If anyone is still watching this board or ends up here from a "google" search, I will attempt to explain what I've learned in the last 5 months about Android and the low-end LG phones.
As many of you have stated, the "cheap" Optimus series phones (ie. Zip, Logic, Dynamic, etc.) fill up VERY quickly. First a couple points you should note:
1. The phones have 2 SD cards, 1 built-in to the hardware (don't look for it, it's not removable), the other is the SD card under the battery (yours may or may not have an external SD card)
2. The built-in, or internal, storage is divided into several partitions, think of them as individual hard drives in a computer. I have an LG Optimus Dynamic, here's what I've learned so far:
I have at least 3 system partitions:
- SYSTEM -- basically the same idea as the "Windows" folder on a computer, this is where all the factory installed apps go, among other things, and you can't touch it.
- CACHE -- this is a temporary storage space, all apps you download go here first, then the AndroidOS makes folders and puts the new app...
- DATA -- ...here. This is what Android calls your Internal Storage (sometimes). ALL app settings are saved here.
After all the Android partitions are set up, all that's left is the Internal SD which you can do almost anything with. By default, all photos you take with the camera are saved here in the /DCIM folder. Also, when an app is movable, SOME of the components go here if you choose to do so.
Now, my phone has 374MB for the system partition and 157MB for the data partition. Out of the factory the data partition is already more than 50% full, and THAT'S why it's so easy to run out of space. I found a way to make some room, but it means voiding the warranty, and "rooting" your phone (to root your phone is to give yourself administrative rights over the system, and unlocking the "/system" folder, which can result in a broken phone if you don't know EXACTLY what you're doing). A team of tinkerers at Android Area51 downloaded the factory OS, modified it (changed colors, tweaked a few system settings, and removed some software you don't need to use the phone), and packaged it for anyone to download, install, and customize to their hearts content. 1 downside, they freed up a ton of system space by "de-odexing" the factory software (not important to know about that now) which in turn, eats up a bunch of data storage. After a lot of digging, I figured out how to "odex" the system apps and free up the storage space again. After all was said and done, I had almost 60MB of free space to install more apps, including the monstrous Facebook app, and further more, found out you can move some of your downloaded apps to the "/system" folder and free up even more storage space.
So here's the graphic break down of the built-in storage in my phone:
*|__________
/system________|_____
/data_____|
/cache|________________________________
Internal SD__________________________________________|*
If you think you might be able to handle it, go to
Android Area51 and ask anyone if you need help, info, tips, or if you're just curious.
Good luck.
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