storage settings question

[wilfriedwald]

first I was WRONG when I posted previously (apologies to everyone who helped me!) my current phone is a SAMSUNG Galaxy A10e|A20.

I did manage, rather easily in fact, to install a 32GB SD card. thanks for everyone's help in that!

question: I am still getting notification from certain programs, including WHATSAPP, that I am out of space. The hard drive is filled, yes, but the SD card is almost completely empty.

is there any way to "tell" these apps to make use of the SD capacity? not sure exactly if and how this can be done.

thanks as always for any feedback!

w

 

[puppykickr]

You do not want apps to make use of the SD card!

That card is your personal storage for pictures, viseos, and documents that you wish to keep.

If you use it for piddling around with apps you will wear it out very fast, it will crash, and all the data and files on it will be lost.
(Go ahead, ask me how I know...)

If your device's internal memory is full, then that is the issue you must address, as that will cause other issues as well.

A good rule of thumb is to try to keep your device memory at or below 70% full.

This ensures that apps you are using have sufficient space to operate- they grow and shrink as you use them.

First steps are to use your browser to get onto social media sites, rather than using their apps.
This alone can save a large chunk of space, and can be more secure- depending on the browser.

Don't use Chrome, or any other browser that has its own webview- your device has the best webview installed already, and a good briwser should make use of that- saving even more space, and making the browser faster as well.

Set your sites as bookmarks, and then uninstall or disable any apps that can be accessed with the browser instead.

Generally, as long as you refrain from then refilling this new open space with more junk, it is enough to at least get a good start.

Then you can concentrate on ditching apps that you never or rarely use.
Start with the biggest ones first.

Here is an excellent browser to get you started...

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/acr.browser.lightning/

 

[wilfriedwald]

THANKS very much!

now I guess my first step is to delete CHROME and install LIGHTNING instead?

thanks again!

w

 

[wilfriedwald]

two follow up questions:

1. okay, I am willing to remove CHROME, but I can't figure out how to do it! GOOGLE PLAY STORE just does NOT give me that option!

2. what would it take to get all my photos off the phone? is there a way to download all of them from GOOGLE PHOTOS on my desktop, put them all on the hard drive, and get them off the phone?

PS: thanks for all suggestions & feedback, past and future!

 

[puppykickr]

Yes, Chrome can be difficult to get rid of.

First, install Lightning, and thoroughly go through the settings.
Get used to swiping left to go to your bookmarks, ans swiping right to go to your open tabs.

Then...
Go to

Settings
Apps
(show all)
(show system)
Chrome
Disable

If you cannot disable it, then tap Uninstall.
It may only allow you to uninstall all updates, or whatever.
That is fine- get rid of what you can.
Now tap Storage on the Chrome app page.

Delete all data.

Now, back to the apps list, and find Lightning.
Scroll down and tap Advanced.

Select Browser App, and choose Lightning.

As for your photos, are they all stored in the phone memory, on Google Photos, or a combination of both?

Do you have a computer?

Here is the issue- your device has limited storage space.
Unless you make your SD card the default storage (NOT recommended), you will need to download chunks (whatever will fit comfortably) into the phone memory and then transfer that to the SD card.

To make matters worse, it is advisable to copy, rather than move files, to the SD card- and then delete the files on the internal memory.

This is an added precaution (that I rarely follow myself) to ensure that you do not lose or corrupt files while transferring.

Tedious?
Of course.

But if you have pics and videos that are valuable to you, then it is worth it to ensure their safety.

As for Google Photos, as long as it is working for you, you don't need Chrome to keep using that.
Online storage is yet another way to ensure that you don't lose any memories.
Think of it as another backup.

Now for moving files from device to device, I use NitroShare.
It is extremely easy to use, and it is wireless, as well as being fast.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/

https://github.com/nitroshare/nitroshare-desktop

Once you get a workable size of data (ie. it fits and leaves enough room for the device to function properly) onto your device, use your gallery and/or your file manager to move the items onto your SD card.

This is also as good as time as any to categorize and file them all properly, so that you can find them when you want them.

 

[wilfriedwald]

hey, thanks, yes am going to install LIGHTNING, as you say.

I am also using another app to download all photos from my phone to my hard drive, then I am going to figure out the best way to delete all the photos from the phone, that should save some hard drive space!

thanks again for everything!

w

 

[puppykickr]

hey, thanks, yes am going to install LIGHTNING, as you say.

I am also using another app to download all photos from my phone to my hard drive, then I am going to figure out the best way to delete all the photos from the phone, that should save some hard drive space!

thanks again for everything!

w

To copy the photos from your phone to your hard drive (on a PC, I presume?) use NitroShare.

As long as both devices are on the same Wi-Fi, it works great.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/

https://github.com/nitroshare/nitroshare-desktop

Then after you have verified that the photos have transfered (look at them) you can delete them from your phone.