Why are my Android apps staying in Device Memory?

[AC Question]

I have a Galaxy Tab 4 10 inch tablet with 16gb of device memory.

As the memory was becoming full I decided to move some apps to an SD card using the usual 'move to SD card' option.

However some of these apps are still showing in Device Memory despite showing that they have been moved to SD card.

I now have a device that is filling up fast with a lot of SD card space that apparently isn't being fully used. The only way I can make more space now is to uninstall apps which then frees up extra device memory.

Why do some apps still take up memory even after being moved and how can I stop this happening?

 

[Crashdamage]

When you move Apps to SD, it does not move the entire app. At least part of the app must stay where installed so it's in the correct pathway and can function. There's no way to get around this.

Install this simple little app called Storage Truth. It's very small and will install in very limited space. It will tell you how much space you actually have left for installing apps:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...pps/details?id=sa.storagetruth&token=lqfiT1z6

To make space you can:
Delete some texts or emails. If you really have lots, this can help.
Delete or move photos and videos.
Uninstall app updates.
Uninstall apps.
Clear cache files. However, that will only make space temporarily as cache files will rebuild over time. Also, while clearing cache files won't hurt anything, they're there to speed up operation and should be left alone. Not recommended.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.