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Help memory issues on Alcatel one touch pop astro

T

Thelonelysphinx

Lurker
When i first got the Alcatel pop astro I downloaded a bunch of apps and then deleated a bunch so I could download skype. Now I still can't download Skype. Even though I deleated 20+ apps I still only have .13 gb. My sister also has pop touch and she suffers from the same issue so it cant be that rare an issue. Any help is appreciated.
 
Most of us will have no idea what storage is available on that phone, so could you try running storage truth and posting the results? That will give us more idea what we are dealing with.

I presume that the reason you can't download Skype is storage, not some other problem. It might also be worth checking whether any of your existing apps are hogging a lot of space (with app data or caches).
 
Hadron said:
Most of us will have no idea what storage is available on that phone, so could you try running storage truth and posting the results? That will give us more idea what we are dealing with.

I presume that the reason you can't download Skype is storage, not some other problem. It might also be worth checking whether any of your existing apps are hogging a lot of space (with app data or caches).
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OK, I think your problem really is lack of space.

You have 237 MB free in /data, which is where apps install to. On my phone Skype takes up 89MB. However, Android needs to keep some free space in order to operate - without that you run the risk of apps crashing because there is no space to cache temporary data. Back in the Gingerbread days they typically required 10% of space to be free (which would be about 190MB for your phone, since it has just under 1.9 GB of space in /data). More recent devices seem to require 200 MB, which would not be very different. Whatever the minimum is, if installing an app would leave you with less than that minimum, the system will refuse to install.

The problem is that for a device that runs 4.4.4 1.9GB /data is criminally tiny. All apps and all app data need to fit into that, and while that might have been adequate 4 years ago (when apps were much smaller), it really isn't now. Manufacturers simply should not be selling phones with that little storage (I'm guessing it was advertised as having 4GB, but that means "including space for the OS and system firmware", which they never spell out).

So, the important question: if you go into Settings > Apps > Downloaded and select some of the apps you installed, do you have the option to move the app to SD? That was deprecated in Android 4, but some manufacturers have added it back to some of their phones. If yours is one that has this, try moving some apps to create space. Note: even if you have the option, not all apps can be moved. Also do not move apps whose widgets you use, as the widget will stop working the next time you reboot.

If you don't have that then your options are either to make space any way you can (including looking to see whether any apps are using a lot of data and whether you need those that do, and maybe even clearing caches to see whether you can create enough space to install the app). Or to root the phone and use something like Link2SD to move apps to SD anyway (note: once you root you should not accept an official Over The Air update - bad things are likely to happen if you do).

I'm sorry I don't have better news, but that is all I can think of.
 
I keep on deleting apps and each time I get a little more space but still hardly anything. I had a ton of apps on it when I first got it now it cant handle anything. Thanks for the information so far.
 
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