• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help "Low on space" phone/application storage notification

Add me to the list of Dinc owners jumping ship over this. Just waiting for the Samsung Function to come out, then I should be gone. I love my Dinc (as much as one can love a phone), but can't deal with this problem any longer. I wish I liked the Dinc2 more.
 
It's a shame HTC hasn't read the comments here and fixed things. My guess is that the Dinc2 has the same problem. I agree with others there isn't a better Droid available.

I fixed mine by a hard reset. MybackupPro was of SOME help restoring, but it kept locking up and I did the rest the hard way.:(
I finally caved and did the root thing so I can watch things, but haven't figured out what to do if the problem comes back.. All I was able to do is (re)move the City ID app.
I have over 200 apps, moved to the SD card and am ok for now.
The help here on the forum has been great! Bo
 
bobarr said:
My guess is that the Dinc2 has the same problem.
Click to expand...

Why on Earth would you assume that?

The main reason HTC hasn't fixed this in our phones is because they CAN'T. The only way they could do that would be to repartition the device. They can't do that OTA, and any flash method would have a very high failure rate. It would brick phones, and there is no way that would make it past QA. This would be an incredible simple thing to fix in a new device, just make partition bigger.
 
I was getting a message saying I had low application data space. So I swapped out my 2 GB SD card for an 8 GB SD card. I put in the 8 GB and switched 5 or 6 big applications over to the SD card, and I'm STILL getting the low app space message!! Why is this?
 
Have you seen the sticky at the top of the forum?....

Has nothing to do with how much free space you have on your sd card or internal storage, it relates to a cache partition.
 
sweeds said:
Manage applications > clear cache
Click to expand...


This is not a solution. Only about 8 of the applications I have even had the option to clear the cache, and after clearing all of them, the notice is still there.


What's the general solution for this? Is there anything to do besides the factory reset?
 
A Factory reset is not the solution. It will fix the problem, but only by completely deleting everything :P
iowabowtech said:
The /data/data folder is inaccessible by most file managers other than Root Explorer which obviously means you need to be rooted. So, if you aren't rooted, your best bet is to start deleting apps, cache and data in the Applications > Manage applications menu. If you are rooted, you can use higher powered cache cleaners and go straight to the data/data folder using Root Explorer and weed things out carefully while noting the filesize of the likely offenders.
Click to expand...
The hard drive has a partition of ~150Mb for app data. This does not mean number of apps, but the amount of information each stores(while closed) and actively uses(while open). Clearing the cache will free up all the space that apps such as messaging, mail, gps store and use a large amount of space. If you've cleared all of those and the message still persists, go to Settings->Applications->Manage Applications and sort by size. What are some of you're largest applications?
 
I've solved the problem by clearing some cache and some data, but I'm guessing it's only temporary.

For example, my app Sound Hound had like 2.5 mb of data (I'm guessing that's the history of songs I've tagged?)

The obvious problem is that you can delete data for certain apps, but not for others. I deleted the data for my Mail app and it deleted my account and everything so I had to set that up again.

So now I have 2 questions:

1. Am I right in assuming this: Cache info is basically temporary info that can be cleared without too much important information being erased, while deleting an apps "data" is more of a major action; that deletes saved preferences, account information, etc. Is this correct?

Are there any universally common apps that need to be frequently cleared of their caches and data?
 
bluewaterpig said:
I've solved the problem by clearing some cache and some data, but I'm guessing it's only temporary.

For example, my app Sound Hound had like 2.5 mb of data (I'm guessing that's the history of songs I've tagged?)

The obvious problem is that you can delete data for certain apps, but not for others. I deleted the data for my Mail app and it deleted my account and everything so I had to set that up again.

So now I have 2 questions:

1. Am I right in assuming this: Cache info is basically temporary info that can be cleared without too much important information being erased, while deleting an apps "data" is more of a major action; that deletes saved preferences, account information, etc. Is this correct?

