that they are stored on the local storage. Without an option to move these items to SD how can I force them to move to SD card. I downloaded HiSuite and got it working after I enabled everything but don't see a way to move apps to SD and most of the apps on the play store just direct you to the section where you'd traditionally move the items to SD and the feature isn't there. Is there something I can do to get some of these games/apps to SD card or any chance that once I get nougat in the next month or two I'd at least be able to do so then? Thanks. These forums have been real lifesavers a number of times even though I mostly lurk.

I think ever since Android 5.0 (Lollipop) google stopped allowing apps to be installed to an SD card, therefor you need tricks or apps like Link2SD, which has a paid feature to make symbolic links to the sd card.
I bought a 128gb card, which is basically overkill if nothing can be installed on it. Nice for music I guess, but spotify als refuses to store stuff on the sd card.

eddoc said:
When I first got the phone I set the 32 gb SD card as the primary storage because I read the phone lacks the feature at least in 4.1 to manually manage moving apps to SD card. I thought everything was fine but now I notice in the details of almost all of my apps that they are stored on the local storage. Without an option to move these items to SD how can I force them to move to SD card. I downloaded HiSuite and got it working after I enabled everything but don't see a way to move apps to SD and most of the apps on the play store just direct you to the section where you'd traditionally move the items to SD and the feature isn't there. Is there something I can do to get some of these games/apps to SD card or any chance that once I get nougat in the next month or two I'd at least be able to do so then? Thanks. These forums have been real lifesavers a number of times even though I mostly lurk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
select External SD as default storage which is present in Settings (settings > advanced settings > memory & storage > last second option > default Location - change it to external MicroSD ..

As I said in my post one of the first things I does was set sd card as default
However when you look at the details on apps almost all of them are still installing themselves to internal. The size on my sd card has only dropped a bit.
Bhargav7 said:
select External SD as default storage which is present in Settings (settings > advanced settings > memory & storage > last second option > default Location - change it to external MicroSD ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

eddoc said:
However when you look at the details on apps almost all of them are still installing themselves to internal. The size on my sd card has only dropped a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if this is the case.. i too want to find & learn the solution.. !! Hope we get some real solution..

I've installed XInternalSD (xposed & root [i think] required), which seems to have done the trick. Games like Asphalt 8 now fully install their data on the external sd card.

Related

Use of SD CARD

When I had a P1000, I used a lot the feature of sending applications and games and its data files to my SD CARD with a single purpose: leave the internal 16Gb memory as free as possible for better perfomance.
Now I have a rooted P6200 and I only can use my SD CARD for storing music and videos because I have no option of MOVE TO SD CARD anymore.
I also tried some applications that MOVE TO SD CARD, but none of them work.
I called the SAMSUNG SUPPORT and they told me I should be able to move to SD, but I read somewhere that it's something about the way that Android 3 and 4 manage partitions... what makes me believe I will not be able.
So, I am confused.
Can I move applications to SD CARD or not?
Can I make a application store data on SD CARD? Example: MailDroid or a game that consumes a lot of the memory - I would prefer to store data on the SD card.
Does anybody have a hint for that?
Thank you!
mario.renor said:
When I had a P1000, I used a lot the feature of sending applications and games and its data files to my SD CARD with a single purpose: leave the internal 16Gb memory as free as possible for better perfomance.
Now I have a rooted P6200 and I only can use my SD CARD for storing music and videos because I have no option of MOVE TO SD CARD anymore.
I also tried some applications that MOVE TO SD CARD, but none of them work.
I called the SAMSUNG SUPPORT and they told me I should be able to move to SD, but I read somewhere that it's something about the way that Android 3 and 4 manage partitions... what makes me believe I will not be able.
So, I am confused.
Can I move applications to SD CARD or not?
Can I make a application store data on SD CARD? Example: MailDroid or a game that consumes a lot of the memory - I would prefer to store data on the SD card.
Does anybody have a hint for that?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some apps in the Google Play Market like app 2 sd or move to sd (something like that), you can try one of those.
Personally I have no experience on these apps since I still have plenty of space, but you can read a little the features and see if that works for you
Unfortunately, APP2SD does not work to me
darkshadowx07 said:
There are some apps in the Google Play Market like app 2 sd or move to sd (something like that), you can try one of those.
Personally I have no experience on these apps since I still have plenty of space, but you can read a little the features and see if that works for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestion, but when APP2SD starts, I receive this message:
Your device has no real primary external storage or primary storage is emulated
APP2SD will not support move 2 card.
I dont understand this message. I have the 16Gb internal memory plus a 32Gb SD card as s imple a s it can b e, but it is not moving to S D.
P lease someone help me how to solve it.
By the way, the 32Gb SD is fully recognized by the P6200. I can see all my files regularly.
Link2sd may work, but I don't think there would be any performance gain from moving the apps over.
Sent from my myTouch 4g via Tapatalk
Can I get super user access without rooting? Link2SD tells me I have to allow it to move the app.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
Kumabjorn said:
Can I get super user access without rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Super User access is root access. so, no you can't.
Sent from my GT-P6210
From my point of view, rooting is something relatively easy, both to get and to lose: you just flash a zip from the default recovery. It does not even takes your flash count up. Basically, it's a single file that needs to be placed in "/system/bin/". If you need to send it to support, mount "system" as R/W and delete "su".
I could be wrong though, but you should really look into it. I think it is worth it.
By the way, I think you would have to partition your SD Card to use it with Link2SD...
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

