S7/Edge SD card Question - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Questions and Answers

I heard a few days back about being able to move apps onto the sd card but has anyone been able to confirm whether or not app data from moved apps will be stored in the SD card or the phone?
Haven't been lucky enough to get my pre order yet but thank you for the answer.
Ooh, and am wondering are the unstable remounting/unmounting of SD cards just restricted to a few devices or are a more widespread problem due to architecture, if anyone knows :S

shadowloop said:
I heard a few days back about being able to move apps onto the sd card but has anyone been able to confirm whether or not app data from moved apps will be stored in the SD card or the phone?
Haven't been lucky enough to get my pre order yet but thank you for the answer.
Ooh, and am wondering are the unstable remounting/unmounting of SD cards just restricted to a few devices or are a more widespread problem due to architecture, if anyone knows :S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to know the same thing.

I'm not sure why all of a sudden this is news. Are there just a lot of people new to Android? Back when expandable storage was still popular on Android devices you could always do this, albeit there were some restrictions on which app can be moved. It also depended on the developer of the app to make some of the data move to SD. If you're new, the actual app stays on the phone in a partition you can't access unless you have root access. All the other data that would be stored on the phones internal storage (and could be accessible to users) could be moved to SD card.
I also find people complaining about adoptable storage ridiculous.

ekjl said:
I'm not sure why all of a sudden this is news. Are there just a lot of people new to Android? Back when expandable storage was still popular on Android devices you could always do this, albeit there were some restrictions on which app can be moved. It also depended on the developer of the app to make some of the data move to SD. If you're new, the actual app stays on the phone in a partition you can't access unless you have root access. All the other data that would be stored on the phones internal storage (and could be accessible to users) could be moved to SD card.
I also find people complaining about adoptable storage ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, I am an android user; I am just new to using SD card on android (on an old moto x). Just to clear things up, the question would by no means be related to the adoptable storage media coverage which I too, find pointless. I am simply trying to gauge the size of the SD card I am going to purchase as well as getting a general idea of how conscious I would have to be with my 20ish GB of internal storage when downloading apps with the phone.
EDIT: Ah, okok, it is easier now to just research the SD card app data storage for each individual app that I'm concerned about. Thanks!
Anyways, as a newbie, taking from your post above, when moving the app to SD card, the actual app itself (download size) would stay in a partition in internal storage and, depending on the individual apps, some information would be migrated to SD and some data wouldn't? So it is probable that apps such as Spotify and Amazon Video would store any offline media files in internal storage regardless of moving to SD card, to prevent potential access by users?
Thanks!

Which sd card would be the best for this phone?
Sent from my Xperia Z Ultra using Tapatalk

shadowloop said:
Anyways, as a newbie, taking from your post above, when moving the app to SD card, the actual app itself (download size) would stay in a partition in internal storage and, depending on the individual apps, some information would be migrated to SD and some data wouldn't? So it is probable that apps such as Spotify and Amazon Video would store any offline media files in internal storage regardless of moving to SD card, to prevent potential access by users?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are absolutely correct.

Related

[Q] Questions about Sprint S4 sizes and interla/external storage.

