Low internal storage on phone

degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
Forum Member
Hi,
Just recieved a warning on my phone that the internal storage is low and I should move apps over to the SD card.

I've looked through the apps and many are on the SD card and the others where it says "Move to SD Card" the button is blanked out.

Is there a way to get these apps transferred?

Samsung Galaxy Y (Androin version 2.3.6)
It says there is only 16mb left on the internal storage - 173mb used.
I have 16gb available on the SD Card so have no problem at all in moving everything possible over.

Cheers :)

Comments

  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    Where there is a limit on internal memory, there's not a lot you can do. Even those where move to SD card is allowed, some space is still taken up on the internal memory.
    Try App2SD, this will identify all the ones that can be moved and clear any cache that apps use that will free up some more memory.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    Cheers. Looked into that app. Seems straight forward at first look but a lot more complicated when you look into it.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    you can potentially move apps that are not designed to run from SD card if you root your phone and then use something like Titanium backup. However there are limitations doing that.

    Your best bet is to clear down cache and remove any unused programs and see how that goes.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    I've deleted most downloaded apps. I've deleted messages/conversations and moved my contacts to the SD card.

    Everytime I delete something the next day the message pops up again. There's not much else on there to delete.
  • Virtual PaulVirtual Paul Posts: 4,655
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    Good to see there are some workarounds but as someone looking to replace my dumb phone, iPod classic 120gb and ageing sat nav with a smartphone, the current poor built in storage and only partial availability of microSD expansion, with 64gb the current limit on those, I feel things aren't quite ready for me to consider splashing out hundreds of notes on half baked offerings.

    64gb at only a slight premium with ability to extend further if needed should be the minimum on all top of the range phones, though maybe they expect us to stream rather than load decent quality video and music onto them so we are at the mercy of their network and fees.

    Hopefully they'll get their acts together with new models this year. Wishful thinking I know.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    Good to see there are some workarounds but as someone looking to replace my dumb phone, iPod classic 120gb and ageing sat nav with a smartphone, the current poor built in storage and only partial availability of microSD expansion, with 64gb the current limit on those, I feel things aren't quite ready for me to consider splashing out hundreds of notes on half baked offerings.

    64gb at only a slight premium with ability to extend further if needed should be the minimum on all top of the range phones, though maybe they expect us to stream rather than load decent quality video and music onto them so we are at the mercy of their network and fees.

    Hopefully they'll get their acts together with new models this year. Wishful thinking I know.

    I think you are getting confused between storage for media and system storage.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    degsyhufc wrote: »
    I've deleted most downloaded apps. I've deleted messages/conversations and moved my contacts to the SD card.

    Everytime I delete something the next day the message pops up again. There's not much else on there to delete.

    If you go into settings -> apps -> all then press the menu button, you should be able to sort by size. You may find items such as mail and maps using a lot of system memory for cache.

    Jellybean handles memory a lot better.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    degsyhufc wrote: »
    I've deleted most downloaded apps. I've deleted messages/conversations and moved my contacts to the SD card.

    Everytime I delete something the next day the message pops up again. There's not much else on there to delete.
    Probably the cache regrowing.
    All you can do is delete unwanted apps or look at alternative ROMs (which may or may not require root).
  • Virtual PaulVirtual Paul Posts: 4,655
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    c4rv wrote: »
    I think you are getting confused between storage for media and system storage.

    Maybe. From what I understand, if there's no additional storage facility such as microSD then it's a moot point.

    Jo Public shouldn't need to have to faff about freeing up a few gigs in this day and age. Should be plenty of storage internally for apps or media so we can have one device for everything.

    As it is they don't come across as particularly smart solutions. :D

    The Samsung Galaxy S3 looks to be one of the few current models compatible with 64gb microSD, and hopefully 128gb ones when they are available. Not sure if it will be too big though for front jeans pocket where I usually keep my phone. Will pop into town and check it out once I've seen what best deals are about in the sales.

    Would consider an iPhone if they allowed additional storage or the top model at 64gb wasn't so expensive compared to the base model. :rolleyes:
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    Maybe. From what I understand, if there's no additional storage facility such as microSD then it's a moot point.

    Jo Public shouldn't need to have to faff about freeing up a few gigs in this day and age. Should be plenty of storage internally for apps or media so we can have one device for everything.

    As it is they don't come across as particularly smart solutions. :D
    The issue with running out of system memory is pretty much resolved on newer phones and jelly bean. Its the cheap phones running v2.x that are the ones that continue to suffer from memory storage problems.

