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Moving App's to the SD Card
- Thread starter gman32811
- Start date
PolicyWonk
Newbie
I'm a noobie, but found it very easy to move applications (apps) to and from the SD card. Here is the path: Home>Settings>Applications>Manage Applications. From this screen, click on any of the 4 buttons on the top of the screen to see a list apps. Myself, I started with the "downloaded" apps.
Click on any app to see if it can be moved. Click on the "move to SD" button and that app will be moved to your SD card. If an app cannot be moved, the "move to SD" button will be faded and it will not allow you to move it. If an app is already on the SD card, there will only be an option button to "move to phone."
After moving an app to the SD card, click the back button on the bottom of the phone face (3rd from left) to go back and choose another app to move.
To see all the apps on the SD card, click on the 4th button "On SD Card" at the top of the screen at the end of the >Manage Applications step to see all the apps that are on your SD card.
FYI - There are several application management apps you can download from the Android Market. It's a personal preference thing. I tried one, but found it easier to use the management app that came with the phone. However, I am not a power user.
Click on any app to see if it can be moved. Click on the "move to SD" button and that app will be moved to your SD card. If an app cannot be moved, the "move to SD" button will be faded and it will not allow you to move it. If an app is already on the SD card, there will only be an option button to "move to phone."
After moving an app to the SD card, click the back button on the bottom of the phone face (3rd from left) to go back and choose another app to move.
To see all the apps on the SD card, click on the 4th button "On SD Card" at the top of the screen at the end of the >Manage Applications step to see all the apps that are on your SD card.
FYI - There are several application management apps you can download from the Android Market. It's a personal preference thing. I tried one, but found it easier to use the management app that came with the phone. However, I am not a power user.
Hello and welcome to Android Forums! 
Apps2sd will somewhat automate the process of moving apps that can be moved, but it's not a foolproof solution. You should first check with LG Optimus M - Android Forums to see what's viable for your model phone.
If you still want to move more apps to the SD card, you'll need to have the Android SDK installed. How-To Install Android SDK On Windows, Mac and Linux
Then on your phone go to settings>applications>development and enable USB Debugging. Plug your phone into the PC using the USB cable.
open a command prompt on your PC (start>run type "cmd" press ENTER)
Change directory to the android-sdk-windows\tools folder
At the prompt type
and you should see your phone listed as a serial number.
type
Done.
Now the default location to install apps is the SD card. And, some apps that you couldn't move to the SD card will now be able to be moved. Keep in mind Widgets and services should always be installed to the phone and not the SD card, so if you follow the steps above and you install a widget afterwards, you will need to go to settings>applications>manage applications and manually move it to the phone. If you want to set the default install location back to the phone, you simply repeat the process but use
Android has specific rules for where it installs apps. If the app has a specified location, that takes priority. If it is not specified in the app, then the default install location is used. Android has 3 identifiers for app storage location:
0 = Internal
1 = Auto
2 = External (sd card)
If 0 is set in the app, then it can only be installed on the internal storage regardless of the default install location. Widgets, services and apps that periodically poll need to be in the internal storage to run correctly.
Similarly the phone itself can have a default install location set so if the app is set to 1 (Auto) then it will direct the app where to be installed. The only thing you must remember is that 1 is not an option for a phones default location. If the app were set to Auto location and the phone was to, it wouldn't know what the default was.
You may find now that by setting the default install location to 2 you can now move more apps to the sd card that you couldn't before. If you go to menu>settings>applications>manage applications you can check which apps are able to be moved, paying close attention NOT to move widgets or polling apps.
Apps2sd will somewhat automate the process of moving apps that can be moved, but it's not a foolproof solution. You should first check with LG Optimus M - Android Forums to see what's viable for your model phone.
If you still want to move more apps to the SD card, you'll need to have the Android SDK installed. How-To Install Android SDK On Windows, Mac and Linux
Then on your phone go to settings>applications>development and enable USB Debugging. Plug your phone into the PC using the USB cable.
open a command prompt on your PC (start>run type "cmd" press ENTER)
Change directory to the android-sdk-windows\tools folder
At the prompt type
Code:
adb devicestype
Code:
adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2Done.
Now the default location to install apps is the SD card. And, some apps that you couldn't move to the SD card will now be able to be moved. Keep in mind Widgets and services should always be installed to the phone and not the SD card, so if you follow the steps above and you install a widget afterwards, you will need to go to settings>applications>manage applications and manually move it to the phone. If you want to set the default install location back to the phone, you simply repeat the process but use
Code:
adb shell setInstallLocation 0Android has specific rules for where it installs apps. If the app has a specified location, that takes priority. If it is not specified in the app, then the default install location is used. Android has 3 identifiers for app storage location:
0 = Internal
1 = Auto
2 = External (sd card)
If 0 is set in the app, then it can only be installed on the internal storage regardless of the default install location. Widgets, services and apps that periodically poll need to be in the internal storage to run correctly.
Similarly the phone itself can have a default install location set so if the app is set to 1 (Auto) then it will direct the app where to be installed. The only thing you must remember is that 1 is not an option for a phones default location. If the app were set to Auto location and the phone was to, it wouldn't know what the default was.
You may find now that by setting the default install location to 2 you can now move more apps to the sd card that you couldn't before. If you go to menu>settings>applications>manage applications you can check which apps are able to be moved, paying close attention NOT to move widgets or polling apps.