I was wondering if anybody could help answer a few questions about the Sprint S4 for me.
Currently I have an HTC Evo 3D, the internal storage is so small that I have made a 4gb ext3 partition on my SD card using Link2SD just to alleviate some of this annoyance. The 32GB counting the 4GB partition is actually almost full.
First of all, is there any word on a 32GB version? I saw some forum threads a while ago about Sprint supposedly not carring the 32+GB versions, but I saw no official word, if there has been one.
And also, how does the 16GB of internal work? The first time I saw a phone with large internal memory was the original Droid RAZR. And it basically partitioned off the majority of the space like a virtual SD card. Most to all apps on it saved to here instead of the actual SD card assuming it was an actual external storage. Does the S4 do this too, or is the entire 16GB (minus obviously what the system partitions take up) used as internal?
The reason I am asking is because I have many apps and games which download anywhere from 50MB to 3 gigs of additional data, and they almost never ask you where to download it, and just use the first "external" space they find, and many are hard-coded to only use that space. Like I said, my 32GB card on my Evo 3D is practically full, I do NOT not want those apps to install that data on the internal memory and fill it up, I want that space to keep the apps installed on, while photos, music, and video, as well as that app additional data, will be on the real SD card. I am planning to get a 64GB card for the S4.
Cyber Akuma said:
I was wondering if anybody could help answer a few questions about the Sprint S4 for me.
Currently I have an HTC Evo 3D, the internal storage is so small that I have made a 4gb ext3 partition on my SD card using Link2SD just to alleviate some of this annoyance. The 32GB counting the 4GB partition is actually almost full.
First of all, is there any word on a 32GB version? I saw some forum threads a while ago about Sprint supposedly not carring the 32+GB versions, but I saw no official word, if there has been one.
And also, how does the 16GB of internal work? The first time I saw a phone with large internal memory was the original Droid RAZR. And it basically partitioned off the majority of the space like a virtual SD card. Most to all apps on it saved to here instead of the actual SD card assuming it was an actual external storage. Does the S4 do this too, or is the entire 16GB (minus obviously what the system partitions take up) used as internal?
The reason I am asking is because I have many apps and games which download anywhere from 50MB to 3 gigs of additional data, and they almost never ask you where to download it, and just use the first "external" space they find, and many are hard-coded to only use that space. Like I said, my 32GB card on my Evo 3D is practically full, I do NOT not want those apps to install that data on the internal memory and fill it up, I want that space to keep the apps installed on, while photos, music, and video, as well as that app additional data, will be on the real SD card. I am planning to get a 64GB card for the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way samsung does it is actually very anoying. First thing they do is cut off 8.5 gigs of storage, thats your "internal memory" for system stuff. That's untouchable. You then have 9gigs give or take left for apps and the like which is EMULATED external storage. This emulated bit confuses android and so your real external sd card is only usable for movies and music. The only way to put apps on it would be to root your phone and use folder mount (which for some reason isn't working for me yet). So to sum it up:
16gb +ext sd card (lets say 32 gb)
8ish gb- system internal
9ish gb-apps EMULATED external
32 gb- movies, music, books/media BUT NO APPS UNLESS YOU ROOT REAL external
AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!</CharlieBrown>
Wow, I can not possibly think of a worse way for Samsung to handle it. The low internal memory giving me problems installing and updating apps was a major reason for wanting to upgrade. With this, it means I actually have less space for apps than my current phone, since I can't actually install to SD and the apps that download hundreds of megs to gigs of additonal data will be downlioading it to the internal instead of external.
I... honestly have no idea which phone to get now.
I know the Sprint S4 is unlocked, is there any way to use rooted tools or a custom rom to just make the memory internal and make it mount a SD as an actual SD? I am worried that unofficial roms might be lacking in features or glitchy.
Cyber Akuma said:
AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!</CharlieBrown>
Wow, I can not possibly think of a worse way for Samsung to handle it. The low internal memory giving me problems installing and updating apps was a major reason for wanting to upgrade. With this, it means I actually have less space for apps than my current phone, since I can't actually install to SD and the apps that download hundreds of megs to gigs of additonal data will be downlioading it to the internal instead of external.
I... honestly have no idea which phone to get now.
I know the Sprint S4 is unlocked, is there any way to use rooted tools or a custom rom to just make the memory internal and make it mount a SD as an actual SD? I am worried that unofficial roms might be lacking in features or glitchy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this is an issue with all honeycomb plus android phones. Google is trying to phase out the external sd card while increasing the internal memory. Well that's all good and fine EXCEPT that we are right in the middle of the phase out process where the sd cards are too small for that. 2-3 years from now googles plan will work, but samsung has to be on board for that to happen. For now the only thing you can do is use folder mount or wait for ext2intSD script. It will swap it so your external sdcard works as your internal and vice versa. However, we will have to wait for that to be released.
I don't get what phasing out the SD slot has to do with emulating the external SD storage when all apps can work on internal storage anyway.
What is folder-mount? And I tried link2sd on my evo 3d and its kinda problematic, I wanted to get AWAY from these problems by upgrading.
Cyber Akuma said:
I don't get what phasing out the SD slot has to do with emulating the external SD storage when all apps can work on internal storage anyway.
What is folder-mount? And I tried link2sd on my evo 3d and its kinda problematic, I wanted to get AWAY from these problems by upgrading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason why is that android its self, the code that google supplies, has to create partitions in order for it to work with only one internal sdcard so that the average user does not corrupt the system somehow. The emulated external storage is what google expects you to use so that you can't mess up. However, samsung just adds in an sdcard without changing anything which means its not set up correctly. This is a problem with all new sd card phones and finally think of folder mount as a better link2sd
But aren't the system partition and the internal storage partition separate partitions? I don't understand why the rest of the memory outside of the system partition needs to be an emulated external instead of just being an internal storage partition like on phones that do not have a large amount of internal memory.
Also, why do we have to link folders or use link2sd scripts and other such work-arounds? Can't we re-partition the internal memory with a custom recovery or through the bootloader?
not work brother
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app
deadger said:
not work brother
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.... what? I have no idea what that means.
So, can the phone be repartitioned if you have root access? And is only the Sprint version partitioned like this, or all of them?

Apps on SD Card?

