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iPhone 4S 64Gb -> Note 2 16Gb: SD card can compensate?

S

Scorpio001

Newbie
Hi all,

Moving from an iPhone 4S 64GB, does one also need to get the Note 2 64GB?

Is it possible for an external 64GB SD card to make up for the difference with a Note 2 16GB model?

What are the limitations (or benefits) of the external SD card?


Cheers
Tom
 
I just asked a similar question. It comes down to what the bulk of your memory needs are. If it is media you will be fine since that can all be stored on your SD card. If you want a million apps then there might be a problem since I was told you can no longer put apps on your SD card.
 
acrbill said:
I just asked a similar question. It comes down to what the bulk of your memory needs are. If it is media you will be fine since that can all be stored on your SD card. If you want a million apps then there might be a problem since I was told you can no longer put apps on your SD card.
Click to expand...

I don't know why people are under the impression that the internal storage of 16gb wouldn't be enough just for apps. Just to give you an idea, I have a Motorola Photon for Sprint (right now).

It has 16gb internal storage (3gb of which are partitioned for apps only). I have 204 apps installed on my phone and I still have 1gb left, just for apps and haven't moved any of the apps to the "sd card" (in partition terms, that would be the remainder of the internal storage not specified for apps). The additional internal storage is more important for cache on apps, or say for instance you use apps like Flixster (that allow you to play owned movies through their player, while offline, but require the files to be stored on internal storage).

So, it's not necessarily the apps that would take up so much space (unless you're looking to buy/install millions of apps). It's more-so additional backup/media needs that must be kept on internal storage.
 
It depends what apps you have though. If you have a load of apps which are all 15 meg then you have tonnes of space and wont get close to your storage limit, however if you have aphalt 7 (1.4GB), gta (500MB), and shadowgun (600) for example then you have already used up well over 2gb. Also added to that you actually only have 11 GB of storage on the phone it would be extremely useful if i could move some of the big apps, but you can't... :(
 
I don't see it being an issue after what drex just said. You'd have to be actively trying to fill up that space and not be willing to move apps to that other partition.
 
JunBringer said:
that's odd, I predict an uproar from people online about this.
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Many already have been, but the good news is that some of the new phones seem to have done away with internal storage partitioning, so that opens up possibilities.

So, take the photon that had a 3gb apps + 8.92 available storage capacity available, that would translate to 11.92 internal storage of 16gb total. What doesn't make sense to me is why they'd prevent apps from being moved to sd, unless that was deemed to cause issues with ICS and jelly bean? Who knows. Maybe that's part of project butter. Maybe, because developers were encouraged to only load updates on the sites without loading an entire new apk is making google feel that extra storage for apps isn't necessary.

I can make due with how things have changed.
 
For me, it's not really a problem. I simply use my phones ~11GB purely for apps, while all media I store on an external card. Even with a few games (incl. for example Nova3 @ ~ 1.5GB) and hundreds of 'regular' apps, it really isn't a problem, as I still have 5GB of free space. So I could probably install an additional 5 BIG games and then still have room for many more small apps.
 
Hmmm....I suppose you can't move media from apps like magazine apps and such? I have an account with The New Yorker and download the mags.
 
wyndslash said:
Hmmm....I suppose you can't move media from apps like magazine apps and such? I have an account with The New Yorker and download the mags.
Click to expand...

I would hope and expect that would be on external; can anyone else chime in? I would like to know, also.
 
R4nd0mJ0k3r said:
For me, it's not really a problem. I simply use my phones ~11GB purely for apps, while all media I store on an external card. Even with a few games (incl. for example Nova3 @ ~ 1.5GB) and hundreds of 'regular' apps, it really isn't a problem, as I still have 5GB of free space. So I could probably install an additional 5 BIG games and then still have room for many more small apps.
Click to expand...

I've been saying the exact same thing everywhere I go but people seem determined they NEED to move apps to sd or their phone in all it's glory will become worthless.
 
wyndslash said:
Hmmm....I suppose you can't move media from apps like magazine apps and such? I have an account with The New Yorker and download the mags.
Click to expand...


SoulSmilen said:
I would hope and expect that would be on external; can anyone else chime in? I would like to know, also.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on how the developer sets up the app to store the magazines.

A good exanple I've been using is Flixster. If you've purchased a bluray or dvd that also includes a digital copy, many studios use flixster for customers to either stream or download the hard file. If the user decides to download, for offline viewing, the actual file is stored on the internal storage. It can't be identified if moved manually to the external sd. What I do is download and then move hard files to the sd. When I need to watch them, I move them back into the internal storage folder. It's a pain in the butt, but does save space.

Now, on a magazine app, I guess it would depend on how the files download. If they can be identified via astro or any other file explorer type app, then I see no reason y the same can't be done. Of course, it'd be ideal if the dev made the app capable of identifying the hard files from the external storage.
 
drexappeal said:
I think it depends on how the developer sets up the app to store the magazines.

A good exanple I've been using is Flixster. If you've purchased a bluray or dvd that also includes a digital copy, many studios use flixster for customers to either stream or download the hard file. If the user decides to download, for offline viewing, the actual file is stored on the internal storage. It can't be identified if moved manually to the external sd. What I do is download and then move hard files to the sd. When I need to watch them, I move them back into the internal storage folder. It's a pain in the butt, but does save space.

Now, on a magazine app, I guess it would depend on how the files download. If they can be identified via astro or any other file explorer type app, then I see no reason y the same can't be done. Of course, it'd be ideal if the dev made the app capable of identifying the hard files from the external storage.
Click to expand...

Someone mentioned this in another post, the problem IS the devs. There are many many apps that can identify data/files on external and use them for the app, even game files. If game apps can do it, ANY app should be able to.
 
SoulSmilen said:
Someone mentioned this in another post, the problem IS the devs. There are many many apps that can identify data/files on external and use them for the app, even game files. If game apps can do it, ANY app should be able to.
Click to expand...

Yup. Even apps that have backup for settings can identify files from the external sd, which is why it doesn't make sense to me why all app devs don't do it. I'm not a programmer, so I can't say how difficult it is to do, but just wish more devs would do it.
 
Let's remember for the op - iPhone apps are much larger than Android apps by necessity.

Android has a common set of software services that are ever-present on your phone. Apps call those services. Exactly the same as a PC.

iOS isn't that way. Apps each carry their own baggage, even if it means duplication. It's how iOS manages to be fast, but the trade-off is that iPhones have more storage because they need more storage.

Android, like a PC, benefits instead from having faster processors in order to manage the multitasking software stack.

iPhone - works best with more storage.

Android - works best with faster processors.

You can fit the same functionality of any iPhone into an Android with far less storage, as a general rule of thumb.

Then customize as needed with the size of the sd card.
 
EarlyMon said:
Let's remember for the op - iPhone apps are much larger than Android apps by necessity.

Android has a common set of software services that are ever-present on your phone. Apps call those services. Exactly the same as a PC.

iOS isn't that way. Apps each carry their own baggage, even if it means duplication. It's how iOS manages to be fast, but the trade-off is that iPhones have more storage because they need more storage.

Android, like a PC, benefits instead from having faster processors in order to manage the multitasking software stack.

iPhone - works best with more storage.

Android - works best with faster processors.

You can fit the same functionality of any iPhone into an Android with far less storage, as a general rule of thumb.

Then customize as needed with the size of the sd card.
Click to expand...

^ This is what I told my son earlier this evening. We had this very conversation about android apps not using as much storage as iOS apps do.
 
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