    The Samsung Galaxy S3 looks to be one of the few current models compatible with 64gb microSD, and hopefully 128gb ones when they are available. Not sure if it will be too big though for front jeans pocket where I usually keep my phone. Will pop into town and check it out once I've seen what best deals are about in the sales.

    Would consider an iPhone if they allowed additional storage or the top model at 64gb wasn't so expensive compared to the base model. :rolleyes:

    Keep up with the times, on board storage is old hat don't know ;) Cloud storage is the future. And why would you need 128GB of storage on your phone ?
  • Virtual PaulVirtual Paul Posts: 4,655
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    I could probably live with 64gb for all my music and videos on my iPod classic but would prefer plenty of spare capacity to not have to juggle content I only listen to or watch rarely.

    Would also have much more video on it with the bigger better screen, but better quality video also eats up storage space quicker.

    Don't quite trust the cloud yet as even if there was guaranteed network coverage the cloud providers have the ability to hold you to ransom by either charging monthly fees or being able to pull the plug or suffer reliability or poor performance issues.

    Prefer to be more in control of my stuff and the way flash card storage capacities have been increasing it feels phones with only 16gb of storage and no expansion capability are way behind what's feasible at a reasonable price.

    That iPhones and some Google Nexus phones don't have expansion ability makes me wonder if they are trying to force cloud based usage to control content and charge multiple fees for accessing the same content. Where did I put that tinfoil hat...
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    c4rv wrote: »
    And why would you need 128GB of storage on your phone ?

    To store 128GB worth of info :D
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
    Forum Member
    c4rv wrote: »
    If you go into settings -> apps -> all then press the menu button, you should be able to sort by size. You may find items such as mail and maps using a lot of system memory for cache.

    Jellybean handles memory a lot better.
    I've done that and the only big apps left are inbuilt. The three i've saved from downloading come to about 4mb in total.
    I ran though the aps and deleted the cache and it did free up some space. Maps was the main culprit.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
    Forum Member
    Maybe. From what I understand, if there's no additional storage facility such as microSD then it's a moot point.

    Jo Public shouldn't need to have to faff about freeing up a few gigs in this day and age. Should be plenty of storage internally for apps or media so we can have one device for everything.

    As it is they don't come across as particularly smart solutions. :D

    The Samsung Galaxy S3 looks to be one of the few current models compatible with 64gb microSD, and hopefully 128gb ones when they are available. Not sure if it will be too big though for front jeans pocket where I usually keep my phone. Will pop into town and check it out once I've seen what best deals are about in the sales.

    Would consider an iPhone if they allowed additional storage or the top model at 64gb wasn't so expensive compared to the base model. :rolleyes:
    The SD card is no problem. Got a 32gb card with a couple dozen albums, several standup vids, a couple of series and a few pics (although I tend to use the app to sync to an online album).
    Still got over 15gfb left on the card.
  • paddymcnpaddymcn Posts: 181
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    Do you keep old messages? A friend was having a similar problem with low memory and when I looked at her phone she had over 700 messages saved?
  • daclickdaclick Posts: 3,393
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    Clear the caches for the apps for a quick fix
  • gttgtt Posts: 201
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    If you are on Android, look for an app called "Google Play Services". In the last couple of weeks this has just started auto downloading on to my HTC Desire, its 8 mb and takes up a huge chunk of my phone's internal memory and triggers a "low memory" warning. It can't be moved to SD card.

    If you find it, uninstall it, it has no effect on the phone. The memory will be free again.

    However, I think you will have to do that daily as it keeps reappearing and I havent yet found out how to stop it!
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    gtt wrote: »
    If you are on Android, look for an app called "Google Play Services". In the last couple of weeks this has just started auto downloading on to my HTC Desire, its 8 mb and takes up a huge chunk of my phone's internal memory and triggers a "low memory" warning. It can't be moved to SD card.

    If you find it, uninstall it, it has no effect on the phone. The memory will be free again.

    However, I think you will have to do that daily as it keeps reappearing and I havent yet found out how to stop it!

    depends on which apps you use, I would notice it on mine

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gms
  • dosanjh1dosanjh1 Posts: 8,727
    Forum Member
    I had the same problem on sg2 running ICS, 1.5gb internal memory, only 400mb used for apps but only 200mb left. I couldn't work out what was using up the remaining 900mb. I uninstalled, moved to SD, cleared caches, but still had a problem.

    In the end I backed up and did a master reset which resolved the issue.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
    Forum Member
    I might try that.
    In the meantime i'm looking into SD solutions.
    http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=63271691#post63271691
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