So I'm new to this whole SD card thing, I've only owned the s6, which obviously, didn't support expandable storage. So my question is - is it possible to move apps onto the SD card slot? I understand there might be a performance hit, but for a lot of apps, I can careless about the performance of the storage on it.
I saw there was a "move to sd card" option for applications on the galaxy s5 - will there be something similar here?
Nope, don't believe so. If it's anything like past devices though, app data can be saved to SD card. Camera can capture to SD, spotify can download tracks to SD, GPS navigation apps can download maps to SD, etc. Main app files will be on main 32GB memory
mikesnav said:
Nope, don't believe so. If it's anything like past devices though, app data can be saved to SD card. Camera can capture to SD, spotify can download tracks to SD, GPS navigation apps can download maps to SD, etc. Main app files will be on main 32GB memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. That's good news all around. Now if only some games would store their data on the sd cards.
I currently move apps to my sd card on the Galaxy S5;, using a utility called "All in one toolbox". It allows me to move apps so they run off of my micro SD card. Does anyone know if this will work with the Galaxy S7 edge?
mikesnav said:
Nope, don't believe so. If it's anything like past devices though, app data can be saved to SD card. Camera can capture to SD, spotify can download tracks to SD, GPS navigation apps can download maps to SD, etc. Main app files will be on main 32GB memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But, if it is anything like past devices, it could have an option to "move app to SD". Has the removal of this feature been confirmed yet? We all know Adoptable Storage is gone, but what about App to SD? Is it confirmed missing, or are we just speculating?
Running MM on my S5 and the Adoptable Storage works so well, I hope Samsung change the mined about this.
Dr. Fed said:
But, if it is anything like past devices, it could have an option to "move app to SD". Has the removal of this feature been confirmed yet? We all know Adoptable Storage is gone, but what about App to SD? Is it confirmed missing, or are we just speculating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure App2SD has been a mod / specific vendor addition since... a long time now. That hasn't been a part of Android for years. Removed in Jellybean maybe?
I don't know if Samsung has specifically written this in with the S7, sorry.
I'm pretty sure I heard one of the dudes who did a first impressions on it that an upcoming feature in marshmallow will allow to merge SD card storage with internal .... No idea how credible the dude is though
JoshuaFCB said:
I'm pretty sure I heard one of the dudes who did a first impressions on it that an upcoming feature in marshmallow will allow to merge SD card storage with internal .... No idea how credible the dude is though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a Marshmallow feature but Google has encouraged manufacturers to remove that feature. The LG G5 and the Samsung S7 phones do not have it.
David Ruddock from Android Police says.
"Google discourages using adoptable storage if:
Your SD card slot is in an area where it may be regularly ejected (i.e., the SIM slot) and/or your phone has "sufficient" internal storage already, which is probably these days 32GB or more. Adoptable storage is apparently intended as a feature for phones with very limited internal storage and for stationary, IoT types of devices.
LG has done the same, and does not have adoptable storage on the G5."
PDXMatt said:
That is a Marshmallow feature but Google has encouraged manufacturers to remove that feature. The LG G5 and the Samsung S7 phones do not have it.
David Ruddock from Android Police says.
"Google discourages using adoptable storage if:
Your SD card slot is in an area where it may be regularly ejected (i.e., the SIM slot) and/or your phone has "sufficient" internal storage already, which is probably these days 32GB or more. Adoptable storage is apparently intended as a feature for phones with very limited internal storage and for stationary, IoT types of devices.
LG has done the same, and does not have adoptable storage on the G5."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it something that be acquire through rooting?
I've got the option to move apps to SD straight out of the box. Go to the Apps, find the app, go to Storage. It's there. Not every app has it but lots do.
Apps on SD Cards Disappearing from Edge
I was able to move some downloaded apps to the SD card. Then I put a few on the Apps Edge. But I found that, if I reboot or power off/on, the apps (not just the icon, but the apps themselves) disappear from the Edge. Has anyone else seen this?
You can do it through adoptable storage:
https://youtu.be/H31UOrXJKH4
I got my S7 Edge yesterday & love it.
However I'm having trouble transferring apps to the SD card. In my case, I can successfully move the app via the Application | Change Storage Location option BUT when I look at the SD card in a file manager, it has only moved the folder structure & the app files remain in internal storage.
Anyone know what the hell is going on?
Cheers.
runwaypimp said:
I got my S7 Edge yesterday & love it.
However I'm having trouble transferring apps to the SD card. In my case, I can successfully move the app via the Application | Change Storage Location option BUT when I look at the SD card in a file manager, it has only moved the folder structure & the app files remain in internal storage.
Anyone know what the hell is going on?
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the exact same issue. Says it moves the apps, but the internal storage and SD card usages do not reflect this; the corresponding directories on the SD are size 0 and empty as well.
go to settings/aplication manager. find the app you want to see if it can go to SD and go to Storage. There you can see if there is Change button .
i mooved many apps to my SD but when i restart my phone i didnt had worked apps.
gpap2004 said:
go to settings/aplication manager. find the app you want to see if it can go to SD and go to Storage. There you can see if there is Change button .
i mooved many apps to my SD but when i restart my phone i didnt had worked apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but the only thing that happens is a folder is created on the SD to store the app. data. Nobodies apps are moving over to the SD card.