External SD card access (move apps + apps writing to SD) in Lollipop and Marshmallows

With Lollipop, does the Z5 (without rooting):
allow apps to be moved to an external SD card?
allow apps to write to the external SD card?
With the Z3 and Kitkat, point 2 was possible with root, but I haven't figured out point 1, not even with root.
I read somewhere that Lollipop should allow (2), but it should depend on the implementation of each phone.
Also, do you know if these two points are supposed to change in any way with Marshmallows?
Yes to both. The Z3 does both too.
jeremy_inc said:
Yes to both. The Z3 does both too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm, my Z3 with Kitkat does neither without root. Are you sure the Z5 does?
In my Z3:
There is no 'move app to SD card' option.
As for getting apps to write to the external SD card, I only managed to achieve it with root (there's a way to modify write permission which you can only change if you are rooted). Before this change, for example, Titanium Backup couldn't write backups to the external sd card
Sorry, Z3 on Lollipop I meant
Well apps on SD Works on z5
Just like on z1. I don't know if all apps work this way but:
You have to go to your app menu and check those checkboxes under the SD card page
I believe it'll work the same on z3
For apps to write on SD card it's need to be implemented in the app
For example total commander does this:
Once you try moving to SD card it opens the default android dialog and chose SD card
Bare 2 things in mind:
1. The whole app wont be moved over. Some can still take a load of space up on main storage.
2. When you update an app the system moves the whole app back onto the main storage.
This was from my Xperia z3 experience on lollipop.
Sent from my E5563 using Tapatalk
JKWR said:
Bare 2 things in mind:
1. The whole app wont be moved over. Some can still take a load of space up on main storage.
2. When you update an app the system moves the whole app back onto the main storage.
This was from my Xperia z3 experience on lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does (2) apply to all apps, or does it depend on how the app was coded by the developers?
I'm thinking of apps where it makes sense to keep the app/engine separate from additional data required (as is the case for games, dictionaries, etc.).
It totally defies the purpose...
To be honest I only remember the biggest culprits which were the big apps, namely:
Ms Word, Excel, PowerPoint. (probably a gb there that you have to mess about with all the time as it seems they are updated at least once a week)
Nearly all Games like plants vs zombies 2, angry birds 2, rayman fiesta run, angry birds transformers, jetpack joyride.
So basically you have to make sure you always have 3-4gig free on your main mem to stop these regular updates from eating every last bit up or getting a long list of update messages saying canot install due to insufficient memory. It drive me nuts on the z3 16gb.
I may have to skip the z5 32gb main mem for this purpose as well. Im a heavy app/game user though so 32gb might be OK for you
Sent from my E5563 using Tapatalk
cdl2 said:
With Lollipop, does the Z5 (without rooting):
allow apps to be moved to an external SD card?
allow apps to write to the external SD card?
With the Z3 and Kitkat, point 2 was possible with root, but I haven't figured out point 1, not even with root.
I read somewhere that Lollipop should allow (2), but it should depend on the implementation of each phone.
Also, do you know if these two points are supposed to change in any way with Marshmallows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 - Yes - Go to Settings > Apps > Scroll right one to ON SD CARD tab > tick which app(s) you want moving to the SD card. Not everything is moved though, but enough. The Z3 on Lollipop is exactly the same.
