Moving app data to SD card without root

[Nilanko Halder]

Okay so this topic must be very common. I have the Moto E but since this is a software related question which is pretty much the same on Moto E and G, I chose this place.

Not everybody wants to root their phone. And I'm one of them cuz I dont want my warranty be void.

Ok, so the Moto E has 4 gigs of internal storage out of which only 2 gigs is available. Well, that's nothing. It filled up just like that in no time and I didnt even have any idea on who the hell used it up expect some small apps and games (Max. 50 megs in size). I just restored the phone to factory setting and decided to start from the scratch.

Now my phone has nothing expect the default apps.

Now comes my question. I can move the app to SD card but the data remains in the internal memory. Is there any possible way out there that would let me move the data part to SD card as well? I found lots of stuff ion the internet searching for this but nothing worked. I followed this tutorial: http://karthikkn.wordpress.com/2013/...ut-rooting-it/ but what it basically did is setting the default install location to SD card which did work but is pretty much useless I guess cuz its the same as manually moving the app to SD card. Date still resides in the internal memory.

I repeat my question, is it possible to move the data to SD card without rooting the phone? This is really annoying cuz I'm that kind of a guy who would love to install loads of games and apps but would really hate it if this space problem prevents. I have a 32 gig class 10 memory card with me already mounted.



Another question is: After updating the default app like Play movies, Play games, Youtube, Maps and all, the internal memory space was rapidly consumed. Tapping on "Uninstall updates" restores the space. I wonder how can updates take same amount of extra space which is equal to the size of the download? Arent updates meant to "replace" the existing version? So that shouldnt take much space I guess? But installing an update takes the same amount of space as that of the download size which is quite absurd. Any comments to justify this?

 

[Mooncatt]

Installing and updating apps work kind of like installing some programs on a computer. To address your first concern about moving data to the SD card, they typically need at least some info on the internal memory. Think about computer programs that require inserting the disk to run even though you've installed it. That's similar to internal memory and the external sd card. The phone still requires some data on the main internal memory to run properly and then reads/writes "accessory data" (for lack of a better term) on the sd card just like a computer would use data on a disk for a program you've already installed.

Your second issue about space also ties into the first. Often times, installer packages are just a set of instructions that tell the device what it needs to do to install the program, which is often larger than the installer package you downloaded. Here's an erroneous example that hopefully demonstrates the concept. Let's say you're the phone and I'm the installer. I would give you a simple instruction, "write 011001 in a repeating pattern one hundred times." That instruction is sort, simple and has little size. When you execute that instruction, the result would be much larger and take up a full sheet of paper. From my understanding, that's what's happening when installing an app, or update, and the resulting storage space after installing is much bigger.

Also about updates, current versions of Android and the Play store only download the needed change instructions to save bandwidth. Even if an app shows 50MB in Play, simply doing an update may only download 5MB for example. It will replace code in the app, but usually updates include compatibility improvements, extra features, and bug fixes, all of which take additional room. So it's not uncommon for an updated app to increase in data size.

 

[Rukbat]

The app is either hard-wired to save data on the default storage (which, these days, is called "internal SD card") or it allows you to select the location for storage. For those apps that don't allow you to choose the location, there's nothing you can do without rewriting the app or rooting the phone (and using HandleExternalStorage in Xposed Installer).