Since applications can't be installed on the memory card, is there a limit to how many can be installed on the phone? Or should you keep an eye on how much memory is taken up before it impacts the performance of the phone?
edit: title should say on, not or...
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Hi
Are there any pros/cons to installing programs on the SD versus the device memory (not including that the SD's capacity is greater).
Tried a search but could not find an answer.
Thanks
diamondp3700 said:
Hi
Are there any pros/cons to installing programs on the SD versus the device memory (not including that the SD's capacity is greater).
Tried a search but could not find an answer.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think of your phone as a pc with limited space to store apps/software/programs/games etc. Now imagine you have filled most of the space available. What would happen to your pc? It would slow down wouldn't it?
Same applies to your phone.
Fallen Spartan said:
Think of your phone as a pc with limited space to store apps/software/programs/games etc. Now imagine you have filled most of the space available. What would happen to your pc? It would slow down wouldn't it?
Same applies to your phone.
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Click to collapse
correct me if i'm wrong but i've always been under the impression that certain apps works better off system memory. obviously you dont want to install everything there - stuff like games i keep on sd but system apps I (personally) keep in system memory.
imy300 said:
correct me if i'm wrong but i've always been under the impression that certain apps works better off system memory. obviously you dont want to install everything there - stuff like games i keep on sd but system apps I (personally) keep in system memory.
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Click to collapse
Your right, I had the same question myself but I noticed some apps would auto install to Device so obviously need to be there, I also follow FallenSpartens advice and try to limit what I put on device memory, I think its a personal choice thing, if you have the available memory use the device, as its faster access, however I dont use more than 50% of that memory.
There is an app called SD Tuneup that supposedly improves the SD data transfer up to 30% but I have had mixed reviews, but I installed to my device anyway lol......I install things like task bar apps to device etc all the rest on SD card, may as well mention too that I use Garmin XT this is a big GPS program which is mostly stored on the SD so there must not be a huge difference between the two.
Hope that helps
I am in the process of deciding to buy a Hero. I found in various other sites that Android apps cannot be installed in the SD card. Is it true. Is this a major inconvenience ? What are the implications ?
If you use the stock ROM, it does not install applications on the SD card. This means it uses the on-board memory for storage. Since this is shared with the operating system (Android), things start slowing down as the system tries to make enough space to run portions of apps in memory if you have downloaded and installed a lot of apps. However, custom ROMs such as MoDaCo's have been tweaked to allow you to store apps on the SD, saving your precious on-board memory for running apps.
you will have to install tons of apps, probably loads of which you will never even use, before you run into memory issues. There is plenty of memory onboard for the average joe to tinker and play with. You don't have to root and load a custom rom on these handsets to make them good, they are pretty slick straight out the box.
crash_194 said:
you will have to install tons of apps, probably loads of which you will never even use, before you run into memory issues. There is plenty of memory onboard for the average joe to tinker and play with. You don't have to root and load a custom rom on these handsets to make them good, they are pretty slick straight out the box.
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Indeed. After installing tons of apps, I realized that I had 40mb of free space on board yesterday and of course it is frustrating. However, I went through all the applications in "Manage Applications" screen and cleared all the cache they have been using. Now I have like double empty space ~80mb. And of course I still have tons of applications and games.
Agreed. Dont believe the statement 'Things start slowing down', he doesnt know what hes on about.
There are two sections of memory, one for storing apps + os and one for running apps. If you install 500 apps and almost fill the apps + os part the memory for running apps is unaffected.
I'm sure storing apps on the SD card is fine, but remember that this was originally done for the T-Mobile G1 which had little memory for apps, the hero has a lot more.
Here's a problem I don't understand:
How are most ppl able to install so many things on their HD2 and not use up memory space?
So my HD2 has a total of 193.43MB of Storage and 457.01MB of Program.
When I install games and programs and apps, I install them on the device. This takes up "Storage" memory.
I guess, what is the difference? And how can I choose between where (On device or micro) to install each type of game, apps, program?
1) What uses Program memory? What uses Storage memory?
2) If I install a game on the microSD, and do a flash to a new ROM, will I have to re-install the game on the microSD again?
