Is sd card slot all that useful?

[barth2]

Coming from ios, having possibility for expandable memory is nice. But having used a nexus 7 briefly (it has no sd card slot either) is it really all that useful?

As far as I can see, most apps save their data where they want to and don't give you a choice. Some apps read from other folders but still save in their own.

Can the play store install apps on to sd expansion? Can you move your music / videos folder to the card? Can you install apk from other sources to the card?

Since android sees the internal memory as a simulated sdcard anyway, it should be possible to use an external card just like built in memory. But what is it like in practice?

Thanks

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[VDub2174]

I put all my music and .apk files on my SD card and my Note 2 reads it just fine.

 

[Mooncatt]

Newer versions of Android no longer allow for installing apps to an external SD card. There are some work arounds people have tried with mixed results, but I don't know enough to speak on them. The good news is pretty much any half decent phone on the market now comes with enough space internally that it's usually not a huge issue. For example, my phone has 16 GB total internal space. Even after accounting for space taken by the OS and bloatware, I have to work to use up all that space with apps and media.

Even still, I wouldn't want a phone without an SD card slot. You can store pics, videos, and other miscellaneous files to it and many apps allow backups to be stored there, saving your internal space for other uses. I just like that flexibility.

 

[Google_Superuser]

Google Music now allows you to store music on an SD card. Good for me since music would take up a lot of my storage. Also handy for flashing custom roms etc. if you are in to that kind of thing.

 

[someguy01234]

In practice it just work, I have an Android TV stick connected to the TV. It have a microSD slot so I can insert it anytime, it detects and mount it automatically. That all there is to that. The device can detect and scan media files in the microSD cards too, its just slower compared to internal storage.

However, there are security issues, you can only encrypt the internal storage of the phone, not the SD card (it use fat32 format, and there can be patent issues related to Microsoft I think). So if you lose your phone, people can see files in your microSD.

Mostly, it's just that microSD is slower than internal storage, unless you buy a quality one with good speed.

 

[mrsmumbles]

Yes, and you can move media files to the card and the phone can read them fine.

It's a lot easier than dealing with USB OTG which relies on the mini USB port. If the phone requires a new card to be reformatted and there's no way to do it in the phone, and your computer is down, it's a big pain. I had a lot of files I beamed to my N5 from 3 different microSD cards, and now I can't back them up to a single card from my N5 and Meenova card reader because the phone requires the new card to be reformatted in FAT32.

So it's much easier if the phone natively has a card slot.

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[barth2]

It'd be for a tablet, not phone. I asked because Sd slots are getting scarce and wanted to know how much importance to put on it when picking a tablet.


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[Golfdriver97]

It'd be for a tablet, not phone. I asked because Sd slots are getting scarce and wanted to know how much importance to put on it when picking a tablet.


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The slots are scarce due to the OS no longer supporting them.
The best way to use them is for music and pictures to keep the internal memory of the device clear.

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[roguetrader]

It'd be for a tablet, not phone. I asked because Sd slots are getting scarce and wanted to know how much importance to put on it when picking a tablet.

Samsung devices running 4.3 allows you to move apps to the external SD card.
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[Golfdriver97]

So long as the app developers support moving the data to the SD card.

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[barth2]

A review of lg pad google edition says the sd card is now read only. I guess google really wants you to move to the cloud.

If MS wants to ding google for something, they should ding them for that. But then, MS has cloud ambition of its own.

 

[ffejjj]

I like the card slot especially for a tablet. Primarily I use it for music and movies. Coupled with an external battery source, my daughter has hours of entertainment during long trips

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[Mooncatt]

I guess google really wants you to move to the cloud.

If that's the case, they should start paying for the massive data use that would take for those of us without a constant Wi-Fi or other net connection and have to rely on cell data.

 

[sauce_a_poutine]

They should, but won't.

 

[radiohawk]

I can already hear the jeers headed my way, but it's just plain ridiculous that Google has gone down the road to force us away from external storage, my note 2 after accounting for OS and bloatware has under 10gb. By the time I installed a few productivity apps, and small games (candy crush, solitaire, farkle) I have to be very choosy what to install from AC's best games of 2013 article. 10 plus games worth having, and at an average of about 1.1 go, only have room for 4 to 6 of them. Bad form, and was why I avoided nexus devices like the plague. My upgrade is probably taking me to a different platform for this reason and a few others.

Google is not what they sold me on 10 years ago.

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[someguy01234]

I can already hear the jeers headed my way, but it's just plain ridiculous that Google has gone down the road to force us away from external storage, my note 2 after accounting for OS and bloatware has under 10gb. By the time I installed a few productivity apps, and small games (candy crush, solitaire, farkle) I have to be very choosy what to install from AC's best games of 2013 article. 10 plus games worth having, and at an average of about 1.1 go, only have room for 4 to 6 of them. Bad form, and was why I avoided nexus devices like the plague. My upgrade is probably taking me to a different platform for this reason and a few others.

Google is not what they sold me on 10 years ago.

Posted via Android Central App

You bought a Note 2 16GB with touchwiz installed...., just saying. Nexus 5 have 32gb option and no touchwiz.

 

[radiohawk]

You bought a Note 2 16GB with touchwiz installed...., just saying. Nexus 5 have 32gb option and no touchwiz.

And no SD card, deal breaker for me. I get others are more accepting of the goog's box, to me there is no reason as a consumer I see to not seek a better piece of hardware. PC's-heck even Crapples have had expandable storage for more than 2 decades

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[Golfdriver97]

The lack of the SD card slot adds stability to the OS.

 

[radiohawk]

The lack of the SD card slot adds stability to the OS.

As a consumer my take is the lack of stability with an SD card is a programmer issue, should be a no brainer, I personally don't believe it's for that reason it's being taken out there are too many examples of an OS working well with expandable memory, including Androids grandaddy - Linux.

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[Golfdriver97]

As a consumer my take is the lack of stability with an SD card is a programmer issue, should be a no brainer, I personally don't believe it's for that reason it's being taken out there are too many examples of an OS working well with expandable memory, including Androids grandaddy - Linux.

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There are many threads where pulling the SD card out solves crashing issues.
iOS is stable due to this. That OS is Unix, a relative of Linux.

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