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I heard there is a way to "mount" some of the SD card's space and use it to extend the phone's storage. I need this so I can have space to install apps that only allow to be installed on the phone.

Anyone heard about it?

I'm using Android v2.2, with an HTC Desire.

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migrated from superuser.com May 29 '11 at 7:28

This question came from our site for computer enthusiasts and power users.

  • Didn't know we had one of those :) How can I migrate it? – RonK May 29 '11 at 5:50
  • The question has been flagged and will be migrated by a moderator shortly. – DragonLord May 29 '11 at 5:52
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You can move any apps to sdcard if you are rooted. There are apps on the Market for it Move2SD Enabler and App Swap

Better yet, if you are using custom ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod), some of them have settings to allow you to migrate any apps. You might want to check those out first if you're using custom ROM.

If you want to do it manually (not recommended for pregnant man, or those currently having a heart attack), then you can use Terminal Emulator or ADB to run a few fairly standard set of Linux/Unix commands. The mount command can rebind any folder in your filesystem another location in the filesystem. Alternatively, you may also create symbolic links using the ln command. See the mount and ln manual for this.

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  • Good answer. I am wondering if he means using an Ext partition on the SD card, though. – Matthew Read May 29 '11 at 13:08
  • @Matthew Read: What does Ext partition mean? I assume I do mean it, but just don't know it. – RonK May 30 '11 at 8:26
  • @RonK: ext partition is the de facto standard filesystem used in Linux (the equivalent in Windows is NTFS and used to be FAT, the equivalent in Macs is HFS+). It is basically a specification that specifies how files and folders are written on a storage medium. However, Windows can't read ext filesystem (at least not without extra software), that's why most manufacturer used FAT for external SD card, despite the fact that FAT is an inferior filesystem. – Lie Ryan May 30 '11 at 11:53
  • ext partition used to be necessary for app2sd since FAT partition does not have any security scheme, and Linux (in fact, most Unix systems) relies on filesystem permission to enforce security. ext, being developed specifically for Linux, has the advantage that its security scheme closely resembles the OS' security scheme. – Lie Ryan May 30 '11 at 12:07
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Android OS versions 2.2 and above have built-in functionality for moving apps to SD Card. Go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> SD Card, then tap on any available app without a checkmark, and the button Move to SD card should be enabled. This will move a major portion of the app to the SD Card and free up space for more apps.

If you are rooted and running a custom ROM that supports Ext2/3/4 partition types, there are special scripts available that can "fool" your phone into thinking that a portion of your SD Card is actually part of the internal memory, thus allowing you to install tons of apps without most of the disadvantages of built-in method. Be advised that this method is fairly complicated to install, and requires re-partitioning of the SD Card, flashing a hacky script, and can cause instability of the phone.

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