Going from G1 to G3, hints and tips please?

[sparkybird]

Hi everyone
Ok bear with me as I'm not very technical. The Moto G1 was first smartphone and I've just now bought a G3. Any hints as tips for making the move over?
I have an SD card in the G1 and I'm hoping to make better use of it as adaptable storage in the new phone which is 8 gb
Suggestions from more knowledgeable people much appreciated!
Thanks in advance

 

[paininthenuts]

I have the G3 with 8gb storage, and dearly wish I paid the extra and got the 16gb version.Unfortunately the way Android 6 utilizes apps means the OS will use up loads of storage space. However, you are wear you are, so here are a few tips.

1) Ensure you use a high quality and fast SD card
2) Format the SD card to adoptable storage, Once this is done, go into settings/Storage/ SD card. Then click on the 3 buttons on top right of the screen & migrate data. This will free up some memory from your hard drive.
3) To free up more memory try this. Settings/storage/apps. Click on each app that isn't a system app and see if it gives you the option to put the app on your SD card.
4) From time to time click on settings/storage and clear the cache.

Once you have sorted the storage issue out, it is a very good phone. It is fast and a pleasure to use. I bought mine brand new and boxed on ebay for £82 ($125)

 

[acejavelin]

@paininthenuts is offering good advice... My advice is if you currently have a 2-3 year old SD card (assuming, since you have a G1) and plan on using it for internal, adopted storage buy a new card of high quality and a minimum of UHS1 rating. Currently the Samsung EVO+ series seems the best quality/speed/value card out there for internal storage.

 

[sparkybird]

Hello both
Thanks for the quick and helpful replies.

I have a San disc ultra 32GB HC1 SD card in the old phone. Will this be OK? I don't do gaming or anything like that - it will be mostly for apps, the odd picture
As I already have some apps and pics on the SD card, will formatting as adoptable storage erase this? I'm pretty sure there isn't enough space on my old phone to move everything back to internal storage

I'm can probably send the new phone back. But the 16GB is another £60 and since I had already forked out for the SD card, so I'd rather only do this if you really think I'm not going to gain much over my old phone.

thanks again for your help - I'm on a steep learning curve!!
SB

 

[sparkybird]

Quick update. I've just found the 16gb one on Amazon for £20 more so will order it and send the 8gb one back.
The above questions still apply though
Thanks
SB

 

[acejavelin]

Quick update. I've just found the 16gb one on Amazon for £20 more so will order it and send the 8gb one back.
The above questions still apply though
Thanks
SB

Make sure you are getting the right model for your region... and TBH, even an extra $60 is worth it for the 2GB/16GB model, then use your SD card as external/portable storage. If you can avoid using it as adopted you should.

 

[paininthenuts]

Quick update. I've just found the 16gb one on Amazon for £20 more so will order it and send the 8gb one back.
The above questions still apply though
Thanks
SB

Just had a look on UK Amazon, and there is a seller selling the 16gb for £7 less than the 8Gb. How strange

 

[acejavelin]

I have a San disc ultra 32GB HC1 SD card in the old phone. Will this be OK? I don't do gaming or anything like that - it will be mostly for apps, the odd picture
As I already have some apps and pics on the SD card, will formatting as adoptable storage erase this? I'm pretty sure there isn't enough space on my old phone to move everything back to internal storage
SB

If you have been using your card for 2-3 years, really anything over a year, and plan on using it as adopted storage, replace it... do not try to reuse the card. Using adopted storage is very hard on a card, if it's already got a few use of usage I would swap it out. If you are going to use it as portable storage, should be fine.

If you setup a card as adopted storage, yes, formatting it will wipe all existing data... It also converts it to ext4 and encrypts the file system so it is only readable in that phone and cannot be accessed in any other way.

Honestly though, if you moved up to the 16GB model, you likely won't need it as internal storage unless you install lots of... ummm... stuff, so I would keep it as portable storage unless you have no choice.

 

[paininthenuts]

If you have been using your card for 2-3 years, really anything over a year, and plan on using it as adopted storage, replace it... do not try to reuse the card. Using adopted storage is very hard on a card, if it's already got a few use of usage I would swap it out. If you are going to use it as portable storage, should be fine.

If you setup a card as adopted storage, yes, formatting it will wipe all existing data... It also converts it to ext4 and encrypts the file system so it is only readable in that phone and cannot be accessed in any other way.

Honestly though, if you moved up to the 16GB model, you likely won't need it as internal storage unless you install lots of... ummm... stuff, so I would keep it as portable storage unless you have no choice.

Absolutely bang on. No need to format the card to adoptable storage, as the 16gb memory will be more than enough to cope. To be honest, for the very few extra pennies it would have cost Motorolla to make all the G3s 16gb, it's disappointing they didn't it.

