Is 16 GB sufficient for a GS4

SERBDVB

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no bigi , i have maybe 20-30 apps that i use and that's it all my pic's and music will go to my 32GB MicroSD , but and the end if ned to choose witch game to use i will pick up FIFA :)
This will be my fist Android device :)
 

ratchetjaw#AC

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no bigi , i have maybe 20-30 apps that i use and that's it all my pic's and music will go to my 32GB MicroSD , but and the end if ned to choose witch game to use i will pick up FIFA :)
This will be my fist Android device :)

Yeah its not. Its the same on my gs3. I just keep the ones I actually play now. Have a few HD ones and about 10 other games about about 100 apps and still have 3.5 GB left. Still wish they would give us choice at launch though

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LoganK

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Can you explain how you do this? This would save me some internal memory on my games.

It's not something you do, it's automatic if the game developers support it. (I have seen it as an option, but I don't believe that's common.)

If you have an SD card in, and the developer chose to use it, the data will be put there in one of several methods. If they chose not to (and the aforementioned Tapped Out is one of the developers that has chosen not to ... 140MB), then you can't (easily) force the application to work differently.
 

mak916

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It's not something you do, it's automatic if the game developers support it. (I have seen it as an option, but I don't believe that's common.)


If you have an SD card in, and the developer chose to use it, the data will be put there in one of several methods. If they chose not to (and the aforementioned Tapped Out is one of the developers that has chosen not to ... 140MB), then you can't (easily) force the application to work differently.

Do you have a GS3? The only way this can be done with a GS3 is to root it. It does not come automatically. I can do this on my EVO 3D and Photon 4G, but not the GS3.
 

LoganK

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Do you have a GS3? The only way this can be done with a GS3 is to root it. It does not come automatically. I can do this on my EVO 3D and Photon 4G, but not the GS3.

I do, but I don't think you understand. Games have three parts:

  • The program
  • The user data (e.g., your progress)
  • The game data (e.g., the levels)

Only the program has to be on the phone. These are usually around 30MB at most, and you can comfortably install over 200 of these without a problem.

The user data is probably going to be on the phone, as well, but doesn't necessarily have to be. This data is often small, usually much less than 1MB, and can generally be ignored in the grand scheme of things.

The game data can go anywhere, and it's up to the game developer where they decide to stash this data. Hopefully, the developer puts this data on the external SD card. Sometimes they won't. The reason why they wouldn't generally boils down to them not understanding their options or not wanting to support removable storage (if you removed the card, the game would have to download the game data again (possibly resulting in two copies in the future) or tell the user to re-insert the card).

My S III has applications that run using the data from external card. I have had games with hundreds of megabytes of game data not on my phone. But it's not something I did or can control.

(To be honest, even though it is not difficult, Android could be slightly better about some of the interfaces for doing this. I assume since the Android lead is anti-removable storage, leading to Nexus devices that don't have removable storage, the Android OS developers have little incentive to improve this area.)
 

archer75

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I think 16gb is fine. On my galaxy nexus I have tons of apps and games, backup rom, all the pictures and video I have ever taken on the phone as well as my podcast subscriptions and I still have gigs left over. Even on my nexus 10 with more apps and games i'm not quite using 16gb. I don't store any media on it. All my music is on google play but I really don't care much about owning my own music anymore as I tend to use pandora or slacker for that.

Of course that's my opinion and based upon my usage scenario.
 

Wilbur

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No app installs to SD since Gingerbread. I don't see this feature EVER coming back. Samsung has ruined 3 models in a row (Note 2. Note 8.0, GS4) in the US by launching only the "volume" 16Gb version. Way to ruin otherwise top-notch devices, Samsung!! Also, VZW discontinued the 32Gb GS3 about 5 months after it launched!

Do you remember how long after the initial release Verizon came out with the 32Gb S3? I want the 32Gb S4 or even the 64Gb if it isn't too long to wait.
 

LoganK

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Do you remember how long after the initial release Verizon came out with the 32Gb S3? I want the 32Gb S4 or even the 64Gb if it isn't too long to wait.

I think with the S III, Verizon delayed the release until a few weeks after the other carriers and then released both models around the same time.

But if you spend your time reading these forums, it'll feel like a really long wait.
 

12MaNy

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I do, but I don't think you understand. Games have three parts:

  • The program
  • The user data (e.g., your progress)
  • The game data (e.g., the levels)

Only the program has to be on the phone. These are usually around 30MB at most, and you can comfortably install over 200 of these without a problem.

