There was no way to store apps on SD Card earlier. The Android tinkerers preferred to achieve root access in order to store apps on SD Card. But, following the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop, some of the Android smartphones started offering the ability to its users to store apps on SD Card. And, it has been a consistent feature on many Android smartphones but not all.
Storing the apps on SD Card would let you save a lot of Internal storage which in turn would help your device perform faster without any hiccups. While you store your apps on SD card, you must remember that those applications installed depend on the SD card. If you remove the SD card, you will not be able to get work done with the apps stored on SD Card.
Should You Store Apps On SD Card?
It depends on what type of SD Card you have. If you have an SD Card of Class 10 or higher (UHS or UFS), you can surely store apps on it. But, if you own an SD Card lower than what we suggest, it will not be a wise choice to have apps installed on your SD Card.
Note that the SD Card performance might be slower than the internal storage of the phone, unless the card class is high, and the protocol is the most recent, such as UFS. Not everyone will notice a speed difference, but it’s worth knowing.
How To Store Apps On SD Card?
If your device’s manufacturer allows moving apps to SD Card, you can follow the steps mentioned below to store apps on SD Card.
But, how do you know that the device you are going to purchase offers that option? Do we have a way to know which of the devices support moving apps to SD Card natively? No, unfortunately not. However, you can utilize the web and investigate about it through the forums/publications/social media before purchasing the device.
Steps To Store Apps On SD Card
- Head into the Settings menu.
- Scroll down to find “Apps“. Tap on it.
- Now, you will observe the list of applications installed on your device.
- Tap on any of the apps that you want to store on SD Card.
Note: You will not be able to store every app on SD Card. And, when you have successfully moved the app to SD card, you cannot make it work when you remove the SD Card. - Scroll down, and you will find “Move to SD Card” option. Tap on it to move the app to SD Card.
In worst case scenario, you can utilize Android 6.0’s feature and make your SD card as the default storage (your SD Card acts as the Internal storage), as a result your SD Card becomes the default storage for photos in theory. However, do ensure that you have installed a trustworthy SD card with faster reading and writing speeds (class 10 or above). Alternatively, you can head to root your device, but it is not something we would recommend doing.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Sd Card and Smartphones.