 

[sparkybird]

Hi everyone.
Thanks for the replies, really helpful. I think then as I've now gone for 16gb, I'll just use the SD card as non adopted. I don't think I formatted it as this, is there any way to check? Sorry memory not as good as it was! I am able to move part of my store apps to it, but often they move back after an update, if this helps?
Finally, to make the move over, do I have to move all my apps back to my phone? I'm not sure how I'm going to do this as it's memory is full already.
Thanks as ever for all your help
SB

 

[paininthenuts]

You can tell if the SD card is formatted as portable by doing the following. Settings/storage/SD card/click on the 3 dots in the top right hand side and it will give you the option to "format as adopted storage". Of course, If it's already adopted, it will give you the opposite option. If your apps are on portable storage and you want to put them on to adopted storage you will have to put them on the hard drive first, and then move them back. My earlier post explains how to move the apps.

You say that the memory is almost full, which confuses me. I can only think that all your apps are on the hard drive, and you must have thousands of them. I could understand it if you had the 8gb version, but the 16gb version should hold plenty. Perhaps you should check to see that you haven't put all your pictures and music etc on the hard drive. You can check this by settings/storage/internal storage. If there is anything in there that needs moving, click on it, and you should be given the option to do so

 

[sparkybird]

Thanks for that, very helpful. I have at the moment a g1 which is 5 GB, so is a bit full. I'll try moving the apps back and see how I get on. Basically i don't think I have a choice!
SB

 

[paininthenuts]

Thanks for that, very helpful. I have at the moment a g1 which is 5 GB, so is a bit full. I'll try moving the apps back and see how I get on. Basically i don't think I have a choice!
SB

Just back up the apps to your google account. When you boot up the new phone it will ask for your google account details. All your apps will then magically appear. SIMPLES

 

[sparkybird]

Thank you sooooooo much! I'm going to do it tomorrow. Yay!
SB

 

[sparkybird]

I did it!
Thanks for all your help! Had a bit of a panic as I didn't see my apps - then realized that I had to reinstall them all. D'oh! This also threw up the fact that for some I had not backed them up or registered, so swapped sim back to old phone and did this - transfer then was straightforward, if time consuming.

Two differences I have found so far:
I left the phone to charge overnight (as I did with my old one) but it was really hot this morning - this can't be normal??
Second - the screen seems to be much more sensitive - my 'swyping' isn't as accurate as it keeps thinking I want a capital letter and also as I scroll down a page, it opens some messages/posts which I touch on scrolling - can this be adjusted?
thanks
SB

 

[acejavelin]

I did it!
Thanks for all your help! Had a bit of a panic as I didn't see my apps - then realized that I had to reinstall them all. D'oh! This also threw up the fact that for some I had not backed them up or registered, so swapped sim back to old phone and did this - transfer then was straightforward, if time consuming.

Two differences I have found so far:
I left the phone to charge overnight (as I did with my old one) but it was really hot this morning - this can't be normal??
Second - the screen seems to be much more sensitive - my 'swyping' isn't as accurate as it keeps thinking I want a capital letter and also as I scroll down a page, it opens some messages/posts which I touch on scrolling - can this be adjusted?
thanks
SB

When you go from Lollipop or newer device that has "Backup this device to Google" enabled to another Lollipop/Marshmallow device, part of the setup wizard will prompt you to restore from a previous device... You can select all the apps you wish and they will be reinstalled, then IF the author is making use of the Marshmallow backup API, the configuration of the app will be restored as well. Personally I have found that most apps do not implement this feature.

The Moto G is not known for heat problems, but the stock charger is horrid... I suggest a good, 1A or better charger and a quality USB cable (the Blackberry Playbook charger is awesome for all phones and has a really long cord and 2A output), but since this one is brand new, probably need to just clear the cache partition. I have found with this device that doing this every few months really help keep it running smoothly.

For the swiping issue... unfortunately it's a well know problem that rears it's head to varying degrees, but there isn't much you can do for it. There is no calibration or adjustment to the sensitivity. If you have a screen protector, especially a tempered glass one, removing it can help in most cases, otherwise we need to just wait and see if Nougat comes with a fix from Moto (Lollipop didn't really have this problem, so it is a software thing).

 

[sparkybird]

thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll remember that backup when I get my NEXT phone (hopefully not for a while)!

I was a bit concerned about the heating - and googled some stuff last night. I charged it last night in airplane mode and it was fine - no heat at all. I'll try tonight with no apps open as this was another suggestion.

Re sensitivity - No screen protector. Didn't realist it was a software thing - but of course my old phone was on Lollipop. We'll wait and see - it's annoying though!

cheers

 

[sparkybird]

Just an update on in case it's helpful to others.
Charged the phone overnight with no apps open and it was fine cool as a cucumber!
I also discovered that under settings - accessibility- touch and hold display, you can selection long, medium or short. Long is definitely helping with the screen sensitivity!