Help Moving apps to SD card

[gjkiii]

A sales rep told me I can move alot of the apps on this phone as you install them to the SD card without rooting. I did not think you could do that anymore since ICS. Is that true?

 

[cybertec69]

No, the rep you spoke to was clueless, as is the case with the majority of Reps. And it has nothing to do with this particular phone, all Android smartphone running Google's JB 4.1 OS can not store any Google App Store apps on their external micro SD cards, you can store anything else on it, but anything loaded from the App Store goes directly to the phones internal storage, that goes for ALL Android smartphones with JB 4.1 and newer.

 

[lotus49]

No it isn't.

This is something that has pissed a lot of people off although it was Google's decision not Samsung's. Unlike previous incarnations of Android there is no option to move apps to the SD card. There are some apps where you can move the data (eg Sygic Aura) but most you cannot.

This is why the fact that the stock ROM uses so much of the internal memory has been an issue. If you play HD games, you will very quickly run out of space.

There are things that can be done but they require rooting or a third party ROM.

 

[Lacit1707]

No, the rep you spoke to was clueless, as is the case with the majority of Reps. And it has nothing to do with this particular phone, all Android smartphone running Google's JB 4.1 OS can not store any Google App Store apps on their external micro SD cards, you can store anything else on it, but anything loaded from the App Store goes directly to the phones internal storage, that goes for ALL Android smartphones with JB 4.1 and newer.

so, this is the first time ive heard it mentioned that it is a Google App Store thing that does not let you transfer to SD Card.....

Now, assuming this is true, does that mean that you can transfer apps to the SD Card if you download apps from the Amazon app store???

 

[lotus49]

so, this is the first time ive heard it mentioned that it is a Google App Store thing that does not let you transfer to SD Card.....

Now, assuming this is true, does that mean that you can transfer apps to the SD Card if you download apps from the Amazon app store???

Although I haven't actually tried using the Amazon app store I don't believe that you can.

I have some free apps installed that have been blocked from Google Play (eg Adblock Plus) and the option to install to external SD was not given at installation and is not present in Settings.

 

[jhawkkw]

It's not the app store that's the problem, it's that android itself doesn't allow you to move them by nature, and developers don't code the apps to have the to install to SD. Even if you could move them to the SD card once rooted, it can results in problems.

 

[Lacit1707]

It's not the app store that's the problem, it's that android itself doesn't allow you to move them by nature, and developers don't code the apps to have the to install to SD. Even if you could move them to the SD card once rooted, it can results in problems.

i figured it was not an app store problem until i read that...and figured if it was true, then just use Amazon app store...

ill give it a go when i get the phone within a week or so but doubt it will work like you said...

 

[BzB]

you might not need to worry about moving apps to the sd card anyway. go to settings > storage to check how much space apps are using on your current phone. that will tell you how much app space you're currently using. there is about 9gb of app space on the s4.

 

[Shocky]

Apps can only be installed to the internal storage, however if they choose to developers can give you the option to download data onto the sdcard card to save you some space but sadly very few of them do this.

If you root you can move whatever you want to the sdcard using apps like directorybind or foldermount.