Error moving data to SD card

Hi everyone,
I just bought a Micro SD evo+ (Samsung 64 GB) for my moto G plus. I formatted it as an internal storage. I moved few of my apps. However, I dont know how to move music and photos. There is no option for that. In the SD card menu, when I click on migrate data, it says "There was an error in estimating the data to be moved".
I was wondering if anyone can help me please.
Kind regards
I'm seeing that same error message when I try to migrate data on my G4. Has anyone any idea what's causing this and how to fix?
It's due to the security features of Marshmallow.
There is no permission for direct write access to sd card by default.
I had to format my SD card as a portable storage in order to migrate my photos and music. However, in that case, App data cannot be saved on the sd card. As an internal storage, the Apps can be saved on sd card but I could not migrate my photos and music. It is posdible that it has something to do with the Marshmallow security. I have also heard that such issue exists for 64 FB cards. I d be certain if one could try a 32 GB sd card.
Cheers
Kambiz983 said:
I had to format my SD card as a portable storage in order to migrate my photos and music. However, in that case, App data cannot be saved on the sd card. As an internal storage, the Apps can be saved on sd card but I could not migrate my photos and music. It is posdible that it has something to do with the Marshmallow security. I have also heard that such issue exists for 64 FB cards. I d be certain if one could try a 32 GB sd card.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the same reason Azal3a mentioned above, that's the way it works.
Sent using XDA-Developers Mobile App
I have exactly the same issue with my 128gb Samsung Evo card, but I also tried SanDisk 32gb and this didn't work
AZAL3A said:
It's due to the security features of Marshmallow.
There is no permission for direct write access to sd card by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But is there a solution? How do you actually make it work?
When you format the SD as "internal storage" you don't have a SD anymore, it's all one big storage space.
If you format the SD normal, then the photo and video app (and other apps like maps) might let you save on the SD - will be inside each app settings. But the apps cannot be moved on SD.
My experience with it is same as above. If you format it as internal it makes it added as virtual drive space. Kinda like adding an external drive to an Xbox. It make it virtual hard drive. Formating at removable makes it slower but an be used as raw storage standalone and removable.
SoNic67 said:
When you format the SD as "internal storage" you don't have a SD anymore, it's all one big storage space.
If you format the SD normal, then the photo and video app (and other apps like maps) might let you save on the SD - will be inside each app settings. But the apps cannot be moved on SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, this has been discussed dozens of times on XDA going back to the Moto G3. Even with it used as internal, there is actually very little space it will save you when you discount system apps and the apps that developers block from installing to the SD.
Actually people don't realize that they need a premium SD to even come close of the speed that internal storage has. They buy crappy SD from eBay and expect to launch apps from that... ridiculous. That's why MM imposed those restrictions.
To be used as adopted storage, the SD needs to be at least "UHS I, class 3", with 90MB/s read and write speeds.
Thanks for the useless reply. While it is true that performance will be better with faster cards there's no definite reason other cards should not be able to be used and your reply does nothing to address the original posters question. Has anyone found a solution or shall I look into wiping my phone and installing ubuntu?
Kambiz983 said:
Hi everyone,
I just bought a Micro SD evo+ (Samsung 64 GB) for my moto G plus. I formatted it as an internal storage. I moved few of my apps. However, I dont know how to move music and photos. There is no option for that. In the SD card menu, when I click on migrate data, it says "There was an error in estimating the data to be moved".
I was wondering if anyone can help me please.
Kind regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try clearing cache and then migrate.