2 - Unrooted, the rules are, as far as I can tell - System apps (like File Commander) have full access to the SD card, so can read and write to/from the SD card. If you install a 3rd party app, like another file manager from Play Store, it will not be able to write to the SD card as it is a user app. Certain 3rd party apps can write to the SD card, but their data is stored in a system sub folder on the SD card, and they are restricted to that location only. If you delete the app, the data is also deleted.
I used to use the SD Fix on KitKat, but I just rooted my Z3, and my File Manager can read/write the SD card. Not really sure how we are going to go with rooting Locked Bootloader Z5's yet, so we'll just have to see.
SD card access is changing again in Marshmallow, and should be better, going by what I've heard. You can now choose to treat your SD card as you do now, or as an 'extension' of your internal memory, but I think if you do choose to extend your internal memory, then it will be encrypted for use in that device only. If you don't use it as an extension, then I'm not yet sure what the permissions will be for general read/write access.
MickieH said:
1 - Yes - Go to Settings > Apps > Scroll right one to ON SD CARD tab > tick which app(s) you want moving to the SD card. Not everything is moved though, but enough. The Z3 on Lollipop is exactly the same.
2 - Unrooted, the rules are, as far as I can tell - System apps (like File Commander) have full access to the SD card, so can read and write to/from the SD card. If you install a 3rd party app, like another file manager from Play Store, it will not be able to write to the SD card as it is a user app. Certain 3rd party apps can write to the SD card, but their data is stored in a system sub folder on the SD card, and they are restricted to that location only. If you delete the app, the data is also deleted.
I used to use the SD Fix on KitKat, but I just rooted my Z3, and my File Manager can read/write the SD card. Not really sure how we are going to go with rooting Locked Bootloader Z5's yet, so we'll just have to see.
SD card access is changing again in Marshmallow, and should be better, going by what I've heard. You can now choose to treat your SD card as you do now, or as an 'extension' of your internal memory, but I think if you do choose to extend your internal memory, then it will be encrypted for use in that device only. If you don't use it as an extension, then I'm not yet sure what the permissions will be for general read/write access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, fellows, has anyone solved the problem of writing to external SD cards on marshmallow?

Apps are not being installed on sdcard but on internal storage

So here I am again with another problem... That I couldn't find any solution for it.
My moto g has 8gb ROM and a sdcard of 128gb formated as internal storage.
Great, almost all apps are installed on internal memory and so is the cached data, for example downloaded musics from Spotify or Google play music, well I hadn't noticed it until today I couldn't update any app because I have no space left....
I found no settings on either the apps or on the storage menu that allows me to select the SD card as preferred storage... The migrate data option on the settings menu wants to move 17gb from the SD to the internal storage (lol).
So anyone with an idea from what went wrong?
Thanks.
I have the same problem. The storage is completely full now, but there's still enough space left on the SD card! The phone is now complaining about limit storage, but there should be more than enough left!
No apps are installing to SD? A lot of your apps aren't going to install to SD plus all the system apps will install to internal.
To move all data and cache to sd...you need to use Link2SD with root access.
Or you could have a look at this, works pretty well for me: http://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/general/adoptable-external-storage-time-t3340551

