Can someone explain cell phone memory?

[AC Question]

Explain cell phone memory

I have a note 1 (for more than 3yrs)
Want to upgrade to Note 4, but as my biggest problem has been memory I am trying to get to grips with this.
RAM; I sort of understand & does not cause too much trouble.
Problem is with "system" or "device" memory & runs out. Some of this can be transfered to the USB storage but I still have 9GB of this left, while "system" is less than 500MB, & that after off loading some apps.
On to Note 4. RAM up to 3GB, ok.
But internal is 32 GB?
Is this Device & USB together? & if it is how much is Device memory, which is where the problem is. There is no point in upgrading if I still have the same memory! Thank you for assistance.
Frans

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: Explain cell phone memory

In essence, you'll have the same memory from the Note 1. 32GB are still 32GB. Now, the OS takes up some space as well, so that takes a chunk out of your available device memory (which ends up being around 27.5GB free memory for apps, documents, etc.; the rest is taken up by the operating system and stock apps which can't be removed without rooting).

Now, since the days of KitKat, moving apps to an SD card changed the way it used to be. Yes, moving apps to the SD card is allowed, BUT it's up to the developer to decide which parts, if any, can be moved. As a general rule, the main app file (APK) must reside in the internal memory. That's it. No way around it unless you root and hack your phone. Now, each dev decides if their app will allow you to move extra files to SD card, like game saves, extra downloads, media, etc. How much of that data they let you move, it's up to them, and not all apps allow it at all.

Also remember that all app downloads are done so to the device memory, not the SD card. As such, the SD card becomes a secondary storage for media and documents, mostly. And in my experience, only use that as secondary storage. Don't store stuff you haven't backed up elsewhere (like camera pictures). SD cards are not reliable. They tend to fail and corrupt files, and if you unmount the card, the apps with data on them go bonkers.