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I have samsung galaxy 3 (I5801). I have downloaded many APK files from internet. I have no problem in installing APK files. By default when APK file is selected it installs itself to phone memory. I want it to install application on SDCARD. I have made my phone memory full.

So my queries are

  1. How to install APK on SDCARD? APK should install itself to SDCARD.
  2. How to move already installed application to SDCARD from phone memory?
Flow
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JRC
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3 Answers3

13

If you're using Android 2.2, you can move your applications to SD from Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications. Before 2.2, you need to have root, create a separate partition in your SD card, and install a custom ROM that supports app2sd.

Lie Ryan
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    It should be noted that developers need to specifically make their apps moveable to the SD card under Android 2.2+. – ale Dec 07 '10 at 13:43
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    In addition to what @Al said, you Cyanogen mod can force apps to install to sd card (but may not be recommended depending on what type of app it is). – Bryan Denny Dec 07 '10 at 14:54
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    all thanks a lot for answer. I think my mobile is running Eclair version, which i think 2.1. So do i need to keep installed application count low in order to utilize space on phone memory? I dont see any option like "move to sdcard" or "install on sdcard" while installing or in 'manage application' from settings menu. – JRC Dec 09 '10 at 09:02
  • Yep... Lie Ryan's answer is spot on. JRC, you need to juggle the apps that are installed or get a device like the first Galaxy 7500 with 8 GB internal memory. – Sparx Dec 22 '10 at 18:44
  • I have root but there isn't a custom ROM for my phone (Moto Flipside) running standard 2.1, am I S.O.L.? I'm willing to do some command line work with the SDK if necessary. – travis Feb 06 '11 at 17:19
  • @travis: I have never done it on Android, but it is usually possible to move Linux applications around (or actually any files/directories) by creating symbolic links. – Lie Ryan Mar 28 '11 at 17:25
  • @Lie Ryan if you could give me some info on how to accomplish that with my phone, I'd really appreciate it, thanks. – travis Mar 28 '11 at 22:33
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    @travis: from adb shell or Terminal Emulator app, use mv /source/path /destination/path to move files and use ln -s /actual/file/path /symbolic/link to create symbolic link (the -s stands for symbolic/soft link, if you do not specify this, you'll be creating a hard link, which may not cross partition boundary). Note that you need root to modify apk files stored in /data/app/ and app data in /data/data/. If you're not familiar with ln or mv, it's a good idea to play around with them in safe files before messing with the system. Make a backup! Do this as a last resort only. – Lie Ryan Mar 29 '11 at 09:10
  • @travis: I can think of several complications doing this might bring, such as when upgrading and uninstalling apps; take careful note of random crashes from apps moved this way. You might want to consider that this is uncharted territory, and I'm not responsible if you bricked your phone or if your phone turns into a sentient being. – Lie Ryan Mar 29 '11 at 09:25
  • @Lie Ryan understood :-) After backing the phone up, I'll try it with something trivial, like Angry Birds. Thanks! – travis Mar 29 '11 at 15:47
  • @Lie Ryan in Windows you can create Junctions for entire folders, is that the same way that symbolic links work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_junction_point – travis Mar 29 '11 at 15:50
  • Yes, hard link and symbolic link is similar concept to NTFS Junction point and .lnk shortcut; though they are very different implementation, so the details differ widely, be careful in applying what you know about one to another. Of particular note, symbolic link in Linux can point to files and directories, and it can cross file system boundaries. Similar to junction point, but unlike .lnk shortcut, symbolic link is for the most part transparent to applications. – Lie Ryan Mar 30 '11 at 14:12
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If you're using Android 2.1 you can use Link2SD app. To use this your phone must be rooted and your SDCARD should have ext2 [OR] ext3 partitions. Then it installs on phone memory and moves the installed application to SDCARD.

Moving the already installed Apps to SDCARD: Open the Link2SD application and Filter the apps which are phone memory. Select each application which is installed on SDCARD and choose the option Create Link. Done, this solves the problem.

There are tools available to partition your SDCARD. On Windows Machine you can use Minitool Partition software and on linux you can use gparted.

Puru
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Simply download and install the android SDK, in cmd prompt, go to the directory of SDK, cd into "platform-tools" directory, and type adb shell.

A $ should appear in new line, then type pm setInstallLocation 2 and press enter. the text pm setInstallLocation 2 should appear in the new line again.

Now close the command prompt, disconnect the phone and restart the phone.

Your apps should now move to SD card by default.

Irfan
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