Android Storage - How does it work?

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Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#139358 6-Feb-2014 12:06

Hello All,

My sister got her kids cheap android tablets from the warehouse for christmas. I think they are android 4.0 or 4.1.
When they visited me last time they were asking me to help them put games on them, but I was having trouble understanding how to overcome the odd storage restrictions (I don't understand what the restrictions even are)

I'm more familiar with iOS where all the storage is available for anything.

The tablets have supposedly 4GB of storage, but when I go to install an app it shows only 350mb free for installing apps. There is almost nothing on these tablets in the way of apps or media.

I recommended she get some microSD cards but she's quite short of cash, and also i'm not sure if there are more restrictions on what can be put on the flash storage.

I guess there is some kind of partition? Correct? Can the device be re-partitioned? How do we put more stuff on these. Any tips appreciated.

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335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#981167 6-Feb-2014 12:34

First thing to do would be to find out the exact brand and model of the tablets. Repartitioning internal memory is quite a complex and potentially dangerous process, so I would recommend staying away from that (assuming there are even any devs working on that for this model).

Buying SD cards may not be the best option either as some apps cannot be moved to the SD card (depends on android version and OEM customisations). Your best option may be to use an app to change mounting points so the OS thinks the SD card is the internal memory and vice versa. This would require root and again would depend on make/model etc.

Amosnz

567 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#981172 6-Feb-2014 12:48

The internal storage will be split into system/data/cache and internal.
The storage area for installing apps is much smaller than the entire device storage.
I'd guess most of the storage is an 'internal SD partition', if you plug it into a computer this is the partition that shows up.

Speedtest

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#981177 6-Feb-2014 12:52

Thanks for the info so far, I still don't really get it.

Its a Nextbook 7inch 4GB tablet, like this but 4GB i think

Another limitation I came across, is that we couldn't even install a 180MB app, because from my understanding, it has to download/save the app into this tiny partition, before trying to unpack it there too. So an app that is 180MB needs actually 360MB free or more? Am I correct?

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#981183 6-Feb-2014 13:08

Is it possible to install apps into the 'internal SD partition'?

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#981188 6-Feb-2014 13:19

The 4GB memory is not necessarily storage space. As mentioned earlier it will be split into system, data, cache etc. The partition the device is set up to use for application storage will be significantly smaller than 4GB. (think of it like a pie graph)

You can change the mounting points of the internal memory (application storage) to something else eg. an SD card. However this will require root access and involves a bit of messing around with the file system.

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#981195 6-Feb-2014 13:33

Okay thanks, I'll look into how I might root it then.

Once rooted is there an app that can change the mounting points? Or do I have to 'hack' it?

SCUBADOO

192 posts

Master Geek

#981205 6-Feb-2014 13:45

"Once Rooted".

Install Link2SD. Almost everything can be installed (linked) to the microSD card.
My Huawei Y300 "4GB" phone has 1.11GB for user data available . With 300+ apps installed there is still 754MB free.

Have fun.

Equinox IT

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jeffnz

2870 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#981213 6-Feb-2014 13:53

a quick search shows a few nextbooks but not sure if all the 8's are the same but here is one thread on rooting

Galaxy S10

Garmin Fenix 5

blackjack17

1705 posts

Uber Geek

#981269 6-Feb-2014 15:24

Rather than muck around with rooting esp if you don't really know what you are doing, just buy an 16GB micro sd card.

Than can be had for as little as $11

http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?o=produkt_pris_inkmoms&l=s161572688

Or spend $16 dollars and get a better quality one

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1582533

No more fiddling round with storage space, if money is an issue buy it for her and call it an early bday/Christmas present

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uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#981281 6-Feb-2014 15:38

The reason rooting was suggested was because it is not as simple as buying an SD card for storing apps. If it was then that would have been a no brainer.

blackjack17

1705 posts

Uber Geek

#981346 6-Feb-2014 16:47

Some andriod versions have the option of saving to sd. I thought all did but just looking at my s4 it doesnt seem to have that option.

You should still be able to move some apps to sd card

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Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#981357 6-Feb-2014 17:07

Well, this is a bit discouraging.

I'm not going to buy her microSD cards because she already owes me money, and it doesn't look like it will help anyway.
Rooting it looks a bit too difficult because its not such a mainstream tablet.

Perhaps I'll recommend she returns them under CGA, because they're "not suitable for purpose".

jeffnz

2870 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#981374 6-Feb-2014 17:24

I think that " not suitable for purpose" is subjective, what is its purpose is it to have large games downloaded or access the net and perform functions commensurate with its capabilities and price, if one expects lower end devises to perform the same as higher end but for less then I would suggest there will always be frustration.
Annoying as it may seem my opinion is that you are stuck with it.

As to apps to SD you will need to look at rooting if your firmware doesn't support it.

Galaxy S10

Garmin Fenix 5

mikerussellnz

283 posts

Ultimate Geek

#981389 6-Feb-2014 17:44

I think the OP's purpose was to be able to use all the 4gb of storage for whatever the person likes. If I buy a laptop then I can fill the entire hard drive with whatever I want.

I guess if there is a disclaimer on the box that says only a limited amount of the space can be used for apps then maybe that is ok.

I would say possibly try taking them back.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#981397 6-Feb-2014 17:52

You won't be able to fill an entire laptop hard drive with whatever you like. The operating system takes up space regardless of what device you are using. Advertising total space is pretty standard. A 16GB iphone will only have about 13GB of usable space, same thing with any other device, Android, Windows Phone, Mac, PC etc.

If the salesperson selling the device to the OP said that they can use that 4GB of space for storing apps etc, then there would be a right of return as it is not working as advertised. Other than that there's not a lot that can be done, any accepted return under other circumstances would be at the goodwill of the retailer.

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