16gb - how much useable storage and is it enough?

[nickthorley]

I have been considering getting an S4 but my only worry is the 16gb model only having 8.5 - 9ish gb remaining - if anyone can post what a clean 16gb phone has remaining out of the box then I would appreciate it. Also on using the device for a few weeks - how much space is taken up by cached files - image cache, browser caches etc. I know you can clear them but day to day that space must be considered used. I currently have an android tablet so trying to install all the apps I would want and check out how much disk is required but I cant help but think I would need the 32gb model which doesnt seem to be coming to the UK.

I will move all my music and photos, vids etc to the external card and hence the only storage internally will be apps, their caches and also app data such as tumbler image saves etc. Have there been any apps that you have wanted to use but had to forget, for example google music - I know if I synced music I buy on that service I would be out of space and hence I plan to create mp3's from my cd's and copy them to the external card or buy from a source which allows the download of a mp3 file rather than caching.

Any advice / experiences you guys have would be welcome.

Thanks

 

[garublador]

It totally depends on what apps you install and use. I've had my 16GB S4 since late May, did a factory reset a couple weeks ago, the Play store says I have just over 100 apps installed, all of them are on my internal memory and I have 7.62GB free on internal memory. I don't store images from Tumblr but I do have a couple from Instagram that might be stored on my internal memory. Those are easy enough to move if needed, though.

I don't really play a lot of games, either. That's where I could see you needing more internal memory. Some of the games can be pretty big.

 

[monsieurms]

Mine came with 9.4gb free for users out of the box.

I'm surprised to say it's enough unless you're a gamer and installing large apps.

I still have over 6 gbs free and useable. I've installed everything I had on my old phone after 2 years, and everything I can think of that I wanted and didn't have space for, and even things I don't really even need more than every few years (like a TripAdvisor City Guide to Rome).

Like you, I was worried, too, about the caches and how things would accumulate that always seemed to wreck the space on my old phone. But there must be a limit, because they are not taking everything in sight. With all the apps, a little bit of data and the caches and what not, I still can't seem to get it under 6gb free, and I thought I was trying pretty hard.

I do keep 95% of my ebooks (some I put in Kindle's directory on the device) and all .mp3s on my SD card, of course. You do need to use it correctly in that regard. Camera videos and pix for instance can and should save to the card, especially if you're tight for space.

Re: Google play, if you turn off caching, it will not automatically download streaming music, if that's what you mean. (I don't remember if you can make the caching default to a card, but even a card will fill up fast!) Anything else, like purchased music, can be transferred to the card easily enough. You don't have to rely on just them to do that either. Just go to Google Play on your actual computer and copy your stuff where you want to.

I would've bought the 32gb in an eyeblink, but I'm convinced now it probably is not needed. Further, the way these phones keep leapfrogging in technology, by the time 24-36 months goes by, if it is becoming an issue (not sure how!), I imagine I'll be the market for something new anyway.

 

[nickthorley]

Garublador: thanks for your reply - you sound a similar type of user to me - games will never go on my phone - bar the apps as you mention - the only other storage will be cached files and the big one will be my sat nav - co-pilot which I think takes 700 - 800mb with maps. But other than that everything should be on the card.

 

[nickthorley]

monsieurms: Thanks also. With regard to google music - I thought it was an option to set tracks / albums to be available offline and hence I mean to store all of those as an alternative to buying cd's and ripping them yourself and then copying these mp3 files to the sd card.

 

[garublador]

monsieurms: Thanks also. With regard to google music - I thought it was an option to set tracks / albums to be available offline and hence I mean to store all of those as an alternative to buying cd's and ripping them yourself and then copying these mp3 files to the sd card.

FWIW, I just synch the micro SD card in my phone with iTunes. My wife has an iPhone and it's much easier to get my phone to work with iTunes than it is to get her phone to work with something other than iTunes. It's convenient to have everything in one place, too.

To put it in perspective how much stuff you can fit in 8GB, I have every picture I've taken with my last 4 phones (going back to 2008) plus vacation pictures taken from a point and shoot camera (1463 pictures total) in my Dropbox account and all together they take up 3.7GB of space. So I probably could store all of my pictures internally and I doubt I'd ever max out the internal storage on my phone. As far as I can tell, music, videos and games are the only things that seem to take up lots of space. I don't even think I ever got a warning about low storage on my Droid X2 and it only had 8GB of internal memory.

