Brian & Anand Hate SD Card's in Phones

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accguy9009

Senior member
Oct 21, 2007
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Why not just stick it into a printer directly? My grandparents who I taught to use the PC print loads of pictures just by using a printer, it's quicker & easier to use which helps.

I see no reason why anyone couldn't if they choose to
 

accguy9009

Senior member
Oct 21, 2007
504
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So when Apple sells a 50GB iCloud subscription to someone with a 16GB iPhone, that's not intended to be supplemental storage? :whistle:

ETA: I am aware iCloud offers other features; that does not change the fact that it is the only realistic option to extend storage on an iPad or iPhone.

Especially when said company is in the business of selling content from its iTunes web storefront
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
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How many iCloud subscriptions do you think Apple would really sell if iPhones and iPads had uSD slots?

You know iCloud is free...right? Users only bother to buy more capacity if they're averse to doing full backups to a PC/Mac...and own multiple devices.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
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... I am aware iCloud offers other features; that does not change the fact that it is the only realistic option to extend storage on an iPad or iPhone.

Huh? iCloud doesn't extend the storage on a device. You can't have more than 8GB of content on an 8GB Apple device...even if you paid to expand your free iCloud account to 50GB.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
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Especially when said company is in the business of selling content from its iTunes web storefront

You can stream all purchases iTunes music without having it stored on your device. You can re-download anything at any time and keep it on the device. None of your iTunes purchases count against iCloud storage, so the free account works just fine for heavy iTunes purchasers.
 

tential

Diamond Member
May 13, 2008
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You can stream all purchases iTunes music without having it stored on your device. You can re-download anything at any time and keep it on the device. None of your iTunes purchases count against iCloud storage, so the free account works just fine for heavy iTunes purchasers.

Oh.... that's how you get things into itunes?
Guess I can't use icloud :(
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
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Huh? iCloud doesn't extend the storage on a device. You can't have more than 8GB of content on an 8GB Apple device...even if you paid to expand your free iCloud account to 50GB.
??
I'm guessing he was saying that the xGB of iCloud storage IS the 'extension', not that it somehow magically increases onboard storage, as if that made any sense.
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
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Oh.... that's how you get things into itunes?
Guess I can't use icloud :(

I believe ripped tracks that are matched with iTunes Match count as purchases in this regard and you get 8GB for anything that doesn't match.
 

accguy9009

Senior member
Oct 21, 2007
504
10
81
You can stream all purchases iTunes music without having it stored on your device. You can re-download anything at any time and keep it on the device. None of your iTunes purchases count against iCloud storage, so the free account works just fine for heavy iTunes purchasers.

If WiFi is not available do these downloads and steams consume most customers limited cellular data caps? For folks trying to hang on to there megabytes this could prove to be problematic, no
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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because iCloud storage is not intended to replace functions that you would use a uSD card for.

Really? This makes no sense.

The biggest reason I have seen people get more I cloud space is pictures. They blow past the 5gb and need photo stream to keep all the grandkids pics. These could easily be saved on a microsd card.

iTunes streaming service isn't iCloud but it is an Apple cloud service that allows you to stream music. Storing music on a MicroSD is still a viable option.

So yes they are direct competitors.

At the end of the day, what can we REALLY get for that minor extra cost and space of a Micro SD slot? 3% more battery? No thanks. Bigger Sim compatibility? No thanks. Dual Sim slots to get around data plans as mentioned in thread? ATT and Verizon say no thanks.

I feel like the only people who are against this are either Apple defenders (like the front page) or those who don't really utilize the features of their phone.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
33,327
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To be fair at least Apple offer available options with decent amounts of built in storage.
I always have a ah heck of a time finding other phones above the basic storage options.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
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If WiFi is not available do these downloads and steams consume most customers limited cellular data caps? For folks trying to hang on to there megabytes this could prove to be problematic, no

That's right. My point was: Limited non-expandable storage on iDevices isn't meant to drive iCloud "subscriptions." It's simply meant to inflate profit margins on the actual hardware. Nothing more.
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
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To be fair at least Apple offer available options with decent amounts of built in storage.
I always have a ah heck of a time finding other phones above the basic storage options.

