xXElit3snipesXx
Newbie
I have over 250mb free of storage but cannot install a simple 7mb app... I just don't understand it. Please help!
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Help Storage problem
- Thread starter xXElit3snipesXx
- Start date
Firstly, I'll assume you mean free space on the internal storage - space on a removable card is irrelevant for this purpose.
Even so, Android needs some working space for the many temporary files it uses. If the storage device filled completely the OS couldn't operate. So to prevent this problem there is a parameter in the operating system which defines a minimum amount of free space, and if it falls below that then it won't install any apps, no matter how small. To be more precise, if installing an app would take it below that then it will refuse to install?
As to what this limit is, it depends on the device. For early ones it was 10% of the /data partition (which might only be 10-15 GB back then). Later 200 MB became a common number. In the last few years we've seen a lot of devices where the limit is set at 500 MB. I think that we can conclude that for your device its at least 250 MB, probably higher, but we can't tell how large.
What can you do? Free some space and see at what point you are able to install apps again.
(Oh, and that 7MB is probably the size of the downloaded package. It will probably take more space when installed).
Even so, Android needs some working space for the many temporary files it uses. If the storage device filled completely the OS couldn't operate. So to prevent this problem there is a parameter in the operating system which defines a minimum amount of free space, and if it falls below that then it won't install any apps, no matter how small. To be more precise, if installing an app would take it below that then it will refuse to install?
As to what this limit is, it depends on the device. For early ones it was 10% of the /data partition (which might only be 10-15 GB back then). Later 200 MB became a common number. In the last few years we've seen a lot of devices where the limit is set at 500 MB. I think that we can conclude that for your device its at least 250 MB, probably higher, but we can't tell how large.
What can you do? Free some space and see at what point you are able to install apps again.
(Oh, and that 7MB is probably the size of the downloaded package. It will probably take more space when installed).
xXElit3snipesXx
Newbie
Yea but it wasn't always like this, I used to be able to install apps with only 150mb left... What happened my phone didn't update or anything
That I can't answer. There are some apps that let you edit this if you have root and know what you are doing (or there were, I've not something I've looked at for a few years), but it's not something that you can change without root, or accidentally. A system update would be the rational explanation, but as you say you've not had one that doesn't leave anything else I can think of.