 

[monsieurms]

monsieurms: Thanks also. With regard to google music - I thought it was an option to set tracks / albums to be available offline and hence I mean to store all of those as an alternative to buying cd's and ripping them yourself and then copying these mp3 files to the sd card.

Ah...I don't recall whether there is a direct option to "make available offline" while saving only to the SD card. You'd think there would be (we have to check that out!).

But still...no ripping involved. It's simple enough. If you've purchased an album on Google Play, go to Google Play on your desktop, and simply download whatever is there to your card. Then, play it locally. No streaming. No caching. Put it wherever you want to put it. With cards up to 64gb these days, that's a lot of music. I've got about 50gb myself. That's what I do.

As noted, there may be a way to eliminate a step and do it directly on the device that way. Have to investigate myself! But I personally don't really love streaming. I like to have things local, so my music winds up on the card in the fashion described one way or the other.

Even if there were no mobile issues, I want a copy of my stuff on my computer hard drive. It makes it easy for me to keep track of everything when I play from my hard drive, since some of my collection is on G-play, and most of it is not. I'm more likely to buy from Amazon. So, I have everything in one place on my hard drive. Even without these issues, I'd be DL'ing my stuff from Google play just on principle, so for me it's not even an extra step.

 

[garublador]

Ah...I don't recall whether there is a direct option to "make available offline" while saving only to the SD card. You'd think there would be (we have to check that out!).

I'm pretty sure there isn't. Google seems to be pushing for SD cards to go away and only allowing you to pin to internal memory prevents you from pinning songs to your friends' SD cards.

 

[nickthorley]

I dont understand why they just dont give you to option to choose your directory and whether you choose for that to be an sdcard or internal memory is upto you. I can appreciate what you are saying about transferring files to friends but with ftp servers and other software, handing them an sdcard seems like the most difficult option so I dont think its the case that its to prevent copying

 

[garublador]

I dont understand why they just dont give you to option to choose your directory and whether you choose for that to be an sdcard or internal memory is upto you. I can appreciate what you are saying about transferring files to friends but with ftp servers and other software, handing them an sdcard seems like the most difficult option so I dont think its the case that its to prevent copying

To be clear, I'm just giving guesses as to why they did what they did. It could have more to do with Google not wanting Android to support external SD cards, too. I'm just giving the reasons I thought up as to why they might not allow it. I'm not saying I like or agree with it. It is one of the reasons I haven't even bothered looking into the service, though.

 

[nickthorley]

Its fine - I wasnt complaining - this is about bouncing ideas / thoughts around. I suspect it was to do with alot of the sdcards failing in the early days and possibly still failing and hence if apps are on the cards and they fail then it creates a bad experience which makes android look bad for something that isnt their fault / out of their control. I guess you can see their point that internal memory is relatively cheap now and hence why not have 32, 64, 128, 256gb phones but unfortunately companies like samsung that are only releasing the 16gb version in the uk force the need for them. If they sell bigger ones people will buy them so why not offer them - seems strange to me.

 

[STARGATE]

I have been considering getting an S4 but my only worry is the 16gb model only having 8.5 - 9ish gb remaining - if anyone can post what a clean 16gb phone has remaining out of the box then I would appreciate it. Also on using the device for a few weeks - how much space is taken up by cached files - image cache, browser caches etc. I know you can clear them but day to day that space must be considered used. I currently have an android tablet so trying to install all the apps I would want and check out how much disk is required but I cant help but think I would need the 32gb model which doesnt seem to be coming to the UK.

I will move all my music and photos, vids etc to the external card and hence the only storage internally will be apps, their caches and also app data such as tumbler image saves etc. Have there been any apps that you have wanted to use but had to forget, for example google music - I know if I synced music I buy on that service I would be out of space and hence I plan to create mp3's from my cd's and copy them to the external card or buy from a source which allows the download of a mp3 file rather than caching.

Any advice / experiences you guys have would be welcome.

Thanks

I was torn between the HTC One and the Galaxy S4.
I used to go to the stores with live models and play with both phones, I also researched and ask about them.
Finally, on July 1 I made the decision to get the GS4 since it was the best option for me and the way I use my device.

