Database Users

Apps on SD Card

I loved Stock Android around when KitKat was out, but I came to hate it when Lollipop came out. I decided to get the Moto X and try out Marshmallow, but I'm already running into problems with/hating Google's (and Motorola's) oversimplified features.
Usually when I get a phone a put in an SD card so I can store some apps and data on there, as well as music, pictures, files, etc. that has been on the card for years. I pop in the SD card to the 16 gig phone ready to move Spotify and some other apps to the card, but then I run into that whole "format as internal storage. It says that formatting it will wipe the card (obviously), but it also says once I do I will only be able to use the SD card with this device, and when I asked a friend for help, she said I wouldn't be able to transfer data from the card anymore either.
I started searching everywhere on the internet for a workaround, but I can't find anything. Is there any workaround with this? I'm already rooted and on a ROM so I'm open to any suggestions. If not I'm just going to sell the phone or downgrade to lollipop.

Which version of twrp are you using ?
You need to make sure you have this version of twrp.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3200520
Prior to this version, twrp was broke in regards to the new adaptable storage that came in Android M, then finally a few weeks ago, 3.0.0 came out, fixed that, and also a few other things. I can not use the combined/adaptable storage feature in Marshmallow like it was intended. To be honest, it was the major reason I got this phone and bought the 16gb version. Its all good now tho.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Sheetzie03 said:
Which version of twrp are you using ?
You need to make sure you have this version of twrp.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3200520
Prior to this version, twrp was broke in regards to the new adaptable storage that came in Android M, then finally a few weeks ago, 3.0.0 came out, fixed that, and also a few other things. I can not use the combined/adaptable storage feature in Marshmallow like it was intended. To be honest, it was the major reason I got this phone and bought the 16gb version. Its all good now tho.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have 3.0.0 installed on my phone, should I reinstall it or install 3.0.1?

coolwiththecool2 said:
Yeah I have 3.0.0 installed on my phone, should I reinstall it or install 3.0.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain what the problem is again? Starting with twrp 3.0 , adaptable storage should work as its suppose to.
And yeah I just seen 3.0.1 is out I'm thinking just flashing the .IMG will work, I used flashify
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Sheetzie03 said:
Can you explain what the problem is again? Starting with twrp 3.0 , adaptable storage should work as its suppose to.
And yeah I just seen 3.0.1 is out I'm thinking just flashing the .IMG will work, I used flashify
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is Marshmallow wants me to format my SD card as internal storage just to store apps on it, and I am trying to find a way to store apps on there without formating it, as I've been doing with all previous Android versions.

I don't get why you wouldn't want to use the adaptable storage option. What's wrong with backing ur sd up to pc, format as internal(adaptable storage? , and then copy back from pc. If I'm missing something, my bad.
Otherwise,
Pretty sure there isn't way to do what you want on 6.0... But again, I don't know what you are actually losing out on other than having to back the card 1st, format, and copy back. A small hassle
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Sheetzie03 said:
I don't get why you wouldn't want to use the adaptable storage option. What's wrong with backing ur sd up to pc, format as internal(adaptable storage? , and then copy back from pc. If I'm missing something, my bad.
Otherwise,
Pretty sure there isn't way to do what you want on 6.0... But again, I don't know what you are actually losing out on other than having to back the card 1st, format, and copy back. A small hassle
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to use the adaptable storage because I will only be able to use the SD card with this phone and I won't be able to transfer data from it either.
This is a problem because I currently use the SD card between two phones, as a makeshift flash drive, and as storage for my DSLR so I can edit photos with my phone.

I went through this whole ordeal myself recently.
You can't have it both ways. I chose to format my card as portable storage so it will remain readable in any card reader. The draw back is apps can't be stored on it, nor most app data.
To work around this i'm making every app a system app. This will alleviate some of the burden of the internal storage. Some apps will just not work as system apps. I think swype is one example.
Some apps will require their .lib to be placed in the appropriate lib folder under system (lib or lib64 for 64bit binaries). Google maps and hangouts are two examples that come to mind. You'll know if you need this if the app crashes when starting.
The ideal solution is to have a phone with at least 32GB storage or more. This becomes a non issue then.