Are there any universally common apps that need to be frequently cleared of their caches and data?
Click to expand...

Clearing the cache will have no ill effect on your apps, other than maybe having to redownload cached pictures. Clearing data will revert an app back to the state it was when you first installed it.

Netflix, google sky map, htc mail app are common culprits.
 
hgoldner said:
I have literally hundreds, at least 300 apps installed, so it's not the number of apps, it's the size that the apps decide to take out of \data\data, regardless of whether you move them to SD or not.

For those of you who aren't rooted, let me tell you what's hogging space in my \data\data partition although, (as I've mentioned above in this thread), I run an app called NotEnoughSpace which moves stuff out to other locations so it's not "really" in that partition any more.

First of all, the single biggest hog of \data\data is your contacts database. I have 1690 Outlook Exchange contacts and that takes up nearly 27 megabytes in the partition. Remember, you have 150 megabytes, but you only want to use 135, so contacts can take a huge chunk of that.

Another thing I've seen repeatedly murder the space is synchronization of Facebook contacts. Can't understand why, but I do not recommend syncing Facebook contacts to the phone --- will absolutely kill that partition and bring the handset to its knees if you lots of Facebook friends. My daughter did that on her Incredible (even though its rooted and running Nothing Special (Plain) mentioned above, and completely lost functionality of her handset until I talked her through deleting the Facebook contacts.

Mobiplayer takes 10 megabytes.
Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Air each take at least 1 megabyte.
Google Earth takes several megabytes.
Firefox takes 8.1 megabytes
"Internet" (the default browser) takes 1.1 megabytes.
PowerAmp takes 1 megabyte
Angry Birds (any of the 3 versions), Shazam, gReader Pro all take gobs of space.

And, finally, the Mail app is a huge pig, even if you don't use it (it's required for Exchange functionality, regardless of which email client you ultimately use).

Finally, the only way you can directly manipulate what's in the partition is to be rooted. Period.
Click to expand...

CBLJazz said:
A FACTORY RESET is not an option for most people so i've been looking elsewhere for solutions to this annoying notification memory problem.
My research has shown me that this error doesn't appear to be the same for everyone.


  1. Some people have a problem with the HTC mail app (better settings below)
  2. Some people have a problem with the internet browser cache.
  3. Some people have a problem with the Peep cache.
  4. Some people have too many messages- have to delete
  5. Some people have an insanely large call history- have to delete

HTC MAIL SETTINGS- these settings changes had a short term affect (one week)

SETTING 1
MAIL>Menu>more>Settings>General settings>Temporary attachment storage> sd card


SETTING 2
Send & receive> mail size limit> no limit

My possible solution- hopefully long term
Clear the contact storage cache
SETTINGS>APPLICATIONS>MANAGE APPLICATIONS>CONTACT STORAGE>clear cache

I'm curious if this solution is longterm or not.
I cleared the peep and browser cache but it only helped for 2 days.
Taking off the HTC MAIL app also only had a temporary effect.

Does clearing the CONTACT STORAGE cache have a long term effect?
Click to expand...

bluewaterpig said:
I've solved the problem by clearing some cache and some data, but I'm guessing it's only temporary.

For example, my app Sound Hound had like 2.5 mb of data (I'm guessing that's the history of songs I've tagged?)

The obvious problem is that you can delete data for certain apps, but not for others. I deleted the data for my Mail app and it deleted my account and everything so I had to set that up again.

So now I have 2 questions:

1. Am I right in assuming this: Cache info is basically temporary info that can be cleared without too much important information being erased, while deleting an apps "data" is more of a major action; that deletes saved preferences, account information, etc. Is this correct?

Are there any universally common apps that need to be frequently cleared of their caches and data?
Click to expand...

Above are 2 of the better explanations for this problem, pretty sure the first post of this thread has another (or that might be one that i quoted)
 
sdrawkcab25 said:
Clearing the cache will have no ill effect on your apps, other than maybe having to redownload cached pictures. Clearing data will revert an app back to the state it was when you first installed it.