So far I love my GS4 and when I play/use my nephew's HTC One I don't see myself using anything else then my Galaxy phone.

I normally have a SD card for pictures, videos, documents from work (Docs I also have on the cloud) and music. For everything else the internal memory, although I don't use any games other then Angry Birds.

I know you're also looking at the HTC One, so I suggest you play with both devices and also write down 2 lists side by side with pros and cons for both phones.
Also on that list you can write the needs and wants that you may have to see which device might work best for you.

May the Force be with you!

Sent From a Galaxy S4 Away

 

[monsieurms]

Its fine - I wasnt complaining - this is about bouncing ideas / thoughts around. I suspect it was to do with alot of the sdcards failing in the early days and possibly still failing and hence if apps are on the cards and they fail then it creates a bad experience which makes android look bad for something that isnt their fault / out of their control. I guess you can see their point that internal memory is relatively cheap now and hence why not have 32, 64, 128, 256gb phones but unfortunately companies like samsung that are only releasing the 16gb version in the uk force the need for them. If they sell bigger ones people will buy them so why not offer them - seems strange to me.

There's another thread going on now re: a poll on whether people would've bought the S4 without an SD card. I said no. For me, it's essential. Give me space. I will use it. No amount of internal memory will ever be enough.

 

[jimbl]

I don't get how Google can lock down Play Music access to the SD Card (for caching offline) when they know the biggest manufacturer of Android phones (Samsung) ships millions of phones with 9gb of usable internal storage. It's frustrating when you really think about it.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

For most, 16 GB model is probably enough. As mentioned already, the primary uses that will consume a lot of storage are games and similar large apps, but obviously media can fill up storage fast as well.

To answer the questions regarding Google Music:
Yes, Google Music allows you to "pin" albums/songs to allow for listening offline...and yes, these cached files are saved to internal memory with no way to change that setting. Having said that, however, Google music will play any files stored to your SD card just fine, it's only the music you download directly from the app that is forced to internal storage. (If you're rooted, you can actually mount a shortcut to your SD at the location where Google music saves it's cached files, allowing you to then save the pinned files to the SD card...but obviously that's slightly more advanced).

I had a 16GB GS3, I now have a 16GB GS4, I run over 100 different apps and use Google Music somewhat regularly and haven't even come close to running out of space...but that's just me.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I don't get how Google can lock down Play Music access to the SD Card (for caching offline) when they know the biggest manufacturer of Android phones (Samsung) ships millions of phones with 9gb of usable internal storage. It's frustrating when you really think about it.

I don't know if it's a matter of "locking it down" or it's simply that they choose not to provide support for SD cards...but it's probably the latter. Either way, it's still quite easy to manually put music on the SD card for use. None the less, I agree...it is frustrating.

 

[jimbl]

I don't know if it's a matter of "locking it down" or it's simply that they choose not to provide support for SD cards...but it's probably the latter. Either way, it's still quite easy to manually put music on the SD card for use. None the less, I agree...it is frustrating.

I agree, it's not hard to put music on the SD Card. I subscribe to Google Play Music All Access though. Similar to Spotify. I can literally make a playlist of a 1000+ songs in 10-20 minutes. If I try to cache that playlist locally (remember I don't own this music) it would not fit on the 16gb S4. If I had SD Card access, problem solved.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I agree, it's not hard to put music on the SD Card. I subscribe to Google Play Music All Access though. Similar to Spotify. I can literally make a playlist of a 1000+ songs in 10-20 minutes. If I try to cache that playlist locally (remember I don't own this music) it would not fit on the 16gb S4. If I had SD Card access, problem solved.

Are you rooted by chance? If so, it's actually possible to redirect those cached files to the SD card...

 

[Tahoe916]

I initially worried about 16GB being enough but quickly became a non-issue. I have everything on it I want with 6.5GB left including the few games I want on there. I use Spotify and it automatically uses the SD card for cached downloads, one of several reasons I'm not considering Google Play for now. My MP3's I just copy to the SD card, and the default for pictures and video are to the SD card. I got a 65GB SD card so I'm good for awhile.

 

[jimbl]

Are you rooted by chance? If so, it's actually possible to redirect those cached files to the SD card...

Nope. Not rooted. Don't even have the device yet. LOL. Should have it tomorrow though.