Yeah, Motorola removed the Move to SD card feature in favor of "the richer experience natively provided by Android."
I think you can use TWRP "Partition SD Card" to create 2 partitions on the SD, though... a FAT32 partition to share with your other devices and an EXT4 partition that you can use to store apps. You'll need an android app like Mounts2SD to copy apps to/from the external storage.
The other option is to downgrade to 5.1.1 or use a 6.0 ROM that still has the old Move to SD card feature. I'm not sure if there are any, though.

gpz1100 said:
I went through this whole ordeal myself recently.
You can't have it both ways. I chose to format my card as portable storage so it will remain readable in any card reader. The draw back is apps can't be stored on it, nor most app data.
To work around this i'm making every app a system app. This will alleviate some of the burden of the internal storage. Some apps will just not work as system apps. I think swype is one example.
Some apps will require their .lib to be placed in the appropriate lib folder under system (lib or lib64 for 64bit binaries). Google maps and hangouts are two examples that come to mind. You'll know if you need this if the app crashes when starting.
The ideal solution is to have a phone with at least 32GB storage or more. This becomes a non issue then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To the op Sorry man, I didn't really know all this. But this post seems to explain it pretty well. Looks like you may have to sell or downgrade. That sucks.
As far as this specific post is concerned, I'm trying to follow my best. As you said, best would be to buy at least at 32gb well some, including me have already bought a 16gb, unfortunately. Personally, iv chose to use adaptable now that twrp 3.0 is out. When i Install apps, wherever they go is where they go. After seeing this thread, I'm thinking maybe there is way to do things a different way to save some space. I went ahead and went into apps and tried moving Spotify from internal to SD card. but after I did this, I noticed every time I close the app it signs me out lol wth... that's a problem. I didn't know why it was doing that. Is this an example of an app not being able to run correctly on the SD rather than internal? Also, i tried moving maps from internal to sd, seemed to be running fine, but shortly after, i noticed on a reboot, it somehow uninstsalls. Its gone as if i uninstalled it manually but i obv did not. Like what? How is this even possible. I wanted to give you a few examples of what i tried and what was happening. But I asked myself why am I even doing this, is it to save space? If it is, that's fine.
But yeah man, it seems you know more than me about this , that's safe to say. But based on what iv written here, can you give me some advice on things to do if I'm using the adaptable storage option. Should I be moving apps? Why? Which ones? Or just leave things as is? Again i have a 16gb model with a 32gb card running adaptable storage. If there are ways to save space by moving apps certain places I'm fine with that. I'd just like to get your opinion on what exactly I should be doing based on the model I have, size card, and running adaptable storage. Hey sorry too bother you about this. I had noticed you replied to the op of this topic and you know what you are talking about.
And to the op, sorry if iv hijacked your post man.
Peace
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

gpz1100 said:
<snip>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I should have gotten the 32gb version, although it's kind of my fault because I already had a negative opinion of post-kitkat stock Android yet I got the device anyways. Maybe I can resell the device on swappa and get a 32gb version instead of buying a new one, mainly because the only two phones of the 2015 generation I have interest in is the Moto X Pure and the One M9. Worst case scenario is settling for Samsung (as oneplus said, never settle)
To make matters worst, I temporarily moved all the data to my computer and formated the SD card as internal as a test, only to find out the two apps I put on there don't want to act properly because the SD card is too slow (which is why the feature shouldn't even be here in the first place).
divinemyth99 said:
<snip>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I do do one of those options it would most likely be the second one because last time I messed with partitions on an SD card I, somehow, bricked the phone. I could look for a tutorial somewhere, but this phone's XDA forums is relatively quiet compared to other phones I've had (especially Android development).

@Sheetzie03, I can't help you with adoptable space as it's not something I have much experience with. It could be spotify relies on other components which are not accessible when on the sd.

How to fix Samsung Galaxy On7 storage problem?

Hello, i'm new to the forums so i apologize if i shouldn't be posting this here, but i need help.
I have a Samsung Galaxy On7 with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1. I was happy with the phone and liked everything it had to offer me, except for one critical flaw that is driving me nuts: IT'S STORAGE.
I started downloading my apps so i could transfer them to my 16Gb SD card, which i happily bought for the purpose of this new phone... But little did i know that simple storaging concept changed with Android Marshmallow (before this phone i've only used Lollipop and KitKat). Apps weren't automatically being placed in the SD card. Fine, i could move them myself anyway, right? But it only transferred about 10 or 15 Mbs... Useless. My phone was struggling after installing WhatsApp and Messenger just because i couldn't move them from the phone storage, and 5 out of 8 Gbs of phone storage were occupied by bloatware. I could just root it and delete those, but i use more than 8 Gbs anyway so i considered that option meaningless.
I naturally did research on what options i had to fix this. Tutorials listed an option which "merges" your SD card and use it as internal storage. Now God knows why Samsung decided to get rid of that option, i simply don't have it.
I figured i could install a Nougat ROM but i never installed a ROM before, and the fact that i have a Samsung might mean the problem still persists after that, so maybe i could just downgrade to Lollipop and problem solved. I just need to hear from someone it's going to work before trying it myself.
If there are more options i'd be more than happy to listen to them, i'm at the point where i can't update apps anymore, while i have 16 Gigs unused...

