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Help "Low on space" phone/application storage notification

From what I have heard it's not the apps that cause this, it's the limited amount of space allotted for cache.

Did you try finding out what app is using the most space? Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > All (along the top) > Menu button > Sort by size.

There is another thread specifically for this located: http://androidforums.com/incredible-support-troubleshooting/73545-notifications-low-space.html

Most (not all) there seem to think it was the htc mail app, however I have never experienced this problem (just watch, it'll show up 3 minutes after posting this :-)
 
pinkbillows said:
@ dltberry: has the K-9 and Handcent been a permanent fix for the "low on space' message since your original post?

I have Handcent already but didn't care for K-9 interface when I installed it a few months ago (I uninstalled it shortly after downloading). However, I could live with K-9 if it means I'll no longer have to clear the caches and stored data on my my apps a few times a week.
Click to expand...

I was getting low on space error every few days. In July I deleted my Android mail accounts and installed K-9 mail. I have not had an error since. As far as I can see, it has been a permanent fix.
 
I wonder if sms has something to do with it, I never have more than 20 msgs saved at a time. I always delete them and keep it fresh.
 
Smabbage said:
Here is what I found after some research on XDA forum and other sources. The DINC has a 150 Meg partition that contains program data. The location is /data/data. If this partition gets below 14 or 15 Megs you get the low space warning. What I've had to do is open my application manager and clear program and or cache data to free up space in this partition. The main culprits for space consumption in the data/data partition are Web Browsers, Barnes and Noble's Nook app stores a 10 Meg file (ridiculous if you ask me), Kindle (If you have a lot of books. Up to 2 to 3 Megs of data), Message app (If you store all your old text messages with image and movie attachments, this is a bigy.), The navigation app, and Double Twist just to name a few. Your mileage may vary but these are good starting points.
Click to expand...

^^^

Anyone having this problem should use a file manager and check /data/data for current space. May have to remove apps and app data/cache as needed.
 
I've never posted before, but whenever I have a problem with my Incredible I come here to the Forum. The low space thing was really frustrating me, as there was plenty, and itbedave's fix of deleting flash's latest update did it for me. For now, anyway. I've had the phone since early May with nary a problem (except accidentally deleting the clock, and I found out where to get it back here) and this low space icon just popped up two days ago. So thanks, all. The Forum is a wonderful resource, even though I understand about 1/10 of what I read, sadly.....
 
PThe problem is the cache is full and needs to be cleared out. *I have hundreds of Apps and that is NOT the problem. *
Here is how you clear out the cache and this sorts out the problem:
From the home screen > Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage Applications
Wait for all the icons of your Apps to appear then touch the Running Tab at the top
Click Menu then Sort by Size (the largest apps will appear at the top)
Select each app and then CLEAR DATA.
Till clear your cache and solve the "Low on Space" problem. *The biggest cache users are your email apps.
:eek:
 
Ok, so having that stupid icon at the top AGAIN! It happened the first time I went to Froyo and it appeared again.

It says I have low storage, I have 6+ gb available on my phone and 14+ on my sd card.

Also, my push email for gmail stopped working. However, I am not so worried about that because my battery is so much better now without it pushing emails.

Another issue is that I can't receive MMS, it says that my phone storage is too low.
 
mister_tu said:
Ok, so having that stupid icon at the top AGAIN! It happened the first time I went to Froyo and it appeared again.

It says I have low storage, I have 6+ gb available on my phone and 14+ on my sd card.

Also, my push email for gmail stopped working. However, I am not so worried about that because my battery is so much better now without it pushing emails.

Another issue is that I can't receive MMS, it says that my phone storage is too low.
Click to expand...


You're probably having this issue because the partition android uses for app data/cache if too small compared to the size/number of apps we can have on our phones (the data/data folder. Different from the 700+mb of app storage). There are several other threads about this issue.
 
euph_22 said:
You're probably having this issue because the partition android uses for app data/cache if too small compared to the size/number of apps we can have on our phones (the data/data folder. Different from the 700+mb of app storage). There are several other threads about this issue.
Click to expand...

Merged threads
 
Just a thought because i'm not having the issue, but this is something I do all the time. If you are rooted, try going into recovery and clear your cache and dalvik cache. Obviously, don't delete the data.

The only reason I mention this is because when I install a new ROM, I always use Titanium Backup to uninstall all of the junk\bloatware that I don't want. My storage space never increases until I go into recovery and wipe the cache and dalvik cache. Then I recover the space these apps used. I also noticed the same thing happening when I uninstall market apps so that's why I started clearing those two caches once or twice a month. Don't know if that's why I never have this problem, but it's worth a shot to see what happens.

