Unable to get apps transfered to SD card

[catzkittens]

I am re-submiting this question because the response I got earlier was, "are you sure the apps you are trying to move to SD are compatible?" ...YES!! At lest they are on every other device I have. One of the games and FB, FB Messenger, & some others are currently on two other device's SD cards... & My hubby has a Stylo G, which is older than mine, and his transfers ALL of the ones I want, with no problem, to the SD card. So.. I have an LG Stylo 2 phone. I am trying to put my games & other apps onto my SD card that I just got.. & while I've been able to copy some pictures to it, I cannot get the games or other apps to transfer to the SD card. There is supposed to be a button that says "change", (once you get into the settings-apps-storage), that should appear on all SD compatible apps, but although the SD shows that it is mounted, I never get option to "change" an apps storage from my internal storage to the SD card.

 

[SpookDroid]

I'm sorry you're getting frustrated by this, but the above question still applies: Are you SURE the apps you want to move can be moved to SD card?

Here's where it gets tricky, though... Just because you could move it in an older phone, doesn't mean you can on a newer one, and the 'culprit' is the OS itself. Android changed the way SD cards are handled (IIRC since KitKat at some point) because of security (that, and SD cards are slower than Internal Memory and very unreliable...just read the tons of posts here with 'I lost all my pictures from SD card, help!').

So, what does this mean? On Android ever since, apps will behave differently with SD cards. First, the app's main file will ALWAYS reside in Internal Memory. Always. Cannot be moved. And all installs/updates will happen in internal memory, so some apps, even when 'moved' to SD card, will be moved back to internal memory if you want to update them.

Now, for apps that can be moved, it's up to each developer to determine how much of the app, IF ANYTHING, can be moved to the card. Again, the app's main file cannot be moved, but devs can still allow off-loading stuff like media, downloads, game saves, extra assets, etc. onto external storage. And this is where the app might have changed and maybe the app doesn't allow moving to SD in newer versions.

Some phones support something called Adoptable Storage (yours doesn't, and pretty much the majority of phones don't) which is basically re-formatting the SD card into a format that's only usable in that specific phone (kinda how Nintendo's consoles used to do it, basically rendering your card unusable for anything else) and allowing the phone to 'extend' its internal memory onto the card. You can do something similar (but without the encryption and card re-formatting) by rooting and hacking the phone into doing the memory extension. BUT, as usual, if the card is removed or it fails (and it probably will at some point), your apps will probably misbehave, data could be lost, and you'd probably have to re-install the app. Which is why many devs don't allow moving apps to SD cards anymore.

(Also, side note for the forums... try to avoid creating another post with the same question. Rather give the feedback someone asked for in the same thread, that way we can keep track of what has been tried or not. Otherwise you're gonna keep getting the same suggestions over and over... Plus, it's just good Forum etiquette )

 

[catzkittens]

Ok...I think this is how to reply to you... I hope. Sorry about the poor etiquette, this is only the 2nd time I have ever gone on the internet and asked someone to help me that's human, & not Google search. So, I am really new at this. I was here once before, but I have no more clue now than I did then. So forgive please forgive me. ALSO! Thank you for your informative answer, and I promise that if I type in BOLD, IT REALLY DOESNT SIGNIFY frustration/anger, it just means I am too old to go back and correct it, when I lock my caps on without noticing it. How do I find out if my phone will allow me to store apps on SD? Do I call or get ahold of LG? My mobile service carrier? I have seen YouTube videos of how to do it, and on my type of phone, so somehow.it either is, or was, on my same handset. I have no storage left on my phone, even though I have hardly anything left on it. I send all my photos to the cloud, and delete them from my device, I have no extra fonts, emoticons, wallpapers, or apps, other than the system apps, and a photo editor, FB Messenger & FB, one card game, and I have uninstalled all my other games from internal storage & only play games that are playable through FB Messenger. I have I don't use most of the Google apps, keep my emails deleted & 4he trash emptied. I have a Droid optimizer that I have to use about every 15 minutes to get what little storage I can scrape up, to play a FB game. I don't know why I have less on it, but still no storage space. Can you suggest something I am possibly not emptying, or whatever? I don't have videos, ringtones, avitars, etc. I delete sms/mms the minute I read them, as well as voice mail, call logs, browser history, i never leave open tabs in the browser, I clean out my device cache the time, etc... Is there something else wrong with my phone, that is causing this lack of space, no matter what I do to get more? It makes no sense why this is still an issue, when it never was before, with tons more on my phone. I am sorry. Sigh. Thank you again, for your help thus far, I totally appreciate it. Will look forward to your response. Thank you!

 

[SpookDroid]

Hey, not a problem! That's why we're here, to try and help!

OK, first, how much internal memory does your phone have? Unfortunately with every iteration, the OS also takes up more space, so phones with 8 or 16 GB won't be able to do much these days other than basic apps/functions. If your phone has an SD card, apps can be moved. But only apps that allow per the long post above hehe. So, to change it, you should have to open your App Manager (usually in your phone's settings, finding Apps or Application Manager). There, select the app you want to move. In there, you should see a STORAGE section, and if you tap that, If the app supports moving, you should see a CHANGE button in the 'Storage Used' section of that screen.

Since I don't know which apps you have and I seldom move apps to the card anymore, the one I can confirm that can be moved is the Android Central app. So if you don't have it, try downloading it and checking the above steps. Does it show the CHANGE button? You can delete it after if you don't need the app, it's just to test

 

[catzkittens]

Thank you again for replying.. The device has an internal storage of 16GB & i have a 32GB SD card I am trying to use. I will try to install your app, but I am at 6% storage so I doubt it will do it. Thank you!

 

[ManiacJoe]

For the apps that use lots of storage space (camera, maps, GPS navigation, games) check the settings in each app to see if they allow their data to be stored on the SD card. Many of the big name apps now do this.

 

[catzkittens]

Hi! It's me again. Quick question... I realize this will make me sound somewhat ignorant, but apparently I am I this case, so bare with me. I have looked all over the place, but can't find your downloadable mobile app. so I can follow your advice, and see if it will transfer to SD. Where might I find the app to put on my phone?

 

[SpookDroid]

Here you go!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidcentral.app

Again, not trying to 'push' the AC app, so feel free to delete after testing... That's just the only one I'm sure supports being moved to SD card on newer OS versions.

 

[Mach Whitman]

Hello, I saw this thread and tried the method above to move apps onto a micro SD card. I'm using the Droid Razr M running android 4.4.2, but there isn't even a button to move the apps. If anyone has any information that would help, that would be much appreciated, thank you!

 

[Rukbat]

If there's no button, the app can't be moved. Not all apps will run from the SD card (dor example, no widgets will), so the developer can turn off the ability to move the app. And some of the newer "app building apps", that people who don''t know how to develop an app use to "make" an app. come that way - any app you "make" with them can't be moved (because it could be an app that won't run from the card).

Also, Android apps have to keep their current state stored at all times. that means a lot of writing to storage. If you move the part of the app (you don't move the whole app, you move pieces of it, leaving a link to each piece in internal storage, so if the pieces are small enough, you aren't saving any space - and how small they are is up to whatever "class" the person making the app uses for that function. So if you move the piece that writes to storage, it's going to be writing to the SD card constantly. And SD cards aren't designed to take that kind of abuse - they're rated by the number of writes. (eMMC storage, the internal storage, is different.)