Windows Phone 8 and SD Cards

Goliemoi

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Lately I've been considering the Htc 8S as my next phone. Ya I know its really low end and all but its the only WP8 available to me. I can deal with the omission of NFC and a couple other things, but the paltry storage is definitely a deal breaker for me. My question is, to what extent does WP8 utilize the micro sd card functionality? Can you store applications and games on an SD card, or only music and video? This is crucial for me as I will definitely have more than 4 gb of applications and games. Thanks in advance for any replies :wink:
 

richard_c

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Lately I've been considering the Htc 8S as my next phone. Ya I know its really low end and all but its the only WP8 available to me. I can deal with the omission of NFC and a couple other things, but the paltry storage is definitely a deal breaker for me. My question is, to what extent does WP8 utilize the micro sd card functionality? Can you store applications and games on an SD card, or only music and video? This is crucial for me as I will definitely have more than 4 gb of applications and games. Thanks in advance for any replies :wink:

You can store pictures, video and music on the SD card but not apps or games. With the 8S you get 1.3gb of storage as the OS takes up the rest of the 4GB. So I don't think this phone will be for you.
 

X0LARIUM

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It really confuses me. So how much will the internal memory be where the apps/games go?

And how much memory out of 4GB do we get?

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
 

corsica

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phone itself states the total available memory on the phone as 3.6GB, with the OS using up 2.3GB of that leaving 1.3 free for apps (which isn't much)
 

X0LARIUM

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Oh that's very very little isn't it...how many apps can we install. And filling the system till the brim won't slow down the device?

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
 

richard_c

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Oh that's very very little isn't it...how many apps can we install. And filling the system till the brim won't slow down the device?

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.

XENOPHOS I recently had the 8S for a day until I found out how limited you were with only 1.3GB of storage. This is what I managed to install and have 400MB free.

Fabeook App
Twitter App
Alarm Clock
WP Central App
Weave
Weather
Bus Times App
Reddit App
Flixster
Ebay
Paypal
Flashlight
Remote
Guitar Tuner
Sound Hound
Cinema Times App
TV Guide
TED
MetroTube

Cut The Rope
2 other small free games

So I got 19 apps and 3 games and have 400MB free. Now bare in mind thats not a lot and I chose not to install another 5 that I want that I use a fair bit. Now also remember all those apps will download data and cache data as you use them. So that 400MB free will go in no time at all. Thats also not accounting for any OS updates we will get in the future which will surely take up more space.

Having the SD is great for music, video and photos. But useless for apps as you cant install them on an SD card. I'd say go for the 8X or if you want a phone of similar size get the 620 once its out.
 

X0LARIUM

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XENOPHOS I recently had the 8S for a day until I found out how limited you were with only 1.3GB of storage. This is what I managed to install and have 400MB free.

Fabeook App
Twitter App
Alarm Clock
WP Central App
Weave
Weather
Bus Times App
Reddit App
Flixster
Ebay
Paypal
Flashlight
Remote
Guitar Tuner
Sound Hound
Cinema Times App
TV Guide
TED
MetroTube

Cut The Rope
2 other small free games

So I got 19 apps and 3 games and have 400MB free. Now bare in mind thats not a lot and I chose not to install another 5 that I want that I use a fair bit. Now also remember all those apps will download data and cache data as you use them. So that 400MB free will go in no time at all. Thats also not accounting for any OS updates we will get in the future which will surely take up more space.

Having the SD is great for music, video and photos. But useless for apps as you cant install them on an SD card. I'd say go for the 8X or if you want a phone of similar size get the 620 once its out.

Thanks richard_c. What do u mean "For a day" did u give up the phone because if this very reason?
Like I said, I would just be getting a Kindle App, torchlight, currency converter etc. My app count wont be more than 10. Including games. I would have loved to go for the 8X but two things I hate about it. Price, and design. It's the same old boring black.

I like the 8S a lot. Also, what you are saying is 100% true. System updates and all will eat up space like forest fire.
Hmm..had it not been the memory, this phone would have been perfect..

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
 

richard_c

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Thanks richard_c. What do u mean "For a day" did u give up the phone because if this very reason?
Like I said, I would just be getting a Kindle App, torchlight, currency converter etc. My app count wont be more than 10. Including games. I would have loved to go for the 8X but two things I hate about it. Price, and design. It's the same old boring black.

I like the 8S a lot. Also, what you are saying is 100% true. System updates and all will eat up space like forest fire.
Hmm..had it not been the memory, this phone would have been perfect..

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.

I had the phone for a day but then I panicked thinking in the long run I would run out of space very fast even though I didn't have as many apps. I may be wrong and that 300/400mb would last but I wasn't sure so that's why I returned it. Other than that I loved the phone. I still want the phone if I know theres a way to manage apps and cache data.
 