Moto E4 (Verizon) [xt1767] Move Apps to SD without root

This phone has no root and likely never will.
Is there anyway to move apps to the sdcard without formatting to internal (adopted storage)?
I don't want to do that because It encrypts the card and im fearful if the phone was ever damaged I'd never be able to pull the card and recover anything.
At the very least is there a way to shuffle off the OBB files to the sdcard without root?
Bonus question: is there a fix for this if root was possible?
Raztan said:
This phone has no root and likely never will.
Is there anyway to move apps to the sdcard without formatting to internal (adopted storage)?
I don't want to do that because It encrypts the card and im fearful if the phone was ever damaged I'd never be able to pull the card and recover anything.
At the very least is there a way to shuffle off the OBB files to the sdcard without root?
Bonus question: is there a fix for this if root was possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I'm aware of. But you could do a hybrid sd card to put apps on the adopted partition, and keep your photos/music/other stuff on a standard unencrypted partition.
dandrumheller said:
Not that I'm aware of. But you could do a hybrid sd card to put apps on the adopted partition, and keep your photos/music/other stuff on a standard unencrypted partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Genius, That sounds like a workable solution.
So do I need to format the card in any special way or can I just repartition the card in half and android will see both partitions?
Raztan said:
Genius, That sounds like a workable solution.
So do I need to format the card in any special way or can I just repartition the card in half and android will see both partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the guide I followed:
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html?m=1
I got yelled at over on Reddit for suggesting this for to the potential for killing your SD card (as they're not 'designed' for this much read write action). That may be true. I've been running this way with no issues for over a year. YMMV.
dandrumheller said:
Here's the guide I followed:
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html?m=1
I got yelled at over on Reddit for suggesting this for to the potential for killing your SD card (as they're not 'designed' for this much read write action). That may be true. I've been running this way with no issues for over a year. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been following a similar dual partition practice on a rooted Android 5.x device using symbolic links to migrate apps to the ext4 formatted partition while retaining a larger FAT32 partition for general use. I used the free version of Partition Wizard on Windows to format the SD card to my liking. To date no issues with card endurance.
I never considered this approach for adoptable storage until seeing your post! Very interested in trying this on on an unrooted Android 6 device that's getting a little snug on internal storage. I'll post outcomes if they differ from your findings.
Thanks again for sharing!
Confirm, Works on Verizon Moto E4
I tried to be clever about it and repartitioned with Gparted, Then aligned the fat under linux mint.
I popped the SDcard back in teh phone and it detected 2 SDcards.. great I thought.. I went into the smaller partition 48gb / 10gb
Hit internal memory format.. to my horror it took over the entire card..
I tried the guide and it worked fine, although you're sort of at it's mercy on how it formats.. it's a fairly simple procedure.
I am somewhat confused though after I did it before I moved anything to the card it says 5.5gb of space is being taken by "system" on the internal portion of the sdcard, It says total internal memory is 32gb but actually it should be more like 26gb (16 onboard + 10gb sdcard)
Im seriously confused on how to tell what files are stored on the sdcard and what's stored on the onboard memory.. it shows them separate under "storage" but ES explorer just shows the 48gb fat partition and the 10gb.. does not seem to be able to separate the internal and the sdcard, but it shows total space as 10gb so something really wrong there.
Maybe cause Im using a old version of ES before it went to hell.. 4.0.3 I think.
Im not sure now when I select sdcard if im getting the 48gb portion the SDCard or the 10gb "adopted storage" sdcard..
Very confusing.
EDIT: Ok I think I see what's going on.
The 10gb Im seeing is actual internal memory.. So it does not appear I can access the 10gb I set aside on the sdcard at all.. is that how it's suppose to work?
I installed a few large games, If I go into storage and click on the 10GB partition it says each game is saving about 50mb out of about 700mb /ea on the card.. whoa what a savings, I don't what that 50mb is but it sure ain't the huge ass obb file sitting in internal memory.
If I go into the app's data storage list it says it's storing to the adopted 10gb but obviously that's a lie since only a fraction is actually making it to the card...
if this is the best I can hope for out of adopted storage I'd be better off just going full portable.
Am I missing something?
Raztan said:
Confirm, Works on Verizon Moto E4
I tried to be clever about it and repartitioned with Gparted, Then aligned the fat under linux mint.
I popped the SDcard back in teh phone and it detected 2 SDcards.. great I thought.. I went into the smaller partition 48gb / 10gb
Hit internal memory format.. to my horror it took over the entire card..
I tried the guide and it worked fine, although you're sort of at it's mercy on how it formats.. it's a fairly simple procedure.
I am somewhat confused though after I did it before I moved anything to the card it says 5.5gb of space is being taken by "system" on the internal portion of the sdcard, It says total internal memory is 32gb but actually it should be more like 26gb (16 onboard + 10gb sdcard)
Im seriously confused on how to tell what files are stored on the sdcard and what's stored on the onboard memory.. it shows them separate under "storage" but ES explorer just shows the 48gb fat partition and the 10gb.. does not seem to be able to separate the internal and the sdcard, but it shows total space as 10gb so something really wrong there.
Maybe cause Im using a old version of ES before it went to hell.. 4.0.3 I think.
Im not sure now when I select sdcard if im getting the 48gb portion the SDCard or the 10gb "adopted storage" sdcard..
Very confusing.
EDIT: Ok I think I see what's going on.
The 10gb Im seeing is actual internal memory.. So it does not appear I can access the 10gb I set aside on the sdcard at all.. is that how it's suppose to work?
I installed a few large games, If I go into storage and click on the 10GB partition it says each game is saving about 50mb out of about 700mb /ea on the card.. whoa what a savings, I don't what that 50mb is but it sure ain't the huge ass obb file sitting in internal memory.
If I go into the app's data storage list it says it's storing to the adopted 10gb but obviously that's a lie since only a fraction is actually making it to the card...
if this is the best I can hope for out of adopted storage I'd be better off just going full portable.
Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what the method is for determining where a specific app lands when installed. Maybe up to the developer? But going into settings > storage shows me what's below. Drill down to the apps section, and you can manually choose what storage you want for each app.
This is my setup with a 128gb card with 32gb used as adopted storage.
Your's looks similar to mine.
Are you able to actually access the adopted storage partition... browse for files? see I can't.. I can see internal storage and the public portion of the sdcard..
The adopted storage is not accessible via file manager.
It does not look like it will switch over once internal is full either.. I filled up the internal memory and then tried to install a app and it is telling me im out of space.
If this is the the way adopted storage is suppose to work it's fairly useless imo.
Raztan said:
Your's looks similar to mine.
Are you able to actually access the adopted storage partition... browse for files? see I can't.. I can see internal storage and the public portion of the sdcard..
The adopted storage is not accessible via file manager.
It does not look like it will switch over once internal is full either.. I filled up the internal memory and then tried to install a app and it is telling me im out of space.
