Where did my 3GB of storage go?

[npark2012]

I bought the new nexus 7 today and I am loving it. I got the 16gb model. I checked my storage and it says I have 12.2 gb total storage. Where did the rest of the space go to? I know the os takes space too but that seems a bit much no? My galaxy nexus has 16 gb too but it has a bit more storage and they're both running 4.3 android. Any thoughts?

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[chadthebuilder]

The remaining storage goes to the OS, preinstalled apps, and such. That actually is a relatively low amount compared to most TouchWiz devices, which seem to use 4+ gigs of preinstalled space.

Posted from my Samsung Galaxy tab with Android 4.2.2

 

[npark2012]

The remaining storage goes to the OS, preinstalled apps, and such. That actually is a relatively low amount compared to most TouchWiz devices, which seem to use 4+ gigs of preinstalled space.

Posted from my Samsung Galaxy tab with Android 4.2.2

Oh really? I still don't understand how my phone has more space than my tablet though they are both nexus devices and have the same os and same pre-installed apps.

Sent from my Oven

 

[thla]

Oh really? I still don't understand how my phone has more space than my tablet though they are both nexus devices and have the same os and same pre-installed apps.

Sent from my Oven

Different partition scheme probably, the space isn't physically used, it's simply not addressable to the end user.

 

[npark2012]

Different partition scheme probably, the space isn't physically used, it's simply not addressable to the end user.

Hmm I see. Thanks for the clarification.

Sent from my Oven

 

[thla]

Hmm I see. Thanks for the clarification.

Sent from my Oven

Looks like someone made an app to list the partitions and their addressable space as well: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...s/details?id=com.cls.partition&token=FEWH0Fb8

That way you can compare between the two and see exactly where the discrepancy is.

 

[anon(5719825)]

Below is the real answer. When you buy a 16GB device, you are still getting the 16GB as advertised but the software computes that space as a different amount. so the 12 GB space that you have is real then take away even more space for the OS and apps. On a 32GB device, you actually have about 27GB space and then take away even more for the OS and apps.

It's all in how the space is advertised and how the device actually reports that space: Megabits vs megabytes. Two different devices running the same OS versions will also not have the same amount of space available due to differences in features that the devices use such as a Nexus 4 and a Nexus 7.

The prefix mega- means "1 million", and a byte is usually made up of 8 bits, so:
A megabit (Mbit) is
1,000,000 bits
1,000 kilobits (kbit)
A megabyte (MB) is
1,000,000 bytes (B)
1,000 kilobytes (kB)
8,000,000 bits
8,000 kilobits (kbit)


In some contexts, people in the computing and information technology industry use the prefix mega differently. Because digital computing is based upon a binary numbering system, mega- in many cases meant 1,048,576, while in others it meant 1,000,000.

With the increase in use of, and access to, the technology by persons with little or no education in digital computing, or experience of this historical meaning, the prefixes mega- and kilo- etc. became confusing because of their ambiguous meanings.

With the increase in storage capacities, the discrepancy between the two measurement systems became much larger and more important, and the old meaning of mega in the binary numbering system is now, therefore, formally known as megabinary.