Before there was no way to store apps on the SD card. But, following the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop, some Android smartphones have started offering users the ability to store apps on SD card. And, it has been a constant feature on many Android smartphones, but not all.
Storing apps on the SD card will allow you to save a lot of internal storage which in turn would help your device to run faster without any issues. While you are storing your apps on SD card, you need to remember that installed apps depend on SD card. If you delete the SD card, you will not be able to use the apps stored on the SD card.
Should you store apps on an SD card?
It depends on the type of SD card you have. If you have a Class 10 or higher (UHS or UFS) SD card, you can definitely store apps in it. But, if you have a lower SD card than we suggest, it won’t be a good choice for apps to be installed on your SD card.
Note that SD card performance may be slower than phone internal storage unless card class is high and protocol is newer like UFS. You won’t notice a difference in speed, but it’s worth knowing.
How do I store apps on an SD card?
If your device manufacturer allows apps to transfer to SD card, you can follow the steps below to store apps on SD card.
But, how do you know that the device you are going to buy has this option? Do we have a way of knowing which of the devices supports mobile apps on the SD card natively? No Unfortunately. However, you can use the web and investigate it through forums / posts / social media before purchasing the device.
How to store apps on an SD card
Steps to store apps on SD card
- Access the Settings menu.
- Scroll down to find ” Apps “. Tap on it.
- Now you will observe the list of apps installed on your device.
- Tap one of the apps you want to store on the SD card.Note: You will not be able to save every app to the SD card. And, when you moved the app to SD card, you cannot make it work when you remove the SD card.
- Scroll down and you find the option ” Move to SD card “. Tap on it to move the app to the SD card.
In the worst case, you can use the feature of Android 6.0 and make your SD card as the default storage (your SD card acts as internal storage), so that your SD card becomes the default storage for photos in theory. However, make sure that you have installed a trustworthy SD card with faster read and write speeds (class 10 or higher). Alternatively, you can head over to the root of your device, but that’s not something we recommend you do.
See also: Use SD card as default photo storage on Android
