Help Getting apps to install to microSD card

[Kenzou]

Hi,

I just got my Alcatel One Touch Pop Icon yesterday(which runs KitKat/4.4,) and for the most part am figuring it out easily enough.

I've just put a new MicroSD card in and the phone recognizes it's there(and gives me the amount used/free on it, as I loaded a lot of photos and other files on it before putting it in the phone,) and when I try to install a new app(Evernote, to be exact,) I get the message: "Error downloading 'Evernote." There is insufficient space on the device."

There is definitely almost no space left on the phone's storage itself, but I want to know how to get apps to simply install to my microSD when space is full on the phone. How might I achieve this? Thanks in advance!

 

[Hadron]

Without rooting you probably can't. Installing apps to SD is not a standard Android feature since 4.0, and only moved part of the app even when it did exist.

If you go to Settings >Apps > Downloaded and select some apps is there a button to move the app to sd? And if there is, can you find any app for which it is not greyed-out? If the answer to either is "no" then rooting followed by some further mods is the only way.

The reason I asked you to check is that some manufacturers have added it back to some phones, and I don't know that model. But I'm expecting the answer to be no.

 

[Kenzou]

I tried several apps in that "downloaded" menu, and no dice on any of them. This is pretty horrid that I have 32GB of storage on that card and for some insane reason am not allowed to install apps to it--but I doubt I'll find a lot of people on these forums disagreeing with that.

Rooting doesn't sound out of the question, though. Is that something that A) isn't likely to cause any permanent problems for the phone and B) won't get me in any breach of contract or other trouble with Tracfone? I'm willing to learn if it's likely it can be done on this model. Thanks for your reply!

Oh, and it's off-topic, but you get infinite respect for your avatar. Just caught up on the show a few weeks ago after not having seen it in about half a lifetime.

 

[Hadron]

Rooting is device-specific, so the best place for advice on how would be to visit the forum for your device. We have an All Things Root subforum in each device forum where such things are discussed. It's not likely to cause damage if you understand what you are doing before you do anything - I root all of my devices. Since it is making an unauthorised modification to the system software some manufacturers or carriers will consider your warranty void if they find the phone to be rooted. I'm not familiar with that carrier so don't know their policies.

TBH the manufacturers all know that apps cannot be moved to sd, so I am disappointed that so many sell phones with limited storage as if an sd slot solves everything - it works for people who install few or small apps but store a lot of media, but does not work for anyone installing many or large apps. Those with experience know to pay attention to the amount of internal storage even if there is an sd slot, but the people who sell phones don't often put much effort into explaining (if they even know - I've been told spectacularly inaccurate things by phone salespeople over the years).

 

[Kenzou]

I'll check out that subforum. I'm a bit scared of anything remotely risky, as I'm poor and this was a gift, but I may consider it once I've done a lot of research.

It really is insane how little storage this thing has. I was able to put a handful of small games on it, some fairly small apps, and FL Studio, the only big one, and I doubt I'll ever be able to put much else here without rooting, assuming that'll be safe in my case. I wish I'd known that before negotiating finally getting a smartphone(I spent the past 10+ years with a numpad, which nobody should have to endure.)