Android Kitkat help?

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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Just bought new phones with the kitkat os (4.4.2) and when I take pics they aren't storing anywhere. Into the ether they go. I figure this is relevant since I use my phone for all of my business stuff here.

I have my cam set to save on the new SD card. My wife's phone is doing the same. I cannot move any apps (imgur, photobucket, tapatalk, Gmail etc) to the card either. I had no trouble with any of this on my old phone. What's up?
 
Is your phone reading the card? Is it mounted? Try unmounting it and remounting it. Then reboot the phone.
 
As I understand it, Google deliberately disabled the ability to write to an sd card as part of their efforts to make people use Google Drive. Your phones can read the sd card but they can't write to it. Set the camera to write to internal storage instead and then it will work.

Either that or root the phones.
 
Cougar Allen said:
As I understand it, Google deliberately disabled the ability to write to an sd card as part of their efforts to make people use Google Drive. Your phones can read the sd card but they can't write to it. Set the camera to write to internal storage instead and then it will work.

Either that or root the phones.
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Yes and no. With KitKat you can save images/sounds/music/etc., to an external SD card, but apps have never been movable to an external SD card.
 
Hmm ... searching the net I see there are ways to bypass the restriction and move files to the sd card without having to root the phone.
 
Cougar Allen said:
As I understand it, Google deliberately disabled the ability to write to an sd card as part of their efforts to make people use Google Drive. Your phones can read the sd card but they can't write to it. Set the camera to write to internal storage instead and then it will work.

Either that or root the phones.
Click to expand...

Google doesn't like external storage because of security issues. It has nothing to do with forcing people to use Drive or any other sort of cloud storage. If a phone is locked (password/pattern/face) the data can't be accessed via computer. But if all those naughty pictures of yourself or someone else are on a SD card, then they're there for the taking. Same goes for app data (including banking apps and anything else that might contain your credit card number or passwords).

loonybin said:
Yes and no. With KitKat you can save images/sounds/music/etc., to an external SD card, but apps have never been movable to an external SD card.
Click to expand...

Not without root. Previous versions of Android allowed moving apps to SD. With root on KK you can use an app like Link2SD to move apps to external SD. With the Xposed framework and some modules, you can have even more control. But root is definitely not for everybody, and there's lots of phones where root hasn't been achieved yet.
 
Well, I don't want to hijack the poor guy's thread with geeky arguments, but that is an even weaker excuse than the fear of rogue apps story. Suppose a user does choose to put his bank account and credit card info on an unencrypted sd card? Then he would have it in his pockets along with his credit card and checkbook?

As I recall you know a lot more about Android than I do. Can we figure out how to help Mr. Omega get his new phones working?
 
Cougar Allen said:
Well, I don't want to hijack the poor guy's thread with geeky arguments, but that is an even weaker excuse than the fear of rogue apps story. Suppose a user does choose to put his bank account and credit card info on an unencrypted sd card? Then he would have it in his pockets along with his credit card and checkbook?
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I don't really agree with Google's position, I'm merely regurgitating it. I do understand their position though. While people should be aware of their personal data, most don't bother with the specifics, and leave themselves vulnerable out of laziness and ignorance. The downside of this policy is that with previous versions of Android the user could move huge apps - games mostly, like Asphalt 8 or GTA 4 take up a ton of space - but 4.4 KitKat doesn't allow this. I've kept my tablet (LG G Pad 8.3) on 4.2 even though there's a 4.4 update, for precisely this reason (with root there's workarounds, but I've been too lazy to do it). Getting back to Google, they're a for-profit company like any other. Faith in their services is paramount, just like any other company. It's in their best interest to be as secure and safe as they can. Thus, they've limited external SD functionality for security reasons..
As I recall you know a lot more about Android than I do. Can we figure out how to help Mr. Omega get his new phones working?
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With Android 4.4 Kit Kat, you're able to store pics on internal storage or external storage (if it exists) at the user's choosing. Every phone is different, and they also differ between carriers. Anthony hasn't said what phones he's using, nor which carrier he's with. This matters. For example, a Samsung Galaxy S5 from T-Mobile is very different from one from Verizon, despite being the "same" phone. If we want to delve deeper into certain possibilities (which are likely extremely complicated and warranty-voiding) I would need more information.

Anthony, I need to know what phones you bought, and what provider you're with. In certain respects, 4.4 Kit Kat is very different from previous versions, and I'm not just talking about features. I don't claim to know everything (not by a long shot), but I do know a lot, and I know where to look for what I don't know.
 
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Kit Kats are good, but I really think Twix is better, despite the whole left vs right issues they've had lately. :cool:
 
The S5 Galaxy doesn't have a root :(

(At least when I checked 2 months ago)
 
Planterz said:
Google doesn't like external storage because of security issues. It has nothing to do with forcing people to use Drive or any other sort of cloud storage. If a phone is locked (password/pattern/face) the data can't be accessed via computer. But if all those naughty pictures of yourself or someone else are on a SD card, then they're there for the taking. Same goes for app data (including banking apps and anything else that might contain your credit card number or passwords).



Not without root. Previous versions of Android allowed moving apps to SD.
Click to expand...

4.2 did not allow moving to an external SD card. Android allowed it to "move to SD card" which ended up being an "internal" SD card (read: partition of the internal storage that actually is listed as "USB storage app"). How do I know? There wasn't a single app on my removable microSD card even after I moved every eligible app over to it, and I could "move to SD card" even when there wasn't an external SD card installed in the phone. They were on the internal "SD card." At least, that's the way it was with my Straight Talk phone. My Verizon Moto G has KitKat, but it doesn't have an external SD slot, so it's a moot point for some phones.
 
Charlie Mike said:
The S5 Galaxy doesn't have a root :(

(At least when I checked 2 months ago)
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Depends on your carrier (assuming you got your phone from them) and which version you might be running, both Android version and factory version.

loonybin said:
4.2 did not allow moving to an external SD card. Android allowed it to "move to SD card" which ended up being an "internal" SD card (read: partition of the internal storage that actually is listed as "USB storage app"). How do I know? There wasn't a single app on my removable microSD card even after I moved every eligible app over to it, and I could "move to SD card" even when there wasn't an external SD card installed in the phone. They were on the internal "SD card." At least, that's the way it was with my Straight Talk phone. My Verizon Moto G has KitKat, but it doesn't have an external SD slot, so it's a moot point for some phones.
Click to expand...

I think you're right, 4.1 might have been the latest version to natively allow moving apps to SD. I thought this was possible with 4.2 because there was a lot of talk about the 4.4 update breaking such things with my LG G Pad 8.3, but I just checked on mine, which is still on 4.2, and the "move to SD" option I remember from 4.1 on another device isn't there.
 
KitKat on a phone and KitKat on a tablet have different features and options, so it's possible that external SD storage was different between phones an tablets as well.

Me, I'm just waiting for Verizon to get Lollipop out for the Moto G. Supposedly better battery life.
 
loonybin said:
Me, I'm just waiting for Verizon to get Lollipop out for the Moto G. Supposedly better battery life.
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I've been using Lollipop on my Nexus 4 from time to time for a few months (I can switch back and forth within minutes). It's hard to describe, but it "feels" really, really nice. The animations/transitions, scrolling, etc...it just feels nice. Tactiliy so, even though it's all in the software. You'll understand what I mean when you get the update, which shouldn't be too long, since Motorola is committed to giving their recent phones quick updates. But being a Verizon phone, the update might take longer than it should, because Verizon.
 
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