Netflix, google sky map, htc mail app are common culprits.
Click to expand...

While they are common culprits, they are not universal. If you look through this thread you'll see dozens of posts about various apps along the lines of "OMG, I found what's causing this. Just uninstall/clear cache/data from XYZ and the problem goes away."

If you think you found an app that's cause you problems, check through the settings for that app and see if you can change them to use less space. For the mail app, you can set to keep less mail on the phone (2 days instead of 5, that sort of thing). That MIGHT get you to a more long term fix (or not).
 
I have no idea what is going on with my phone...I bought the Incredible as soon as it came out. I would get the Low on Space message on and off, but was always able to get it to go away. No it has been on for about 2 weeks.

It says "Low on Space. Application data space is low."

When I go into my SD & Phone Storage tab I have the following:

SD Card

Total Space - 1.84GB
Available Space - 541MB

Internal Phone Storage

Total Space - 6.60GB
Available Space - 5.95GB

Phone Memory

Total Space - 748MB
Available Space - 505MB

Why is this telling me I am out of space?? I just don't get it.

Please help!!
 
I have had this problem off and on recently. I have plenty of space available on my sd card and internal phone memory yet I still get this warning. The only solution I have found is to uninstall apps from the android market until it goes away.
 
9supratt4 said:
I have no idea what is going on with my phone...I bought the Incredible as soon as it came out. I would get the Low on Space message on and off, but was always able to get it to go away. No it has been on for about 2 weeks.

It says "Low on Space. Application data space is low."


Why is this telling me I am out of space?? I just don't get it.

Please help!!
Click to expand...

if you read through the sticky ;) .... you would know it has nothing to do with the storage partitions you listed.
The memory in a 150Mb partition, that you can't see without root, is low on space.

There are apps on the market that will help you clear the cache from the apps that are using up that space.

This will be merged with the stickied thread.
 
menu>settings>applications>manage applications>all>sort by size

You need to clear the DATA from some of the bigger apps in that list. The first post of this thread covers some useful pointers;)
 
One solution HTC could implement to fix this problem is a more helpful debug/error message.

Instead of: "Low on Space. Application data is low..." barely fitting into my notification bar;

It should say: "Space allocated for App Data is low. Please clear overused application cache" or something of the sorts. A little more explanation from HTC would dramatically decrease the amount of posts on the subject (mine included)
 
Hi All. Been watching this thread closely for some magical solution. I know some people out there who constantly run into this problem with the Incredible and think they have to uninstall everything on their phone to rid themselves of the warning. It's definitely leaving a bad taste for a lot of first time Android adopters out there.

Anyway, I'm jumping in to this thread because we all know that SMS/MMS storage takes a big chunk of the data/data folder and Handcent has just released a major update that allows us to disable the stock messaging app. Do you think that the storage will still go to the data/data folder? If not, this is great news for all of us and it will definitely help keep that warning away.

Thoughts?

Handcent Receives a Hefty Update, Including Ability to Fully Replace Stock SMS App
 
dgold82 said:
Hi All. Been watching this thread closely for some magical solution. I know some people out there who constantly run into this problem with the Incredible and think they have to uninstall everything on their phone to rid themselves of the warning. It's definitely leaving a bad taste for a lot of first time Android adopters out there.

Anyway, I'm jumping in to this thread because we all know that SMS/MMS storage takes a big chunk of the data/data folder and Handcent has just released a major update that allows us to disable the stock messaging app. Do you think that the storage will still go to the data/data folder? If not, this is great news for all of us and it will definitely help keep that warning away.

Thoughts?


Handcent Receives a Hefty Update, Including Ability to Fully Replace Stock SMS App
Click to expand...

I just tried this and chose disable, sms, mms, and all and all my texts still show up in the stock messaging app as well. I have notifications on the stock app disabled but still have duplicates in each app.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom