How to directly install apps to my phone’s SD card from the Google Play store? I want to do this instead of having to move them after the fact.

1. it`s work! tnx

2. You mentioned that you do not want to manually move the apps after installation, which makes me believe that you can move the apps to the SD card. I think the only way to force apps to install to the SD card instead of your device would require root access and modifying some system settings. Otherwise, this may work if you are running an older version of Android: http://droid-den.com/android-guides/android-guide-force-apps-to-the-sd-card-without-rooting-a2sd/ No guarantees that it will work, and it isn't very easy. Sometimes it takes several tries to get it to work, sometimes it won't work at all.

   • I would like to move them manually to sd card as there is no option seen to auto-install apps from Play Store to sd card

3. you can use app2sd to move some of the apps to sd after installation manually or automatically when installing, but it does not move all the apps to sd. some apps required to be installed on the phone memory so they can't be moved to sd through apps2sd.

   • In Android GB pl tell how to reach settings for manually moving app to sd card?

4. Ice Cream Sandwich upwards, may not support Apps on ext. SD at all. However, if you are on a lower version like Gingerbread or Froyo, it supports apps on ext. SD. Some apps will install automatically on SD when you install them on Google Play and others which do not install automatically but can be moved to ext. SD, you can use an app like Apps2SD from Google Play. Lots of them available:

5. some applications to that automatically and for others depends on Android Version I guess

   link2sd
   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD&hl=en
   i guess it can be set to do that automatically

   • I understand

     and how to manually move in Android GB settings

   • [App] Link2SD
     http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=919326

     Link2SD guide – never worry about internal memory limits again
     http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/12/link2sd-guide-never-worry-about-internal-memory-limits-again/

     How to Move Android Apps to the SD Card
     http://droidlessons.com/how-to-move-android-apps-to-the-sd-card/
     do you have move to sd card option?

     How to move almost all Android apps to SD card (no root required)
     http://www.bongizmo.com/blog/moving-all-android-apps-to-sdcard-apps2sd-froyo/

   • Thanks! useful!

To illustrate an app being installed directly to the SD card, I installed a simple Notepad app from the Play Store and it was installed on the SD card, bypassing the internal storage, as shown below.

Click the download button above to download Free Video Joiner full version. Full version means the installation file is complete and doesn't require additional. Free Video Cutter Joiner is a great application for trimming and editing large video. Looking for the Mac version of Free Video Cutter Joiner? Download Here. This video joiner free download guide can help you get the best video joiner. Now I wanna join these clips to make the full movie into a single MP4 file and put it. Download Now button (both Windows and Mac version are provided) to save. Free download movie joiner full version. Free Video Cutter Joiner latest version: Video Cutter Joiner Software Road Tested. The publishers. View full description. Free Downloadfor Windows. All Video Joiner latest version: Join different video files together. View full description. About the download, All Video Joiner is a light software that will require less free space than the average program in the. All Video Joiner can help you join multiple AVI/DivX, MPEG,or WMV/ASF files into one large movie file.

I would like to know whether there is a way to tell Android to install applications on the micro SD card by default instead of having to download applications to internal memory first and then having to move them to the SD card manually.

Thanks

5 Answers

This article at HowtoGeek describes a possible way utilizing the adb:

• Double-click on the program to run it. If you encounter any problems while updating your drivers, you can use this feature to restore your previous drivers and configuration settings. It will then scan your computer and identify any problem drivers. Tech Tip: The will back up your current drivers for you. Download driver toshiba satellite c600 for windows 7. • Download the for Toshiba.

• connect your device to your computer
• execute the command adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2
  (or, new syntax, adb shell pm set-install-location 2)
• disconnect, done.

This command will set the devices default installation target to your SDCard. That doesn't necessarily mean everything gets installed there: only apps supporting this will go there, and devs can 'overrule' this in their apps manifest if they think it's needed. From the linked API reference:

Changes the default install location. Location values:

• 0: Auto—Let system decide the best location.
• 1: Internal—install on internal device storage.
• 2: External—install on external media.

Note: This is only intended for debugging; using this can cause applications to break and other undesireable behavior.

For more details on ADB, and how you can e.g. get a minimal version of it to your computer (without the overkill of installing the entire SDK), you can take a look at the adbtag-wiki.

Update: To avoid confusion with t0mm13b's answer, some clearance on the installation process:

Shinedown threat to survival download. Total download size: 879MB Total play length: 40:20. Cover art included, liner notes not included. Shinedown is an American hard rock band from Jacksonville,. Check out Threat To Survival by Shinedown on Amazon Music. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com.

1. you find some app on google-play-store and decide to install it
2. after you've clicked 'install' and agreed on terms/permissions, the apk is downloaded to /data/local, i.e. to your internal-storage. You can't change that.
3. when the download is completed, the .apk will be installed automatically. Where to, depends on multiple things:
   • if the dev did not specify the android:installLocation property in his apps Manifest, the app will be installed to internal story. Full stop, no other choice (see: API reference).
   • if this android:installLocation is set to preferExternal, and external storage is available, it will go there.
   • if it's set to auto, it again depends:
     1. does the app contain widgets, services, wants to start at boot, and several other things, it goes to internal storage. Full stop, no other choice.
     2. it goes where the devices 'default install location' points to

That cannot be changed! That is how Android works.

All downloads from Google Play goes to the internal filesystem, then from:

• Settings > Manage applications
• Tap on said app, check if button Move to SDCard is enabled, then you can do so.

If the button Move to SDCard is disabled or greyed out, its probably to prevent the app from functioning - such as their own widgets on home screen.

Also, see this answer in the related side-bar to the right of this page. :)

Install 'Terminal Emulator for Android' in your mobile and open

Go to 'Manage apps' and then select the 'All' tab and find 'Google Play Store'. Tap on it and then press the 'Uninstall updates' button. After that, go to the Play Store all the apps will be installed on your SD Card. This is what I did on my QMobile A110 (Android 4.2).

The thing is u can change the default install directory if your phone is rooted.Download lucky patcher and tap on tools there you can find option to change default install directort. **Do not do this for android 4 or above or it may cause irreversible change.**

protected by Community♦Aug 18 '16 at 22:18

Download Google Play For Pc

Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?

How To Download Google Play Apps To Sd Cards

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged external-sdinternal-storageinsufficient-memory or ask your own question.