Forcing Apps to install on SD card without root

Forcing Apps to install on SD card without root.

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One of the biggest complaints about the phones in the economic price range is the severe lack of internal memory. Internal memory restricts the number of application you can install on your phone. There are ways around this, one of which is forcing downloaded apps to install to the SD Card. There are a couple of pre-requisites, but the process itself is relatively straight forward.

Things you will need:

1. Android Phone
2. USB cable
3. PC (with an administrator user recommended)
4. Android SDK (download here )
5. Java JDK (download here)
6. Phone USB drivers (can be downloaded from the manufacturer's support website)
• For HTC devices - Download HTC Sync
• For Samsung devices - Download the device specific USB drivers here by selecting the model number.
• For Motorola devices - Download the USB drivers here
• For Sony devices - Download the drivers here

(The links are India specific, readers from other countries please visit the manufacturer website -> support -> downloads  to find drivers)

Once Java JDK is installed, install the Android SDK somewhere easy like C:\Android\ so that navigating to it is easy in command prompt.

Open SDKmanager.exe and download the required Android version.(<100 MB)

While downloading the application may prompt for MOTODEV account detail.

Visit here to create a free account and proceed further.

If you face any problems please mention in the comments.

Before connecting the phone to the PC, we need to enable USB debugging mode. On the phone go to Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging.

(Here's a screen shot of USB debugging on my HTC Explorer)

Once ready with all the things mentioned above follow this simple process

1. Connect the phone to the PC in charge mode.
2. Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt (Run as Administrator)
3. Navigate to the folder you have ADB.
1. Type "C:" & press enter.
2. Type "cd\Android\Android-sdk\platform-tools"  & press enter. (ADB Depends on the android sdk being used, so try finding it on the drive and navigate using cmd)
4. Type "adb devices" & press enter. The serial number of the phone connected will be displayed.
5. Type "adb shell" & press enter.
6. Type "pm setInstallLocation 2" & press enter. (Case Sensitive command)
7. Type "exit" & press enter.
8. Disconnect the phone.

If you face any problems please mention in the comments.

• Now simply move apps that are already on the phone to the SD Card.
• Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> All -> 'Click an app' -> Move to SD Card.
• All new apps will also install to the SD Card by default.
• It's worth mentioning that apps with active widgets cannot be moved. Also, a certain portion app will remain on the phones data partition, but this goes a long way to assist with the lack of internal memory problem.