# Don't Buy LG Cell Phones Android 6 - Can't save apps to SD card anymore!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862 "2016-09-13T15:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/1 "2016-09-13T15:45:11Z")
Warning. I bought a LG K3 cell phone with Android 6. And they have a “new” feature. You can no longer transfer apps to the SD card! In previous versions of Android, there was a feature in settings/apps to move downloaded apps to the SD card. Thus you could install a lot more apps. I’ve read that the new Android has a “format to internal memory” feature for the SD card, however my LG phone does NOT have this either! So question… Which brands/models of new Android 6 cell phones allow you to format the SD card for internal memory (thus allowing more memory for apps)? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/2 "2016-09-14T00:25:57Z")
I have an LG G4 and I can see what is in the SD card and put what I want in there. On mine, it is mostly pictures I might show others. I don’t do a lot of apps or use the phone as a computer … Off to see what an LG K3 is, never heard of one but I do not live on the tip of the arrow. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/3 "2016-09-14T00:28:38Z")
Hummmm, $50-60 phone and you have to supply your own SD card. What kind and how big is the card you put in it? ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/4 "2016-09-14T00:38:17Z")
I’ve had the same issue with my phone (Samsung). The apps I’d put on the SD card worked fine until the last Android update. My icons suddenly started disappearing then reappearing at random. I ended up uninstalling everything I’d had on the SD card, uninstalling a few apps I’d had on the phone itself, then reinstalling a couple of the SD apps to the phone. Now everything’s fine. My SD card is 14GB. My phone has 8GB total memory. I don’t have a ton of apps, but a couple of them, I’ve been told, are memory hogs. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/5 "2016-09-14T01:29:45Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > So question… Which brands/models of new Android 6 cell phones allow you to format the SD card for internal memory (thus allowing more memory for apps)? I have a Moto X Pure that can configure the SD card as internal memory. I’d recommend that you use a fast card, which means USH 3. I used a UHS 1 card and my phone warned me that it wasn’t fast enough but I used it anyway. It works fine, but since configuring the card as internal encrypts the card (making it useless out of the phone) you may as well use the UHS 3 card. I’d also guess that the Moto G phones can do the same, but don’t know for sure. 128 GB more storage for $40 can’t be beat. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/6 "2016-09-14T02:32:46Z")
I got a version of the Galaxy 3 years ago and it was ok, but there was no option to move apps or files to SD. I still haven’t figured out why I would even need the card. With only 8G of memory in the phone itself, I was able to download about 5 apps. That made it pretty much useless, so I switched to LG. I really don’t ask the phone gods for much. Is it too much to ask to be able to use your SD card? While we’re at it, is it also too much to ask to have a removable, replaceable battery? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/7 "2016-09-14T03:34:02Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > I’ve read that the new Android has a “format to internal memory” feature for the SD card, however my LG phone does NOT have this either! Apparently the term is “adoptable memory,” which treats the sd card as internal storage. Conventional sd card storage is now called “portable memory.” Many manufacturers have opted not to incorporate adoptable memory into their systems – Samsung is one, and perhaps LG isn’t either. Note too that adoptable memory requires an expensive high-speed sd card. Supposedly the regular ones operate glacially. At the risk of sounding like \*\* Amateur Barbarian\*\*, I often think that Android upgrades are just money grabs of one sort or another. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/8 "2016-09-14T15:13:05Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Hummmm, $50-60 phone and you have to supply your own SD card. What kind and how big is the card you put in it? I installed a PNY 32GB rated C4 Micro SD card (slow). And I read that it should be fast, so I ordered a SanDisk 32GB rated U3 4K Ultra HD Ready (fast) Micro SD card. But it sounds like the fast SD card will not work either. I was hoping that maybe if I installed a fast card, maybe a new menu would pop up? I will let you know. Note the fast U3 card had to be ordered, local stores only have U1 as the fastest. And it was only $25. Not expensive in my book as I paid $1000.00 for 1 \*megabyte \*of memory in the 1980’s! Thanks for mentioning that Samsung also removed this option, that was my next choice. And thanks also for mentioning the “Moto X Pure”. I will check that out. I hate it when they suddenly change/remove a feature and don’t tell anyone. Are they taking lessons from Microsoft? ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/9 "2016-09-14T17:42:48Z")
Update. I got the fast SD card and still can’t “adopt” the SD memory to internal memory. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/10 "2016-09-15T02:41:27Z")
Checked some specs. K3 = $50 phone G4 = $270 to 300 phone Expecting the same abilities and capacities in a K3 that I have in a G4 might just be a tad much. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/11 "2016-09-15T02:48:23Z")
see I have a tablet that I bought an sd card for only to be told almost no android device lets you use an sd card for apps just pics and some docs unless its rooted and irulu stuff cant be rooted so I’m sol… ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/12 "2016-09-15T09:17:39Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Apparently the term is “adoptable memory,” which treats the sd card as internal storage. Conventional sd card storage is now called “portable memory.” Many manufacturers have opted not to incorporate adoptable memory into their systems – Samsung is one, and perhaps LG isn’t either. Heh, interesting. That’s probably why my SD card borked after my phone’s update. I’m due for another phone anyway. Unfortunately my budget balks at spending over $100 for a decent one. > [@](#): > > Note too that adoptable memory requires an expensive high-speed sd card. Supposedly the regular ones operate glacially. At the risk of sounding like \*\* Amateur Barbarian\*\*, I often think that Android upgrades are just money grabs of one sort or another. My SD card is high speed too but you’d never know it. Before the Android update it was moving at such a snail’s pace that I’d moved a couple of apps to the phone itself just to see if it’d help. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-buy-lg-cell-phones-android-6-cant-save-apps-to-sd-card-anymore/765862/13 "2016-09-15T13:10:45Z")
I prefer not to “adopt” the sd card as internal memory. By leaving it as portable memory, i can read my songs and photos on any computer that can look at sd cards, and i can reformat the phone without having to recopy my content. Umm, i keep a lot of songs and photos on that card. I find with no media in the internal memory i have enough room for apps. The only downside is that some apps won’t edit the photos, saying they don’t have that permission (for editing content on portable memory.)