If this is the the way adopted storage is suppose to work it's fairly useless imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not aware of any file manager that can see the adopted storage. Haven't filled up internal to know if it will "spill over".
Some apps cannot be moved to adopted. Some install there by default.
My use case is to dump my low use or less resource demanding apps to the adopted storage, freeing internal faster storage for high use apps.
It's certainly not an ideal solution, but it at least provides an option for reducing limited internal storage...
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Raztan said:
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NVM, forgot you said no root. My apologies
Raztan said:
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I messed around with this for a bit. Was able to partition the card to my liking using the simple sm command outlined in this post (manual method). Much easier and more understandable than the previously linked approach IMO. Installed and moved a few things; everything worked as expected although the feedback from Google's storage panel is less than reassuring. They really want to make the process transparent and in doing so dilute the detail that enthusiasts appreciate.
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
There are random posts mentioning lost of home screen icons on reboots and other 'weirdness' when using adopted storage. I didn't experience any of that but also didn't spend much time testing.
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't worth the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Davey126 said:
I messed around with this for a bit. Was able to partition the card to my liking using the simple sm command outlined in this post (manual method). Much easier and more understandable than the previously linked approach IMO. Installed and moved a few things; everything worked as expected although the feedback from Google's storage panel is less than reassuring. They really want to make the process transparent and in doing so dilute the detail that enthusiasts appreciate.
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
There are random posts mentioning lost of home screen icons on reboots and other 'weirdness' when using adopted storage. I didn't experience any of that but also didn't spend much time testing.
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't work the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any icons on home screens for apps that are in adopted storage will vanish after reboot until the device has time to re read adopted storage. Size and speed of card, and amount of data there all impact this. Pretty sure widgets are unavailable to apps on adopted storage as well.
It pretty much works about the same as the old apps2sd / link2sd options that we had to use back in the days of tiny on device storage sizes.
dandrumheller said:
Any icons on home screens for apps that are in adopted storage will vanish after reboot until the device has time to re read adopted storage. Size and speed of card, and amount of data there all impact this. Pretty sure widgets are unavailable to apps on adopted storage as well.
It pretty much works about the same as the old apps2sd / link2sd options that we had to use back in the days of tiny on device storage sizes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used symbolic linking (Apps2SD/Link2SD/etc) for sometime on rooted devices and never ran into such issues. I am also able to migrate apps and all associated data w/o limitation.
As you pointed out hardware/card speed and quantity of data likely are likely factors when using adopted storage. There is less setup and boot verification with symbolic linking; much of that takes place before the device is ready for user input. It's not a perfect solution as the mount scripts sometimes get borked and have to be rebuilt but supervisory apps detect/correct that with minimal intervention.
The biggest benefit of adoptable storage is it can be used on stock/unrooted devices. It's also relatively transparent for noobs. Beyond that it's more of a PiTA IMHO.
Davey126 said:
I have used symbolic linking (Apps2SD/Link2SD/etc) for sometime on rooted devices and never ran into such issues. I am also able to migrate apps and all associated data w/o limitation.
As you pointed out hardware/card speed and quantity of data likely are likely factors when using adopted storage. There is less setup and boot verification with symbolic linking; much of that takes place before the device is ready for user input. It's not a perfect solution as the mount scripts sometimes get borked and have to be rebuilt but supervisory apps detect/correct that with minimal intervention.
The biggest benefit of adoptable storage is it can be used on stock/unrooted devices. It's also relatively transparent for noobs. Beyond that it's more of a PiTA IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a long time since I've played with symbolic linking. At the time it felt pretty cumbersome to me, relative to my current experience with adopted storage. Definitely less user control and fine tuning with adopted though. Also, as you mention, no root required.
Davey126 said:
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya that sucks, It wouldn't be so bad if it would just move the largest chunk of an app over which on games is the OBB file(s)
Im sure google thinks this is better than the old move to sdcard option but imo they took a big step back.
I read their reasoning is how "wild west" the sdcard access was.. ya well if they're so worried about security maybe crack down on the overly abusive permissions on apps.. you can control some access, but some permissions they just treat like it's no big deal.
I guess google knows best right? /sarcasm.
Davey126 said:
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't work the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya that's where Im at, Im just gonna be real selective about what I install, with only 16gb's about 5 of which is the system (that's crazy imo that android needs that much space) leaving only around 10-11gb of user space a few large games can really eat it up on top of cache, and other apps.
I think GTA SA for example takes like 2-3 gb (iirc, been a while)
madbat99 said:
NVM, forgot you said no root. My apologies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, Im also interested in root solutions it won't help me on this phone but it would be good to know what other options are out there..
Next phone has to have root.. no two ways about it.
Raztan said:
Ya that sucks, It wouldn't be so bad if it would just move the largest chunk of an app over which on games is the OBB file(s)
Im sure google thinks this is better than the old move to sdcard option but imo they took a big step back.
I read their reasoning is how "wild west" the sdcard access was.. ya well if they're so worried about security maybe crack down on the overly abusive permissions on apps.. you can control some access, but some permissions they just treat like it's no big deal.
I guess google knows best right? /sarcasm.
Ya that's where Im at, Im just gonna be real selective about what I install, with only 16gb's about 5 of which is the system (that's crazy imo that android needs that much space) leaving only around 10-11gb of user space a few large games can really eat it up on top of cache, and other apps.
I think GTA SA for example takes like 2-3 gb (iirc, been a while)
Not at all, Im also interested in root solutions it won't help me on this phone but it would be good to know what other options are out there..
Next phone has to have root.. no two ways about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to say the Xposed module obb on SD looks promising. But then I remembered that no root was mentioned.
https://labs.xda-developers.com/store/xposed/com.smartmadsoft.xposed.obbonsd
madbat99 said:
I was going to say the Xposed module obb on SD looks promising.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Raztan said:
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great on my moto e4 sprint (virgin mobile). And rovo89 just updated it for Oreo (beta of course), so it should be good. I'm using it with greenify, amplify, and gravitybox.
Raztan said:
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Outdated info; works fine on Marshmallow, Nougat and (very soon) Oreo.