that's the sad thing about this device. it's internal storage is not much and it got some bloatware. I just stayed on minimal user installed apps. Also moving an app to sd card is reducing the apps performance.

Actually there's a solution for the merging SD storage with Internal storage problem. Although Samsung has disabled it there's a patch here in the Forum to bypass that.
Here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/patch-adoptable-storage-enabler-t3460478
I used it on mine and worked just fine.
One more thing. I actually opted for two solutions: (1) root and uninstall bloatware and (2) apply the patch through TWRP and merge the storages.
Good luck.

Kyrohn said:
Actually there's a solution for the merging SD storage with Internal storage problem. Although Samsung has disabled it there's a patch here in the Forum to bypass that.
Here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/patch-adoptable-storage-enabler-t3460478
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I highly recommend not doing it. I have rooted my Samsung on7 (G600FY) only to use this resource but it didn't work.
I could install the patch through TWRP but there were no options on Settings -> Storage -> Format SD as Internal. Only Portable Format was available. Then, after some searches I could do it with Root Essentials App, it did the trick but still all my apps were getting installed in the internal memory (even I did migration to SD), also it kept showing Full Storage messages like before (even tough there was more than 29gb free after the "merge").
Back to 0.

So is this topic is useless? It doesnt work?
If everyone tried and it still failed, why not closing this topic?

I was having same problem with this device. But now I have fixed it!
Before storage was 97% and I have only 2 apps: Mozilla FireFox and Samsung Max VPN.
And my all other apps and games were in SD card.
But now I have 88% storage (just reduced a good amount)
Its simple just open Settings > Applications > Applications Manager
Now pick those apps which you don't use them anymore. Like Chrome, Google Photos, Samsung Internet, GDrive, etc.
Select on those app and click on 3 dot > select "Uninstall Updates".
When you do this, the app will be uninstalled and replaced by factory version of app which is lower in size.
Just do these to apps like GDrive, GPhotos because you can access them on web too.

SD card as internal storage - adoptable storage on Samsung galaxy J530f ?

Hi, is there a specific ROM I can use, which enables me to use SD card as internal memory on my Samsung J530f on Android 9.0 preferably? I tried just one custom ROM and rooted the phone with Magix and and downloaded Root Essentials as well, but this is not working. I am looking for a working solution, not for a guess, how it might work... I tried the "maybe" options, now looking for a verified solution... Thanks!

Laxius777 said:
Hi, is there a specific ROM I can use, which enables me to use SD card as internal memory on my Samsung J530f on Android 9.0 preferably? I tried just one custom ROM and rooted the phone with Magix and and downloaded Root Essentials as well, but this is not working. I am looking for a working solution, not for a guess, how it might work... I tried the "maybe" options, now looking for a verified solution... Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't prefer you to do that
Bc which speed your internal storage has is more than any sd card that you use!
This way works for older j5(such j5 2015 that have 15mb/s but i buy sd card with 35mb/s and set it as internal)you can measure your speed by specific apps
And about your problem
Most of aosp pie and oreo roms have this by default,just Google it
or if you use tw rom you can ask your dev to provide this for you(sorry l have different model so i don't have that)

Well
Speed is not an issue. Problem is, that currently i have to move every application manually to sd card, which after update moves back to internal memory. I leave for a week to mountains and am not on wifi and after my return 20apps needs to be updated. I update one, than jave to move it to sdcard as there is no space to upgrade the rest. Now imagine updating 20apps with manual intervention every fcking day. So of dourse i rather sacrifice speed and invest in a fast sd card than manually update very app every time. I was expecting someone to let me know a difect working rom, instead of googling, as on xda i was not able to find a suitable one.