Also, I noticed that the SD card and phone storage settings don't list system cache totals. Get an app like Quick System Information because it shows system cache totals as well. I'd be curious to see what everyone who is having problems has for their system cache totals. Maybe the problem has to do with not having any system cache space left even though you have plenty of internal storage space.
 
aaron_h said:
PThe problem is the cache is full and needs to be cleared out. *I have hundreds of Apps and that is NOT the problem. *
Here is how you clear out the cache and this sorts out the problem:
From the home screen > Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage Applications
Wait for all the icons of your Apps to appear then touch the Running Tab at the top
Click Menu then Sort by Size (the largest apps will appear at the top)
Select each app and then CLEAR DATA.
Till clear your cache and solve the "Low on Space" problem. *The biggest cache users are your email apps.
:eek:
Click to expand...

This worked dreams for me! I was getting the Low On Space problem, GMail app wasn't pushing email for days, and it wouldn't let me read/send txts. All I did was clear the cache on "Dialer Storage" and "GMail" and I was set! I suppose Facebook would be the next best bet for my phone, but I'm fine for now! Thank you!
 
try app 2 sd, it tells you which apps you can move to sd AND it gives you options to clear your cache. i had that notice and then i went to app 2 sd, and it gave me an option to clear my cache and then the notice went away. definitely not a solution, but, well, it's workin' for now.
 
I was getting the same "Low Space" notification too. Here's what I did and my the results:
- I removed a bunch of apps I don't use.
- Cleared all of my text messages.
- Moved all the apps that I could to my SD card.
- I cleared all the data from the all the apps mentioned in this thread, and a few others.
After each step, the message came right back.

FINALLY I realized that my culprit was Touchdown, a corporate email client. The app would hang and eventually crash while I was getting the "Low Space" notification. I really didn't want to: but I cleared all the data for that app and it fixed the problem.
I was able to go back into Touchdown and re-configure my settings. I also changed the settings to only keep 3 days worth of emails, rather than 2 weeks.

I hope this is helpful for any other Touchdown users.
 
All these answers aren't really just treat the symptom. Applications should get to take as much data as they please. Is there anyway to save non rooted users from combing through their app data? Ill settle for a way to sort apps by appdata size. Sorry if this has been said.
 
Jewshort said:
All these answers aren't really just treat the symptom. Applications should get to take as much data as they please. Is there anyway to save non rooted users from combing through their app data? Ill settle for a way to sort apps by appdata size. Sorry if this has been said.
Click to expand...

Yes...go to manage apps->all apps, hit menu and select sort by size.

Or i believe there are a number of apps that let you clear the cache of various apps.
 
I keep getting a low on space message in my notification bar. The message continues but as I tap it, it takes me to applications. I'm wondering if I have too many apps or if there is something with one app. In the notification bar it says " application data space is low. To free up space please 1. Go to mail app and". It cuts off after that. I had deleted 10 or so apps. It still pops up. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
Jewshort, I'm using "quick app clean cache". It lets you sort your apps by cache, data, total size etc. and lets you quickly clear cache, data or in some cases histories.

So far the best solution for me on an unrooted phone. It's not free, but worth the $1.

Still got the dreaded "low Space" message again though a few days ago and even after cleaning all caches and some data it only went away after uninstalling the yahoo messenger video plugin (24MB).
 
Jewshort said:
Thats the size of the app. Not the data size.within. any app suggestions?
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right that is the size of the app that includes data and cache. so start at the top and delete the caches for those if they have any. thats what you need to do. You can also delete the data for those apps if you want. you might lose some info by doing that so be careful
 
Jewshort said:
All these answers aren't really just treat the symptom. Applications should get to take as much data as they please. Is there anyway to save non rooted users from combing through their app data? Ill settle for a way to sort apps by appdata size. Sorry if this has been said.
Click to expand...


i agree. i am sitting on my phone looking for what app that is over 5mb that i can delete to make up more space.

THAT'S RIDICIOUS! I have like, 400 mb free!!!!!

ridiculous and pathetic. i love android, but this is definitely something i do not love. i should be able to have all 699mb of my 700mb filled up w/ apps, regardless of the data they have.

i use app 2 sd, and that app monitors my cache and lets me delete stuff from that. ALSO, i delete my dialer storage the other day, which is my text messages. not my contacts list. that seems to have treated the symptom.

i hope this gets fixed w/ a future update to android. this is really irking me.
 
alison03 said:
Under running services, and for an average phone, what should the available memory say (obviously different for each phone, but I just want to check now and then to see if mine's low or average etc).

I went to running services and at the bottom in a white bar it says:

avail: 178mb+97mb in 24 (what does in 24 mean?)
other: 57mb in 4 (what does 4 mean?)

what's the difference between avail and other? :)
Click to expand...

Your confusing storage (sd card/etc) with memory (RAM) .

What your quoting is RAM and has nothing to do with your problem.

The problem you have is caused by a folder/partition that android uses to store/cache app data being full. There are 2 other threads covering this in detail. If you see anything about "low space" in the title you've probably found it.
 
I've had the problem for a week, but today, I cleared data for Phone Dialer Storage and that did the trick, so far. It was my leading space hog, for some reason.
 
i wonder if i can fill up my 700 mb of storage if i just keep on clearing my phone dialer storage every now and then...
 
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