Apps and Games not fully moving to SD card

So I'm trying to move various apps/games onto the installed SD Card. I'm pretty sure the card itself is working, as photo's and videos are being saved there.
I go into app manager (or Storage, Internal, Used Space, Apps - makes no difference) and I select the app, choose storage. It lets me 'Change" Storage used :- Internal Storage to "SD Card". The progress bar whizzes across and completes. It even tells me the app is now installed on External Storage.
The problem is, the app isn't installed on the SD card, sometimes some folders are created, but they remain empty and the app is still installed on the internal memory. (I checked with a file manager)
I'm not sure what's going on, or if this is normal (short of making the card adoptable). I'm an Iphone user of many years, I finally joined the rebellion ! It's quiet possible I am doing something wrong or droid just hates me, but either way any help is appreciated.
Unfortunately, that's the way it works. It's not like A2SD which moved the whole thing.

"Force allow apps on external" not working on Motorola G Power 2021

So I recently ran out of storage on my Motorola G Power 2021, so I bought a micro SD to move some of my less-used but not quite expendable apps. Originally I'd planned to format as internal storage, but my phone doesn't appear to allow this and doesn't even show the option to do so. So I opted for the next best thing, migrating some of the app data over by going to Apps & notifications > All Apps > (app) > Storage & cache, but there's no option to move the app to the external storage device. As per the title, I also turned "Force allow apps on external" in developer settings to no avail. Could Motorola be blocking this too? I've done a little searching, and I can't seem to find any examples of this other than this one which was on a completely different phone brand and this one which seems to have been caused by misunderstanding and resolved.
What I've tried:
Restarting phone - didn't help
Checking other apps - checked about a dozen and none had the move to external storage option
Rooting - can't unlock bootloader as per Motorola's website
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this, if I can work around it, or even if I can somehow format as internal storage? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Installing apps over to the microSD card isn't supported by all apps. In fact, many don’t support this feature at all. Some manufacturers - namely, Samsung and LG - reviously allowed users to format microSD cards as internal storage. That meant apps and games would be installed there by default. Sadly, this feature is no longer present on newer devices.
Technically, it’s still possible to install apps on the microSD if you’re willing to go through the trouble of rooting your Android phone and afterwareds use Link2SD to move the apps from internal storage to exernal storage.
xXx yYy said:
Installing apps over to the microSD card isn't supported by all apps. In fact, many don’t support this feature at all. Some manufacturers - namely, Samsung and LG - reviously allowed users to format microSD cards as internal storage. That meant apps and games would be installed there by default. Sadly, this feature is no longer present on newer devices.
Technically, it’s still possible to install apps on the microSD if you’re willing to go through the trouble of rooting your Android phone and afterwareds use Link2SD to move the apps from internal storage to exernal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the purpose of "Force allow apps on external" was to be able to transfer any app regardless of the developers' wishes. Is this not the case?
you already gave the answer yourself
Wrig9 said:
Originally I'd planned to format as internal storage, but my phone doesn't appear to allow this and doesn't even show the option to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alecxs said:
you already gave the answer yourself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it have to be formatted as internal storage to be allowed to transfer apps? I guess I didn't really think about that.
Edit: Just to be sure we're all on the same page, the SD card is formatted, just not as part of the internal storage. I can access any files on it, but I can't put any apps there. I was under the impression that if you formatted as internal storage the SD card would act as a direct expansion somehow and automatically install data there once the integrated storage filled.
I haven't tested that specific option but afaik it overrides android:installLocation="preferExternal" in app manifest. that would allow to move the apk to Adoptable Storage, but requires MicroSD Card formatted as internal.
Only new apps are installed external automatically (based on that setting), for existing apps the "Migrate Data" option is offered.

Categories

Resources