Android device claims to be "out of space"
 

Hi there,

My mom's Samsung Tab has a 16GB internal memory + 32 GB SD card.
She uses it mostly for photos, and I set it up to save the photos (and videos, ...) on the SD card. It works well: all the photos are on the SD and internal memory folders are empty.

However, she can't install anymore apps >100MB because Android says it's out of space.

When inquiring about space with different apps it says there's 20GB remaining on SD, and internal is 98% full. BUT when I sum all the sub-directories size, I get 6GB. 10 GB are missing...

I tried different apps, crawled on litteraly ALL the sub-folders (and their own sub-folders), and I can't find anything which could fill that 10GB.

My own previous phone had the same issue, and then I installed 2 different "cleaning" apps which freed only 10MB...

My last thought is that Android hides some folders, which don't appear in "free space checker" apps, but I have no clue.

Internet just tells me obvous things like "remove apps", "use external memory", etc...

Any idea of what I could do?

Thanks!

Most cleaning apps don't do a very good job. For what it's worth, I use a combination of AppMgrIII and Droid Optimizer.

The 98% number tells me the phone has accumulated a lot of data, and that a good cleaning is needed. That also would explain not being able to download apps.

You should also realize that if an app says in an app store that it's say 20mb, it'll need more space than that for data files and such. There's no formula per se, but I like to move apps to the SD card when possible and save at least 10% of internal memory, just in case.

The AppMgrIII app will also tell you if any apps can be moved to the SD card, which should free up some much-needed space on the phone. You can browse your appropriate app store, but stick with the well-reviewed apps, whenever possible.

How much of that internal memory is being used as RAM? That won't show up as storage, but it will be "used". The more apps running, the more it dedicates to RAM which in turn is no longer available as storage.

You bring up a good point. If the phone is on 24/7, there could be literally dozens of apps running (i.e. - not closed).

There are a ton of apps out there that will kill unnecessary running apps. If so inclined, check the app store, but I use Greenify (paid version), and put an icon on my home page where I periodically tap the icon to close apps that are still running.

Thank you so much for your feedback!
I didn't know storage could be used as RAM, but that's a point I definitely have to check as soon as I can have this tab in my hands again.
I'll try to close everything, + greenify + reboot.

Thanks!

Not knowing your mom's "phone IQ", my suggestions are for the "average" phone user. In your case, turning the phone off, waiting a few minutes, and turning it back on, might solve the short-term issues. Generally, phones know what needs to be done, in terms of clearing RAM and controlling background processes.

There are a handful of apps I (and others, but would vary person to person) would recommend as basic starter apps. Opinions will vary, but IMO, I would recommend these basic app types:

- antivirus (though most phones are bundled with them already)
- a good cleaning app (I use a combination of AppMgrIII, which also can move apps to the SD card, Droid Optimizer and SD Maid). Newer phones have a system app with one-touch cleaning... as is the case with my LG phone.
- an app killer (I use Greenify, but there are others)

Other apps one might consider include:
- battery management app (for example, can disconnect WiFi to save battery, can dim display automatically, etc.)
- link aggregator (an app to save links you might want to save. I have one with over 250 links I've found. There's also an app called "Links" with over one million (!) built in links.)

If your mom isn't going to be using the phone more than for just pics and an occasional game, the latter two aren't necessary, but I would recommend the basic three types above to any user.

Hi!
Finally, I could get her tab and I did all what you said: reboot, greenify, SD Maid, but I also launched the biult-in samsung optimizer.
After all that, 1.2 GB have been freed!
That's not that much, but sufficient to keep this device alive for a few months more.
After all, the 16GB system partition may by too small for the Android System now. I guess the time to change it has come. Hopefully, all her data is on a SD card, so migrate to a new tab should be easy.

Thanks to everyone for your help, it has been very much appreciated!!

Also, at some point down the road, you might want to consider disabling certain apps.

For example, I disabled the Chrome browser in my phone (which takes up over 100 mb), and instead, downloaded a much smaller (6 mb) and faster browser. Not sure how much space you can pick up, but I'm sure some apps can be disabled to free up more room if needed.

As long as your internal storage is 90% or less, you should have enough room to install and/or update apps.

I have a TAB A too. A few apps like Amazon Prime have the ability to download episodes so you can watch vids without streaming. BUT, the episodes will not show up by summing the subdirectories - you have to go into the app and delete the episodes manually - you cannot cache the episodes to the SD.