X0LARIUM

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I had the phone for a day but then I panicked thinking in the long run I would run out of space very fast even though I didn't have as many apps. I may be wrong and that 300/400mb would last but I wasn't sure so that's why I returned it. Other than that I loved the phone. I still want the phone if I know theres a way to manage apps and cache data.

Oh cool..the funny thing is, on another thread, people who have the phone are saying it has plenty if space even though its just 400mb
.

Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
 

sejgiul

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Please don't take this the wrong way. I am just trying to figure out what is happening here as I am interested in getting the 8S.

I am not quite sure how you were left with only 400 mb by installing just these 19 apps and 3 games. I come to 133mb for file weights.

I am not familiair enough with WP, but I assume the file weight as shown on the app store is the compressed size. Therefore assuming it is, let's say the actual size of the apps and games altogether is approx. 200-250mb depending on the compression method (e.g. winRAR can compress up to approx. 70% of the original file size).

Anyway, so let's stick with the upper limit here. 250mb for the uncompressed apps.

1,331.20 MB storage is available as per your findings.

1,331.20 - 250 = 1,081.20

After installing the apps you should be left with 1,081.20 mb of free storage. Your findings tell us then, that the system's cache (apps, games, photos, email etc) takes up 681.20mb?

It sounds to me like you had an app installed that created a huge cache. Either that or your email accounts were full of attachments? - How many email accounts did you have and how many items did you fetch for each account?

Thanks

XENOPHOS I recently had the 8S for a day until I found out how limited you were with only 1.3GB of storage. This is what I managed to install and have 400MB free.

Fabeook App - 4mb
Twitter App - 2mb
Alarm Clock - 5mb
WP Central App - 1mb
Weave - 3mb
Weather - 1mb
Bus Times App - 1mb
Reddit App - 1mb
Flixster - 1mb
Ebay - 2mb
Paypal - 6mb
Flashlight - 1mb
Remote - 2mb?
Guitar Tuner - 1mb
Sound Hound - 2mb
Cinema Times App - 1-2mb
TV Guide - 5mb
TED - 1mb
MetroTube - 1mb

Cut The Rope - 31mb
2 other small free games - say also 30mb odd each for a total of 60mb

So I got 19 apps and 3 games and have 400MB free. Now bare in mind thats not a lot and I chose not to install another 5 that I want that I use a fair bit. Now also remember all those apps will download data and cache data as you use them. So that 400MB free will go in no time at all. Thats also not accounting for any OS updates we will get in the future which will surely take up more space.

Having the SD is great for music, video and photos. But useless for apps as you cant install them on an SD card. I'd say go for the 8X or if you want a phone of similar size get the 620 once its out.
 

JimboJones2268

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Apps can request a reserved portion of your storage of pretty much any size. And they can keep requesting more. The system also reserves space for various things itself. That space gets eaten up fast.
 

sejgiul

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Reserving 600mb seems a bit much to me. Don't forget that these apps and games are relatively small and nothing major really, they mostly display information that is pulled off the internet. I am a developer myself and I know for a fact that these apps and games do not need that kind of space.
 

richard_c

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Reserving 600mb seems a bit much to me. Don't forget that these apps and games are relatively small and nothing major really, they mostly display information that is pulled off the internet. I am a developer myself and I know for a fact that these apps and games do not need that kind of space.

lu1gj3s - With all the apps I mentioned above do you think having 300mb of free space left is plenty of the phone. From you opinion as a developer. You wouldn't lose all that space would you?

In regards to you question about e-mail accounts.

I had one account set up but I deleted all the e-mails from it so that it wouldnt take up any space. One game was cut the rope maybe that took up more space but Im not sure why I lose so much space. But by the end I was coming away with 400mb free. I even deleted built in HTC apps to make more room. I really want the phone. I may buy it again and stick with it this time and hope that the apps I want which are above dont take up too much space.
 

sejgiul

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If you do get it again, it might be worth trying to install apps one by one to see what happens every time. One of those apps might be buggy :)
lu1gj3s - With all the apps I mentioned above do you think having 300mb of free space left is plenty of the phone. From you opinion as a developer. You wouldn't lose all that space would you?In regards to you question about e-mail accounts.I had one account set up but I deleted all the e-mails from it so that it wouldnt take up any space. One game was cut the rope maybe that took up more space but Im not sure why I lose so much space. But by the end I was coming away with 400mb free. I even deleted built in HTC apps to make more room. I really want the phone. I may buy it again and stick with it this time and hope that the apps I want which are above dont take up too much space.
 

richard_c

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My problem with the other WP8 phones is that they are all too big. I want a phone that sits nice in one hand. I'm going to try and sell my iPhone 4 now and then I'm going to take the plunge and get the 8S. install only the core apps I need as listed above and maybe games (I can always delete games). Im annoyed I panicked when I got my 8S last week and then took it back after seeing how little space was left but if I can install all the apps I want and have like 800/700mb free im happy with that.
 

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