Is it time for a new phone?

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kiwifidget

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#218072 24-Jul-2017 17:56

I love my Sony Xperia Z2, I really do. (Android 6.0.1)

But I've used 14.97 of the 16GB, and despite having a 32GB card in it, the phone is only using 1.42 GB of it.

I've moved as much stuff as possible but this seems to be the best I can manage.

So thinking I need to change up to a 32 or 64GB model.

If I replace my phone, what happens to the stuff on the card?

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Wade

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#1828761 25-Jul-2017 00:14

Can you use adoptable storage? Had a similar issue with my VF SU6, followed below guide to enable and now it sees my SD card as adopted storage and problem has gone away

https://www.xda-developers.com/enable-adoptable-storage-for-galaxy-s7-and-s7-edge/

kiwifidget

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#1829112 25-Jul-2017 14:36

@wade I'm fairly sure I have done that, but not much stuff gets put to the card.

I've gone through all the apps one by one, changing storage from internal to card wherever the option was offered, but it hasnt changed the situation much.

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evnafets

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#1829123 25-Jul-2017 14:45

So what is taking up all the space on the phone?

Apps?

Photos?

Movies?

What does it tell you under the "Storage" settings?

tehgerbil

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#1829168 25-Jul-2017 15:51

Personally I enjoy doing a factory reset every 3-4 months, or every major OS upgrade. E.G. 7.0 -> 7.11.

I take a screenshot(s) of my App Drawer and go through reinstalling just those apps I've used recently.

It also means I am forced to take all my photos off on to my PC/ USB hdd.

This really is the best and most reliable method of ensuring excellent performance.

The other benefit is I notice each and every time I've done this (over a dozen times across multiple devices) the battery noticeably lasts longer (before it eventually degrades again with the amount of installed Apps!).

We're rapidly reached/reaching a plateau whereby phone cameras are excellent, screens are excellent and battery life is about as good as we're going to get with the available density.

In fact that's somewhat evident by the major players all having to 'innovate' with a feature that frankly is dubious at best with the 2:1 screen ratios. The only real difference in todays devices are:

Sony XZ with the 960fps shooting.
HTC U11 with the squeezable frame.

Camera wise, they're all fantastic as since (arguably) the Samsung S6 two years ago not much has changed.
Screen wise, all are ultra high res.
Material wise, they're all either metal slab or metal and glass slab.

The only real difference between brands is the skin (OS) and minor features like mentioned above.

DeepBlueSky

547 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1829183 25-Jul-2017 16:03

before retiring your old Z2 I would try the following.

Check your on the latest release of Sony Firmware; if the Sony Firmware is too old have a look at something like http://lineagerom.com/download-install-lineage-14-1-sony-xperia-z2-nougat-7-1-1-rom/ or https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z2/development/rom-resurrection-remix-n-t3592250

Factory reset the phone, then reinstall what you need. I found this gave my old S5 a breath of fresh air with a new install of Resurrection Remix and the Pixel Launcher it looks like a Pixel :).

There are a number of great phones coming out soon, I'm holding off a few months until I can choose my new horse with Android O.

kiwifidget

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#1829233 25-Jul-2017 17:01

Thanks for the ideas. I find words like "factory reset" and "firmware" and "modding" a bit too much in the context of phones.

However, I may have to put my big undies on and give it a shot!

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1eStar

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#1829250 25-Jul-2017 17:58

Try clearing the cache. It can be more than a Gig sometimes.

Settings>storage>internal>cache etc. Once you find out tap on it and clear the cache.

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Wade

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#1829259 25-Jul-2017 18:32

You need to enable adoptable storage and then migrate the data across. interestingly enough Android seems to manage it well keeping jsut apps and respective cache on phone memory and all media, non app files and overflow apps on SD card. it has kept around a GB free on phone and then started filling up the SD card

My SU6 had got so bad that it was refusing to download app updates, i was clearing cache almost daily, it was running like crap as it was always 99% full, i had deleted all unnecessary apps, kept photos in google cloud etc

After enabling adoptable storage my 16gb + 64gb SD card are more than enough and the phone has become very manageable again, not running slow/laggy/etc

Other than reformatting your SD card (back up data first) no resets/rooting/modding are required, give it a go, nothing to lose, everything to gain

kiwifidget

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#1830319 25-Jul-2017 21:15

First hurdle : Z2 does not have feature to use SD as internal storage, despite having Marshmallow.

Space Usage:

Android system - 4.43GB (probably nothing I can do about this)

Apps - 6.92GB (a lot of these I cant uninstall, its not an option)

Images - 8.34MB (meh)

Videos - 8.00KB (even more meh)

Audio - 264KB (ringtones probably)

Other - 179MB (that's vague)

Cached Data - 3.65GB (this look like a good place to start).

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1eStar

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#1830398 25-Jul-2017 23:19

Tap on cache. Tap on clear. OK

kiwifidget

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#1831632 26-Jul-2017 14:23

Thank you everyone. I now have 8.5GB free on my phone.

And app updating has resumed.

No need to upgrade yet.

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Wade

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#1831675 26-Jul-2017 15:22

kiwifidget:

First hurdle : Z2 does not have feature to use SD as internal storage, despite having Marshmallow.

Space Usage:

Android system - 4.43GB (probably nothing I can do about this)

Apps - 6.92GB (a lot of these I cant uninstall, its not an option)

Images - 8.34MB (meh)

Videos - 8.00KB (even more meh)

Audio - 264KB (ringtones probably)

Other - 179MB (that's vague)

Cached Data - 3.65GB (this look like a good place to start).

The SU6 doesn't officially support it either either but going through ADB Shell allows you to turn functionality on