insufficient storage available to update apps?

[tpd15]

I woke up this morning to a bunch of warning messages that my Nexus 4-16 had insufficient storage available update some apps (Play Magazines, WiCall, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Wallet, Amazon). There were a couple yesterday, too. I took screenshots, and it seems like I have 500 MB. How much memory do I need?!

 

[p08757]

Remove some of your music and you should be fine.

I'm really hoping when they make the Nexux5, or what ever they call it, they include a model that has at least 32GB of storage.

 

[anon(847090)]

Android will try to keep some memory free for it to work properly.
after a certain memory limit is reached it will block all the installs to make sure Android has enough storage to run.
I am not sure about the exact storage after which it will block installs but in your case it looks like 500mb.
clear some space and you should be fine.

 

[greydarrah]

Are you rooted and if so have you made any nandroid backups? I ask because I found mine being stored in 2 different places taking up an extra 3 to 5 gb.

8gb seems like a lot of music. Is is all songs (that you might move to the cloud?), or are you holding onto some other stuff like podcast?

 

[wunderbar]

stupid question, but have you tried rebooting the phone?

 

[warpaper]

i encounter the same problem here, any solution?

 

[mr_nobody]

i encounter the same problem here, any solution?

Yes, free some disk space by deleting apps or content.

 

[JeffDenver]

I woke up this morning to a bunch of warning messages that my Nexus 4-16 had insufficient storage available update some apps (Play Magazines, WiCall, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Wallet, Amazon). There were a couple yesterday, too. I took screenshots, and it seems like I have 500 MB. How much memory do I need?!

Google has decided that you do not need to keep stuff on your phone, and need to be streaming it from the cloud instead. So this problem only occurs when you disagree with Google.

If you have less than a gig free at any given time, I would start deleting stuff. There is nothing else you can do. The nexus needs about that much breathing room.

 

[TheLibertarian]

Google has decided that you do not need to keep stuff on your phone, and need to be streaming it from the cloud instead. So this problem only occurs when you disagree with Google.

Google decided this?

Interesting. I didn't know Google commanded anyone which devices they were required to purchase.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

Yo, drop some of those pictures into the cloud.. Never have more than 100 Mbs of pictures on my phone at any given time.

Google Drive that ish. Lol

Tapped from my Nexus 10.1

 

[dkhmwilliams]

Google decided this?

Interesting. I didn't know Google commanded anyone which devices they were required to purchase.

He is speaking of Google's overall philosophy of using the cloud and streaming functionality instead of using internal storage. The way he wrote it was to be facetious.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[monsieurms]

.

If you have less than a gig free at any given time, I would start deleting stuff. There is nothing else you can do. The nexus needs about that much breathing room.

You can always clear caches, too. That helps. Some apps, like Facebook, seem to keep eating up space as it's cleared, though.

NB: I'm not sure if the music here was DELIBERATELY stored. If the OP is streaming, there is a setting in Play MUSIC to turn OFF caching. DO NOT CACHE. That downloads everything you're streaming and eats up your space in an eyeblink.

The other solution is to get rid of the Nexus and buy something with an SD card slot for all that music that has clobbered the phone. Ahem. SD card slots uber alles.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

I think that last 500mb is the system partition.

Doesn't android come with like ~504mb for the system partition?

Tapped from my Nexus 10.1

 

[Captainbob767]

Google has decided that you do not need to keep stuff on your phone, and need to be streaming it from the cloud instead. So this problem only occurs when you disagree with Google.

 

[JeffDenver]

Google decided this?

Yes. Google created the Nexus 4. You learn something new every day.

 

[JeffDenver]

You can always clear caches, too. That helps.

In the short term it does. But the caches are for stuff you use, so they will fill up again eventually. It is better than nothing, but it's a bandaid solution. I had to do that on the Droid 1 and it was a hassle.

The other solution is to get rid of the Nexus and buy something with an SD card slot for all that music that has clobbered the phone. Ahem. SD card slots uber alles.

Until recently there were no real alternatives to the Nexus if you wanted a fast Vanilla Android system. And even now, there still kinda aren't, since Google is not updating the GE devices directly like we thought they would. But there are more vanilla android choices now and that is never a bad thing.

 

[monsieurms]

In the short term it does. But the caches are for stuff you use, so they will fill up again eventually. It is better than nothing, but it's a bandaid solution..

Well, yes, but a band-aid can help a lot when you're bleeding. If you need to make a critical update, clearing the cache let's you make it. If it fills up again, you've still got your update. Plus, there are some programs that may have been used at some point--like, say, Google+---and not used much since. They may have built up a cache. Clear everything--data, cache, etc. When you need them again, then worry about it.

I don't disagree that it's a hassle. But when you're literally running out of space (and on my old Sensation I was dropping down below 100 megs at times), every little bit helps, every trick to at least keep you up and running.

 

[jaredsutter]

NB: I'm not sure if the music here was DELIBERATELY stored. If the OP is streaming, there is a setting in Play MUSIC to turn OFF caching. DO NOT CACHE. That downloads everything you're streaming and eats up your space in an eyeblink.

Allowing it to cache in Play Music, or pinning music for offline play, increases the App Size, and is not stored under Audio. I have 152kb under Audio, but my Play Music app weighs in at 3.4GB because of cacheing and pinning. Your advice is good, but not applicable to OP, who has 8 gigs of audio files stored on the device, which seems a bit excessive to me, but not unreasonable.

I would agree with Christopher Matthews - the phone is not the place to store pictures. Move them to the cloud or to a computer or both, and you'll free up 3 gigs real quick.

 

[JeffDenver]

I don't disagree that it's a hassle. But when you're literally running out of space (and on my old Sensation I was dropping down below 100 megs at times), every little bit helps, every trick to at least keep you up and running.

The only real permanent fix is to simply delete media files. It sucks that it is even necessary, but there really is no way around it. I can store a good sized chunk of my MP3 library (6 gigs) and a few ebooks, but I can't keep videos or comics or whatever on my phone anymore.

 

[TheLibertarian]

Yes. Google created the Nexus 4. You learn something new every day.

I'll quote both your post and my prior post as you still seem to struggle with quoting.

Google has decided that you do not need to keep stuff on your phone, and need to be streaming it from the cloud instead. So this problem only occurs when you disagree with Google.

Google decided this?

Interesting. I didn't know Google commanded anyone which devices they were required to purchase.

When will your childish forum antics pass away? Word of advice: don't buy the next Nexus device. They aren't designed for a consumer like you, and you made the wrong choice in buying the Nexus 4 do to you failing to appropritely diagnose your needs from a phone. You made a mistake, and if it wasn't clear, that's your fault, too. You are the flaw here, not the Google or the Nexus 4 that you incorrectly chose to buy.