Huawei P10 Lite - Expanding Internal Memory

Just bought a Huawei P10 Lite, was mainly looking for an Android 7.0 phone due to the newish Android feature of using an SD card to extend the internal memory and the P10 Lite seemed the most feature-rich phone at the price point.
To my horror there doesnt seem to be an option in the Memory & Storage options to configure the SD card as internal storage. I searched online but nothing about this phone and extending the internal storage which seems odd as I thought it was a popular phone. I noticed a post regarding the P8 where a user stated Huawei hadn't included this Android feature (seems bizarre) and they gave instructions on how to root the device and do something strange to it.
Surprised no one talking about it!
There's definitely an option to use the SD card as your main storage device in storage section as I used it before. What firmware is your on right now? It worked fine for me on my WAS-LX1AC185B172
If 32 gigabytes is not enough for you, then i don't know how much is enough. 128GB maybe?
Anyways, there is an option in "Memory & storage" called "Default location", which basically switches the internal storage for the SDcard. This is what you're looking for.
I think OP means adoptable storage - a feature introduced in Marshmallow. It merges your external and internal storage into one large pool. It, however, prevents the card from being portable. The card is formatted specifically to your device and I believe it'll cause problems with the device function if removed anyway.
I don't think Huawei supports it. I have only found the option to flip the default storage location. It may be available through some of the format options but I'm not too keen on risking it wiping my card if it doesn't give me a prompt if I was to test it.
It may be possible to force it through ADB commands. Not sure though.
Hi all yes specifically referring to adoptable storage.
I have set the SD card as "Default Storage" but in my experience it doesnt mean more than the system storing user data like photos and music on the SD card which is a no brainer really (why would a user even need to set this as an option?). Doesn't seem to be any info about what this actually does on this phone though. I can't even see an option to move Apps to the SD card on the P10 Lite but that was always a bizarre and tediously repetitive and half-hearted operation on my old Samsung S5, even if an App supported it, after an update it would just revert back to internal phone storage.
Many of my messaging apps have bloated databases that grow to over 1Gb in size after a couple of years let alone the bloatware of most apps in general. I notice that some messaging apps even keep media files inside the internal filesystem structure which ends up being the internal memory space. I would rather this was instead eating up cheap SD card space than the faster internal memory left for just the OS.
Considering that half of the phone storage is used up by the time you first turn it on, the adoptable storage funcationality introduced in Android Marshmallow is a gods send. Can't believe phone manufactures are trying to protect product placement with their 32GB and 64GB models to the extent of leaving out a flagship Android feature!
God data storage on Android is still a mess after all these years!
longreat said:
Hi all yes specifically referring to adoptable storage.
I have set the SD card as "Default Storage" but in my experience it doesnt mean more than the system storing user data like photos and music on the SD card which is a no brainer really (why would a user even need to set this as an option?). Doesn't seem to be any info about what this actually does on this phone though. I can't even see an option to move Apps to the SD card on the P10 Lite but that was always a bizarre and tediously repetitive and half-hearted operation on my old Samsung S5, even if an App supported it, after an update it would just revert back to internal phone storage.
Many of my messaging apps have bloated databases that grow to over 1Gb in size after a couple of years let alone the bloatware of most apps in general. I notice that some messaging apps even keep media files inside the internal filesystem structure which ends up being the internal memory space. I would rather this was instead eating up cheap SD card space than the faster internal memory left for just the OS.
Considering that half of the phone storage is used up by the time you first turn it on, the adoptable storage funcationality introduced in Android Marshmallow is a gods send. Can't believe phone manufactures are trying to protect product placement with their 32GB and 64GB models to the extent of leaving out a flagship Android feature!
God data storage on Android is still a mess after all these years!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card isn't as fast. That's one reason they don't want you to install apps onto it. It degrades the experience. And without an API of some sort it would be difficult to implement an app structure that split the data to place non-vital data on the card. Many devices don't have slots so it isn't an area developers give much thought.
If you use the format option, does it give you any option to select adoptable storage or is it just erase?
Otherwise I guess your best option is to try look for ADB commands or maybe even root.
Edit: I found an option to allow apps on external storage in developer settings if you scroll all the way to the bottom.
I used an SD card to store my Here we Go and Sygic maps when travelling.
Until I took a break from driving one day, connected an USB OTG cable with usb stick to the device and all my maps from the internal SD were gone.
From that day on I never install any data that is used by an app on the SD card. (and never had problems with it anymore)
Documents or music are no problem.
Spotify on P10 lite
Spotify in itself is using up most of my internal storage.
How can I move the songs from there to the SD card? If I can't then remind me never to buy a phone with less than 64GB internal memory next time.
The reviews all seemed too good to be true!!
chimneytops said:
Spotify in itself is using up most of my internal storage.
How can I move the songs from there to the SD card? If I can't then remind me never to buy a phone with less than 64GB internal memory next time.
The reviews all seemed too good to be true!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this
Spotify
Thanks but I do not see the Storage option in Spotify
chimneytops said:
Thanks but I do not see the Storage option in Spotify
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded the app to check and it's there. Found it immediately.
spotify
Under Other, I only see Delete Cache or Log Out.
I tried logging out and in again, but no difference.
So frustrating.
I cannot even send texts at the moment and I have already uninstalled loads of apps, complete disaster.
chimneytops said:
Under Other, I only see Delete Cache or Log Out.
I tried logging out and in again, but no difference.
So frustrating.
I cannot even send texts at the moment and I have already uninstalled loads of apps, complete disaster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to ask: you do have an SD card mounted, right?
Do you have the latest version of the Spotify app?
Do you have the latest ota update?
Have you tried clearing app data and cache?
Have you tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling?
However if you can't send texts then you have bigger problems. It may be related, it may not be.
Have you tried with another phone with the same sim? Have you tried a factory reset?
Did you try this???
Trixanity said:
I have to ask: you do have an SD card mounted, right?
Do you have the latest version of the Spotify app?
Do you have the latest ota update?
Have you tried clearing app data and cache?
Have you tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling?
However if you can't send texts then you have bigger problems. It may be related, it may not be.
Have you tried with another phone with the same sim? Have you tried a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, SD card mounted and storing photos on it.
I have uninstalled the app and downloaded it again. I still do not see the option to store the songs to the SD card though.
What is the ota update and how do I run it?
If I clear app data and the cache will I lose all the songs saved to date?
I have yet to download all the many songs again, so that has freed up loads of storage. So I can send texts again.
chimneytops said:
Yes, SD card mounted and storing photos on it.
I have uninstalled the app and downloaded it again. I still do not see the option to store the songs to the SD card though.
What is the ota update and how do I run it?
If I clear app data and the cache will I lose all the songs saved to date?
I have yet to download all the many songs again, so that has freed up loads of storage. So I can send texts again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA update just means the latest version/update for the phone. Check for system updates.
I can't guarantee what happens to your songs but I would assume that those are not stored locally if it's just a list (you did say you cleared some out to regain space). I would assume you'd be able to access the same list from any device as long as you are logged in. Otherwise that's pretty bad design considering their business model.
If you have very little space on your phone the system will start to get sluggish and if really low system functions will stop working.
Can you tell me the version number of the Spotify app? The reason I'm asking (besides making sure it's the same as the one I downloaded) is that I seem to recall Spotify cutting support for their old app and launching a new one to replace it.
But if you do have the new app, then either something's wrong with the compatibility of your phone/sd card/app or it's because you can't switch storage while data is stored (kinda like an initial setup) hence clearing app data could fix it.
If it's still not working I may have one last trick up my sleeve.
Trixanity said:
OTA update just means the latest version/update for the phone. Check for system updates.
I can't guarantee what happens to your songs but I would assume that those are not stored locally if it's just a list (you did say you cleared some out to regain space). I would assume you'd be able to access the same list from any device as long as you are logged in. Otherwise that's pretty bad design considering their business model.
If you have very little space on your phone the system will start to get sluggish and if really low system functions will stop working.
Can you tell me the version number of the Spotify app? The reason I'm asking (besides making sure it's the same as the one I downloaded) is that I seem to recall Spotify cutting support for their old app and launching a new one to replace it.
But if you do have the new app, then either something's wrong with the compatibility of your phone/sd card/app or it's because you can't switch storage while data is stored (kinda like an initial setup) hence clearing app data could fix it.
If it's still not working I may have one last trick up my sleeve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, the version I downloaded is 8.4.61.683 armV7
chimneytops said:
Hi, the version I downloaded is 8.4.61.683 armV7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same one I tested.
Try go into your app settings and make sure Spotify has the right permissions granted.
If it's still not working (also make sure you have plenty space on SD card) then clearing the data is probably the best solution. Apparently it deletes preferences and offline playlists (whatever that means). I'm not sure if it affects your playlists or if you can save them online so you can retrieve them later. Otherwise make a backup of: internal storage/Android/Data/com.spotify.music/ just in case.
Rebooting the phone can also sometimes help by the way.
Trixanity said:
That's the same one I tested.
Try go into your app settings and make sure Spotify has the right permissions granted.
If it's still not working (also make sure you have plenty space on SD card) then clearing the data is probably the best solution. Apparently it deletes preferences and offline playlists (whatever that means). I'm not sure if it affects your playlists or if you can save them online so you can retrieve them later. Otherwise make a backup of: internal storage/Android/Data/com.spotify.music/ just in case.
Rebooting the phone can also sometimes help by the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, what are the right permissions for Spotify in app settings?
chimneytops said:
Thanks, what are the right permissions for Spotify in app settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Storage access I guess. I don't think there's explicitly an SD card permission (at least not to my knowledge).
I also wondered if you had tried formatting the SD card?

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