You should keep a basic strategy:
Whatever prog belongs to the operating system (like HTCSense-hacks, GUIs etc.) or should work without storage card:
Install it to the main memory
Whatever prog is not operating system critical (games, browsers, navi-software, apps, photos, videos etc.):
Install it on the SD-Card (the setup in 99% allows You to choose between main memory and Storage Card). It will eat up little by little Your RAM (by adding values in the registry, icons regs in the startup-menu), but this might centuries ´till RAM is full.
Move Cashes to SD-card as described in
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
and try to keep main data memory above 50 MB.
Maybe installing progs to the SD-Card might make progs a litlle bit slower (not much though) but this way You can install hundreds of apps on Your HD2 (and never forget: before installing a new prog make a full backup of the main memory e.g. with SPB-Backup and if the new prog crashes Your device restore. Also for this it is ALWAYS better to install a new app to SD-Card instead main mem).
lemonspeakers said:
Here's a problem I don't understand:
How are most ppl able to install so many things on their HD2 and not use up memory space?
So my HD2 has a total of 193.43MB of Storage and 457.01MB of Program.
When I install games and programs and apps, I install them on the device. This takes up "Storage" memory.
I guess, what is the difference? And how can I choose between where (On device or micro) to install each type of game, apps, program?
1) What uses Program memory? What uses Storage memory?
2) If I install a game on the microSD, and do a flash to a new ROM, will I have to re-install the game on the microSD again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Program memory is RAM that is used by the operating system when executing programs.
Storage memory is where apps are installed and are then available through your icon links.
Calls are made from ROM to storage and then executed in RAM.
There are a number of issues to bear in mind when deciding where to install apps.
Installing to mem card results in slower operation of the app.
Installing to mem card results in higher power usage and therefore drains the battery quicker.
Installing to mem card can result in operating system freezes and overall slowdowns.
Installing to mem card will establish app links with the operating system that won't necessarily be usable if you flash other OS ROMs. Fresh reinstallation of apps should always be done after a flash of any new ROM anyway to keep things clean and running smoothly and reduce operational glitches to a minimum.
Any backup and restore software should only be used when restoring to the same
ROM and never across a ROM change. Sync all items you can before and resync afterwards.
Only install to mem card those apps that force you to or when you have run out of main storage and similarly have no choice.
If you know you are going to install masses of apps from the outset then as had been mentioned install operating system critical apps to main mem and the rest as you can using mem card last.
This is all good practice and good housekeeping.
Great Post !
Great thread !!!
I always wonder if Storage and program memory can be modified.
It was a long long long time ago, it was possible with my palm pilot...
Is there an application for monitoring RAM usage ?
I have about 190 Mo of free Ram and 39 Mo of free program memory.
woaloo said:
Great thread !!!
I always wonder if Storage and program memory can be modified.
It was a long long long time ago, it was possible with my palm pilot...
Is there an application for monitoring RAM usage ?
I have about 190 Mo of free Ram and 39 Mo of free program memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no real reason to monitor any mem usage unless you operate in a memory hungry fashion. And that will only occur with the install of numerous apps. If you run out of storage mem then that's the time to do something about it and if that doesn't happen, then don't worry about it because your phone won't know the difference.
Is the phone's internal memory shared for both app-storage AND running processes? I had assumed they were separate memory pools.
I monitor my Running Services pretty closely and I can see the memory mgmt only trying to maintain about 18 MB free. The phone starts to lag if there's less than that so I would like to see more available, e.g. 30 MB! Would implementing A2SD achieve this? Again, I was under the impression that it would not. Other threads have specifically stated that A2SD has nothing at all to do with performance and instead is intended to make it easier to switch ROMs by maintaining all your installed apps on the SD card (apart from the memory you need to flash when changing ROMs)
Thank you for any clarification!
Internal memory has nothing to do with RAM, which is what running processes use.
You want auto killer. Can set your minimum memory free and forget it, and let android maintain it.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
I just wanted to know what are some OTHER benefits to movie apps to the SD card?
I know that it will save you some space on the built-in phone memory, but is that really it?
Please correct me if i'm wrong, Won't the apps launch faster and run smoother if they are on the built-in phone memory? Also won't it save a little bit a battery since it doesn't have to transfter back and for from built-in phone memory<->SD to run apps?
Just a thought.
There's no difference at this time, now that phones come with at least 1gb or rom. In the future, when games increase in size, there will be some benefit to it but I wouldn't worry about it at this time.