Yeah, with a massive markup. No thanks.
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
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:hmm:
AP: What's your position on the SD card access situation in Android 4.4?
Koush: The SD card needs to go away. It's a nightmare for developers. There's too much variability here. SD Cards can be slow, resulting in poor app performance. They can come and go, or be swapped, and that results in unpredictable behavior if an app was expecting an SD card. One contiguous block of data needs to become the standard here (with different OEM SKUs for more/less storage), as it has been on iOS since the first iPhone.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...-cyanogen-inc-and-his-return-to-clockworkmod/
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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0cb3ef6e1d30edc0038eaa58f90b507c_xlarge.jpeg


I can see his point as a developer, but as a user I don't care.

Just like I know its way easier to develop an iOS app in many cases- with only a few resolutions and complete libraries life would be so much easier for app developers if they only had to make iOS apps. But I don't care, if you want my money I am on Android.

And in 2014, if you want my money the SD card better work when I would expect it to work (like storage for a media app).
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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I can understand the argument of it complicating app development, but really the SD should simply be a storage place for files, and only when specified by the user (like changing the camera storage settings). Apps should never be installing files onto the SD card.
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
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I can understand the argument of it complicating app development, but really the SD should simply be a storage place for files, and only when specified by the user (like changing the camera storage settings). Apps should never be installing files onto the SD card.
Agree 100%.

Why can't devs just write their apps to ignore SD storage, in the same sense that no one writing apps for a desktop platform seems to care that desktop OS's can have multiple hard drives, removable storage, etc. Just write your apps to use internal storage only. Or in certain cases, allow a preference to store files internally or externally. (Camera and video apps that create files, document creation/editing apps etc.) If I remove my SD card, my camera app doesn't suddenly freak out and fail to work.

If a user chooses to move an app to run off the SD card, any resulting issues should be the user's problem, not the dev's.

I just don't quite understand such a heavy-handed approach to what should be a fairly simple "problem" to work out.
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
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Agree 100%.

Why can't devs just write their apps to ignore SD storage, in the same sense that no one writing apps for a desktop platform seems to care that desktop OS's can have multiple hard drives, removable storage, etc. Just write your apps to use internal storage only. Or in certain cases, allow a preference to store files internally or externally. (Camera and video apps that create files, document creation/editing apps etc.) If I remove my SD card, my camera app doesn't suddenly freak out and fail to work.

If a user chooses to move an app to run off the SD card, any resulting issues should be the user's problem, not the dev's.

I just don't quite understand such a heavy-handed approach to what should be a fairly simple "problem" to work out.
The problem with that is in the scenario you outlined, most users will give a 1 star rating review and blame the developer instead of themselves.
Once you give a 1 star rating review, it's no longer your problem and it's now the developer's problem.
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
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So we're supposed to limit our storage choices in hardware...

... to protect app developers from unfair one star ratings?

I'm gonna have to disagree with that. And the type of people who give one star ratings over such things will just find something else as a reason anyway.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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So we're supposed to limit our storage choices in hardware...

... to protect app developers from unfair one star ratings?

Exactly.

Fragmentation is part of the reality of Android. The most popular devices have SD card slots so if you are a serious developer you already own S4s and 5s to test on anyway.

So deal with it...
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
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Koush has been a Samsung hater from day 1.

Every time Koush's name comes up on reddit, people note his record of incomplete, overhyped, and eventually abandoned apps. So he abandoned CM too... big shock.
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
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Not saying I agree with that either, but it is what it is.

I see all the time on the play store where a dev will just flat out state something like "this app will not work properly if moved to SD card" and so in effect not to low rate for that or expect the dev to fix their issue. People just look like doofs for doing so anyway.

I personally hope a dev can get completely unfair ratings removed when they've clearly stated that a specific user-created issue will cause a problem. At least it should be set up that way.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
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I see all the time on the play store where a dev will just flat out state something like "this app will not work properly if moved to SD card" and so in effect not to low rate for that or expect the dev to fix their issue. People just look like doofs for doing so anyway.

I personally hope a dev can get completely unfair ratings removed when they've clearly stated that a specific user-created issue will cause a problem. At least it should be set up that way.

I don't think it's OK for devs to just say "doesn't work from SD" when he really means "I'm too lazy to make it work from SD."