Laxius777 said:
Speed is not an issue. Problem is, that currently i have to move every application manually to sd card, which after update moves back to internal memory. I leave for a week to mountains and am not on wifi and after my return 20apps needs to be updated. I update one, than jave to move it to sdcard as there is no space to upgrade the rest. Now imagine updating 20apps with manual intervention every fcking day. So of dourse i rather sacrifice speed and invest in a fast sd card than manually update very app every time. I was expecting someone to let me know a difect working rom, instead of googling, as on xda i was not able to find a suitable one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every Oreo and pie rom has it. If you want a 7.1.1 stock rom port there is also an adoptable storage patch enabler zip.
So basically any rom from nougat upwards has it.

Is it possible to transfer or install apps directly on SD card Tab A7 SM-T500

So basically i just got this tablet i think is a nice device however compared to other android tablets i have used this one is blocking me too move apps to SD card is very frustrating since is just 32gb internal storage, i have googled a lot but have not find a possible workaround for this.
So appreciate if anyone knows what can i try?

jimmzo said:
So basically i just got this tablet i think is a nice device however compared to other android tablets i have used this one is blocking me too move apps to SD card is very frustrating since is just 32gb internal storage, i have googled a lot but have not find a possible workaround for this.
So appreciate if anyone knows what can i try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks not so good:
new galaxy TAB A7 10.4 Cannot Move APPA to SD card as in previous models
BEWARE you cannot move any APPs over to the external SD card, I have a 64GB internal which is large. If you get a smaller internal and download may APPs you coud be out of gas with nowhere to go. Samsung claims it is a copyright problem. However how come all of a sudden its a problem when...
us.community.samsung.com
Maybe if rooted there is a way to move some apps to external storage
Have a look here:
[Guide][SM-T500/T505] Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 - Unlock Bootloader & Root with Magisk
I recently purchased the Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (released in 2020) and couldn't help but notice that there's no dedicated thread in the forums for unlocking the bootloader or rooting (Although, the method should be very similar to what is followed...
forum.xda-developers.com
This user says that it should also work on a stock unrooted device too.

Make phone rooted, but never can use banking app

Hi Everyone,
I need your kind advice.
My Redmi Note 7 has 64GB internal storage. Half of it is in use/busy. Google storage is 54GB 22GB of it is in use/busy. Google doesn't allow to update apps saying that there's not enough space... My phone's performance can't be optimized better than 97%.
I bought an SD card storage of 256GB. Then I am disappointed. Obviously not the photos, videos, and music of 5GB the problem is. I thought that I could transfer apps to SD, but I was wrong. I don't know what to do now. Should I root my phone I could get huge storage. Problem is that banking apps cannot be used on rooted phones. I can get a great phone, but I guess no more system security patches and can't use banking app.
What the *** should I do? And how?
Actually, I certainly have to do something, because my phone freezes very often.
I need your advice, please.
Thanks.

just backup everything online and reset it first

Roizoulou said:
just backup everything online and reset it first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but the only one cell I have rooted was a KitKat 4.4.2 Navon Mizu D402. It was over 3 years.
I don't know what back up exactly means -- is it possible to use the phone as not rooted one day?
When the phone is rooted is there an app that is able to hide root from banking apps?
Link2SD and there were a lot of apps that were necessary to use SD card as internal storage.
Actually, I haven't got a clue how to root the phone, which app works on mine and what about system security patches.
So, I'm a totally novice now.

Hello you can move apps to sd card by formatting your sd card as internal storage (check youtube) but I wont recommend bcz sd card are slow than internal storage and can make your apps perform slow. If u want to root than magisk already have a way to make banking apps work using magisk hide. U just need a bit of research to understand this things. Things in rooting changed a lot after kitkat and its much better now.

Nikkka said:
Hi Everyone,
I need your kind advice.
My Redmi Note 7 has 64GB internal storage. Half of it is in use/busy. Google storage is 54GB 22GB of it is in use/busy. Google doesn't allow to update apps saying that there's not enough space... My phone's performance can't be optimized better than 97%.
I bought an SD card storage of 256GB. Then I am disappointed. Obviously not the photos, videos, and music of 5GB the problem is. I thought that I could transfer apps to SD, but I was wrong. I don't know what to do now. Should I root my phone I could get huge storage. Problem is that banking apps cannot be used on rooted phones. I can get a great phone, but I guess no more system security patches and can't use banking app.
What the *** should I do? And how?
Actually, I certainly have to do something, because my phone freezes very often.
I need your advice, please.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just keep apps on internal and media on external, how u got your 64gb filled with only apps? Banking apps can be easily used after rooting. System security patches are faster with custom roms than miui.