Is there a newbie's guide to using an SD card on the S4?

[lvirden]

I have never had a smartphone before this. I have a laptop, desktops, etc. and have used Unix for years. I have read that there are some similarities in how things work on the S4 and those.

The memory in my phone is about 70% full. I have an SD card that came from my former phone that has some photos and music on it.

I have no idea how the S4 is making use of the memory.
Do I have to explicitly move things from on the phone memory to the SD card like I had to on my old not-smartphone?

Can applications be installed on the SD Card?

If I have stuff installed on the SD card, and I want to upgrade to an SD card with more memory, is there a simple way to do this?

What applications make dealing with this easier for the user?



Thank you all for your comments!

 

[Goodspike]

Only certain apps can be installed on the microSD card.

Go to Settings/More/Application Manager and then push over one screen ("SD Card") to see which apps can be moved. You move them by checking the box on that screen.

You can also put music on the card either via a USB cable (the Samsung one may be required) or a card reader.

 

[lvirden]

So right now I have been resigned to using the "Gallery" photo viewing app because it is what was on the device. Am I able to consolidate all my photos on the SD card as well?

So much for me to learn! I am not certain where to read to learn this kind of thing.

 

[lvirden]

Also, if the app info has a move to sd button, and I use it, am I going to see much difference in the way that things work? I noticed that several of the applications appeared to have been installed on the SD card to begin with, which is cool as long as I don't run out of space on the card as well...

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Also, if the app info has a move to sd button, and I use it, am I going to see much difference in the way that things work?

For the most part, you won't see any difference. There are exceptons though.

1. Standalone widgets won't work from the sd card. Apps that contain widgets will work, but not the widget part (e.g., Soundhound).
2. Apps that require boot notification to function (e.g., scheduler or IM apps) won't work from sd card.
3. You'll ntice that homescreen shortcuts for apps on sd won't show their proper icon (or possibly any icon) until the very end of the boot cycle, since sd gets loaded last.

HTH!

 

[itsallgood]

6487585[/URL]]So right now I have been resigned to using the "Gallery" photo viewing app because it is what was on the device. Am I able to consolidate all my photos on the SD card as well?

So much for me to learn! I am not certain where to read to learn this kind of thing.

Welcome to the world of smartphone and Android. You will find very useful people in these forums to help you with your phone.

Now to answer your questions. I personally don't like the stock gallery app (The one that came with the phone.) I use an app called Quickpic to organize all my photos and videos. You can create folders, within the app, to keep pictures organized. (I believe you can do the same with the stock gallery app too) You will have to move the pictures, from the camera folder, to the folders you create to organize them. (The camera folder, is the default folder, all pictures and videos are placed in.) From the camera/recorder app, under settings, change the location storage to SD card. (This will save everything taken with the app to SD card.)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alensw.PicFolder

6487599[/URL]]Also, if the app info has a move to sd button, and I use it, am I going to see much difference in the way that things work? I noticed that several of the applications appeared to have been installed on the SD card to begin with, which is cool as long as I don't run out of space on the card as well...

As mentioned, no. For the most part you can move big game apps to SD card. (If you have a lot of game apps.) I have close to 300 apps on my phone and am a big gamer. All of my gaming apps are on my SD card and I haven't noticed any issues. Also, I have all my music, pictures and videos on SD card. (Just something to keep in mind.)