Installing apps to RAM by default was a bad system for Android.

[shortylickens]

If theres a flash card of some sort in the phone then apps should always go there first unless absolutely required.

Yes I know theres apps that can move other apps to bulk storage but it shouldnt have to be that complicated.

This is the one area that Apple, Palm, RIM, and Microsoft seem to have Google beaten.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Not RIM. All phone OS including OS6 still use system memory for apps.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I think that Installing stuff to RAM is the greatest thing ever. RAM disks on our phones, here we come.

 

[shortylickens]

I think that Installing stuff to RAM is the greatest thing ever. RAM disks on our phones, here we come.

Yeah, but we're not there yet. And by the time you install a reasonable number of apps you are out of working memory.
Imagine if the installation of Office went to your computers RAM. You'd be running out pretty damn fast.

 

[Oyeve]

Yeah, my old behold II only had 100mb for app storage. Was supposed to be 200mb but some crappy DATA MGT kept eating 60mb. God, I hated that phone. I have a vibrant with 16gb built in and another 32gb on a msd but they only allow 2gb for apps. Was really stupid. even moving apps to sd is a pain. There should be no cap.

 

[Glitchny]

Internal storage != RAM

 

[DivideBYZero]

Internal storage != RAM

Not true in all cases, it's dependant upon the platform.

 

[tdawg]

With 8 or 16gb internal memory in the Droid X, I don't ever want an app installed to my memory card and taking up space for music, movies, and photos.

With the Nexus One, it was another story since it only had a paltry 1gb of internal memory that filled up way too quickly.

 

[ChronoReverse]

No Android phone installs any apps to RAM. They all install to flash storage.

The real issue is why so many (earlier) Android phones had less than 512mb flash storage. My G2 has about 1GB flash storage and even with tons of apps it's not even quite half full.

 

[simonizor]

Isn't this pretty much a non-issue with 2.2? Sure, there are some apps that you can't move to your SD card, but the majority of them can be.

 

[shortylickens]

Isn't this pretty much a non-issue with 2.2? Sure, there are some apps that you can't move to your SD card, but the majority of them can be.

Then it would seem I am picking the wrong stuff, cuz only half of mine can move to the card. And of those, only 3/4 of the total data goes to the card, 1/4 of the app data stays on the phone for some reason.
With only 512 megs (quite a large chunk of which is needed for the OS and core apps) the leftover get filled quickly.

 

[gsaldivar]

Some people here are very confused about the difference between flash memory and RAM...

 

[WelshBloke]

So flash a ROM that uses your card for app storage.

 

[destrekor]

Some people here are very confused about the difference between flash memory and RAM...

Internal flash memory should be the preferred place to install apps. It ideally is faster than a removable SD card, but the problem is - a lot of phones included a minimal amount of internal flash memory that wasn't dedicated to system storage and whatnot.
I think my Droid (D1) only has 512mb or so internal flash. I've been able to keep things good, but some apps I do take advantage of running on my removable card, typically ones that have a larger filesize but aren't used daily.

 

[ncalipari]

The theory is that by installing the SW on SD card you make reverse engineering of the source code much easier.

 

[KentState]

This is the one area that Apple, Palm, RIM, and Microsoft seem to have Google beaten.

How does Apple have them beat? The iPhone only has internal memory. Secondly, I'd much rather use the internal memory for apps first and not pollute a memory card that may be moved around.

 

[Bryf50]

Worst Thread Ever. Internal Flash is not your phones RAM and there's nothing wrong with installing apps to it.

and this

How does Apple have them beat? The iPhone only has internal memory. Secondly, I'd much rather use the internal memory for apps first and not pollute a memory card that may be moved around.

Not true in all cases, it's dependant upon the platform.

I don't know of any modern platform that allows this. Early versions of Windows Mobile gave you a slider to chose how much you wanted to allocated to system RAM and to storage.

 

[Raduque]

You're confusing system RAM with flash memory storage.

 

[QueBert]

My D1 has a whopping 256 megs, and I've come across a lot of programs that refuse to let you move them to SD. Nothing like installing a 60 meg game and when you try to move it to SD it won't let you. There went 1/4 of my space for 1 damn game. I wonder if Motorola actually had a sit down meeting and came to the agreement that 256 megs was sufficient.

 

[ew915]

Installing to nand is better than an external source because your aps will always be running regardless if you connected your phone to download some music or whatever thing you need to do to the msd.

 

[Bateluer]

My D1 has a whopping 256 megs, and I've come across a lot of programs that refuse to let you move them to SD. Nothing like installing a 60 meg game and when you try to move it to SD it won't let you. There went 1/4 of my space for 1 damn game. I wonder if Motorola actually had a sit down meeting and came to the agreement that 256 megs was sufficient.

Droid 1 has 256MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM. The OS and its components take up a big chunk of the 512MB ROM though. It becomes very limiting.

 

[MrX8503]

I keep forgetting that Android has that limitation. I would find that really annoying.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Droid 1 has 256MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM. The OS and its components take up a big chunk of the 512MB ROM though. It becomes very limiting.

You get like 100MB only unless you move Dalvik onto SD card and even then it's a PITA. I have like 30MB free, and I struggle trying to install anything....

It's like my phone is almost a useless device in terms of getting apps and installing it.

 

[tommo123]

thank god for different hboots. on my desire, with the oxygen hboot i get 300MB for apps and it's just about enough.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I have '1.11GB free' for apps atm, 106 apps installed, two of which are pushing 1GB(Spectral Souls and Monster Madness) and another that is a bit over 600MB(DD:FW). My phone has 1GB of RAM total. I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about, it really doesn't make much sense.