The user data is probably going to be on the phone, as well, but doesn't necessarily have to be. This data is often small, usually much less than 1MB, and can generally be ignored in the grand scheme of things.

The game data can go anywhere, and it's up to the game developer where they decide to stash this data. Hopefully, the developer puts this data on the external SD card. Sometimes they won't. The reason why they wouldn't generally boils down to them not understanding their options or not wanting to support removable storage (if you removed the card, the game would have to download the game data again (possibly resulting in two copies in the future) or tell the user to re-insert the card).

My S III has applications that run using the data from external card. I have had games with hundreds of megabytes of game data not on my phone. But it's not something I did or can control.

(To be honest, even though it is not difficult, Android could be slightly better about some of the interfaces for doing this. I assume since the Android lead is anti-removable storage, leading to Nexus devices that don't have removable storage, the Android OS developers have little incentive to improve this area.)

App data is the only thing kept on internal sd storage. The apks themselves are all in system/app & data/app.
 

LoganK

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App data is the only thing kept on internal sd storage. The apks themselves are all in system/app & data/app.

No, the applications are on "internal SD" storage. For a long time now, /data is configured as one big partition including /data/app and /data/data. Since Android 3.0, it's almost all one big file system (including the "internal SD" that you see when you plug the phone in).

The original Galaxy S had special space set aside for /data/app that was supposed to be faster than the bulk flash, but most of the community ROMs turned it off because there wasn't a noticeable difference and that special space was rather small. Of course manufacturers are still free to do this, but I'd be surprised if anyone had since Android 4.0 became the standard.
 

KoukiFC3S

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If you play games, you will probably want at least 32GB. Asphalt 7 already takes up 1.5GB by itself.

Loving my 32GB GS3.
 

thoughthalo

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If you play games, you will probably want at least 32GB. Asphalt 7 already takes up 1.5GB by itself.

Loving my 32GB GS3.

I am just hoping that when 24th comes T-Mobile will also have an option to order the 32 Gb GS4. If not, then I don't think I will end up ordering a 16gb phone.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mak916

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The Dark Knight Rises game takes up almost 2GB There are other games that take up way too much memory. If you are a game player, wait or root your phone.
 

Wilbur

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I think with the S III, Verizon delayed the release until a few weeks after the other carriers and then released both models around the same time.

But if you spend your time reading these forums, it'll feel like a really long wait.

Thanks for the info. I feel like a little kid again waiting for Santa to bring the S4 .... how many cookies and glasses of milk can I put out ???

milk-and-cookies-for-santa-thumb11259883.jpg
 

Raptor007

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Does Apps2SDcard work on 4.2.2? I ask that because when I had the GN2 it was stated that there were changes in 4.2.x that would cause it to no longer work of course I have to wait for the GS4 to launch and someone to test it out. I certainly hope it does work.
 

12MaNy

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No, the applications are on "internal SD" storage. For a long time now, /data is configured as one big partition including /data/app and /data/data. Since Android 3.0, it's almost all one big file system (including the "internal SD" that you see when you plug the phone in).

The original Galaxy S had special space set aside for /data/app that was supposed to be faster than the bulk flash, but most of the community ROMs turned it off because there wasn't a noticeable difference and that special space was rather small. Of course manufacturers are still free to do this, but I'd be surprised if anyone had since Android 4.0 became the standard.


Like I said......system apks are in system/app and installed apks are in data/app. Everything else (data) is on SD storage. ;)
 

LoganK

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Like I said......system apks are in system/app and installed apks are in data/app. Everything else (data) is on SD storage. ;)

Yes, but your statement makes it sound like /data/app and SD storage are two different areas. They are not. Installing a bunch of applications takes away from SD storage, and copying a bunch of MP3s takes away from application storage.

It's kind of like saying that users post in the Galaxy S III forums or the Galaxy S 4 forums. All other posts are in the Android Central forums. Really, they are all the Android Central forums.

(I say "kind of", because while /system is on the SD card it may as well be separate because it doesn't share space in the same what that /data/app and SD storage do.)
 

rushmore

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If you are a gamer, no way in heck is 16gb enough. Keep in mind actual free space will be a little over 12gb. A lot of games are over 1gb and other apps also use the space.
 

spybenj

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Coming from an iPhone here. Would an app like RDIO sync to local storage or to the SD card?
Like can apps in general sync data to SD cards?
There's been a lot of talk about games here but not other apps. On my phone I have 5gb of podcasts downloaded(from icatcher), 8gb of music(from RDIO) and 20gb of video(from plex)
Would all of that be stored on the SD or would it be stored on the 16gb internal storage?
 

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