There appears to be widespread obsession with storing everything possible on a phone's SD card. I've read Android (I have 8.1 Oreo) uses an SD card formatted "internal" not "portable" the same as the factory-built internal memory. What difference does it make if the non-removable factory-built "internal memory" fills up? Supposedly, it doesn't make any difference to Android.
Why the obsession with storing everything to SD card?
- Thread starter LSMFTT
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Mooncatt
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- Feb 23, 2011
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Usually the people wanting SD cards fall into two categories.
They have/take tons of movies and photos, so they have a legit reason for wanting massive amounts of storage.
The others buy dirt cheap phones thinking they can save money but still have lots of space for apps because somewhere along the way they found out apps can be moved to the SD card. While true, it's not as simple as that (not everything can move, lost performance, data corruption, etc) and many of us here are quick to point out those problems.
Google confounded the problem when trying adoptable storage, which does treat the SD card the same as the internal storage. While this does give you more app space, the downsides become worse. Thankfully it was optional. You had to tell it to format the card as adopted storage, or it would treat the card as normal. It was also up to the manufacturers to allow it in the first place (many flagship OEM's did not).
I thought Google had abandoned the idea, though. Is it actually in Oreo?
They have/take tons of movies and photos, so they have a legit reason for wanting massive amounts of storage.
The others buy dirt cheap phones thinking they can save money but still have lots of space for apps because somewhere along the way they found out apps can be moved to the SD card. While true, it's not as simple as that (not everything can move, lost performance, data corruption, etc) and many of us here are quick to point out those problems.
Google confounded the problem when trying adoptable storage, which does treat the SD card the same as the internal storage. While this does give you more app space, the downsides become worse. Thankfully it was optional. You had to tell it to format the card as adopted storage, or it would treat the card as normal. It was also up to the manufacturers to allow it in the first place (many flagship OEM's did not).
I thought Google had abandoned the idea, though. Is it actually in Oreo?
Well, that's disappointing. I fall into the category of "..cheap phones thinking they can save money...". Yes, I'm new to smart phones. When I installed the SD card Oreo gave the choice of formatting "internal" or "portable". I did "internal" After doing pre-purchase research I bought the lower-mid-price phone thinking, 'why pay more'. So I've had this phone for less than two weeks and so far I haven't had any trouble. Your much appreciated answer is of concern because I may be in for an expensive education somewhere down the road.
Mooncatt
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Welcome to the forums and to the world of Smartphones.
Since this is new to you, I'll elaborate on the concerns of using SD cards for apps. For starters, even the fastest SD card is slower than internal storage. That means longer save and load times. For something like taking a photo (which is a relatively small file size), you likely won't notice this. If a game is on the card, you may notice the increased load times. In extreme cases (I.e. Trying to record 4K video straight to the card), the card may not be able to keep up and you lose the video. SD cards are best suited for individual files.
That brings me to the data loss issue. Android is constantly writing data to storage. Apps constantly have to save their various states as you work and tasks are switched. Internal storage chips are designed to handle this. SD cards not so much. The constant writing will break down the SD card quickly. When that happens, not only do you lose that bit of data, but the entire card could fail to the point you lose EVERYTHING on it.
If you use it as adoptable storage, you also can no longer pull the card and use it in anything else without reformatting it. You could not even transfer it to an identical phone.
There is a bright side, though. For one, you're not likely to be out much money. Being new to Android, you're also not likely to push the phone to its limits. It's not going to perform as well as something like a Note 9, but you don't need that kind of power if you're only checking email and web browsing. My first Android phone was a budget phone as well, and they are good for getting your feet wet. So use it and continue to learn the ecosystem. I would leave the SD card formatted as external and not adoptable storage. If you start running into problems with storage or general performance, then start looking to upgrade. By then you'll know more about what you want in a phone (basic net browsing, gaming, content creation, etc) and you can then ask here for suggestions that would suit you.
Since this is new to you, I'll elaborate on the concerns of using SD cards for apps. For starters, even the fastest SD card is slower than internal storage. That means longer save and load times. For something like taking a photo (which is a relatively small file size), you likely won't notice this. If a game is on the card, you may notice the increased load times. In extreme cases (I.e. Trying to record 4K video straight to the card), the card may not be able to keep up and you lose the video. SD cards are best suited for individual files.
That brings me to the data loss issue. Android is constantly writing data to storage. Apps constantly have to save their various states as you work and tasks are switched. Internal storage chips are designed to handle this. SD cards not so much. The constant writing will break down the SD card quickly. When that happens, not only do you lose that bit of data, but the entire card could fail to the point you lose EVERYTHING on it.
If you use it as adoptable storage, you also can no longer pull the card and use it in anything else without reformatting it. You could not even transfer it to an identical phone.
There is a bright side, though. For one, you're not likely to be out much money. Being new to Android, you're also not likely to push the phone to its limits. It's not going to perform as well as something like a Note 9, but you don't need that kind of power if you're only checking email and web browsing. My first Android phone was a budget phone as well, and they are good for getting your feet wet. So use it and continue to learn the ecosystem. I would leave the SD card formatted as external and not adoptable storage. If you start running into problems with storage or general performance, then start looking to upgrade. By then you'll know more about what you want in a phone (basic net browsing, gaming, content creation, etc) and you can then ask here for suggestions that would suit you.
Lina888
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- Jan 2, 2019
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I suppose this thread will be useful for you https://forums.androidcentral.com/s...721-sd-card-being-used-apps.html#post6431650]
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