To save space in the internal memory of your phone, moving apps to the SD card is a greatest way to free up space. Now, You can move apps to the SD card by choosing Settings > Applications and tap the “Move to SD card” button. You may notice that this option is grey for some applications, however. Why is this?
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Reason 1. Choice of Developer
Developers of Android apps need to make their apps explicitly accessible to move to SD card using the “android: installation” attribute in their app’s <manifest> element. If not, the “Move to SD card” option is greyed out. Why wouldn’t many developers enable this button? Well, while the card is mounted, Android apps cannot run from the SD card. So, if this app handles something like an alarm reminding you of a dentist appointment, then that is pretty important, and if your device is connected to your PC, the app would not be able to sound the alarm. So the developer can choose to lock “Move to SD card” features so that somebody can never receive an angry email stating that the app doesn’t work.
Reason 2. Support for widget
Widget support is another big reason why SD card apps can be prevented. If the app is installed on the SD card, then widgets from the app are unavailable when the device is mounted to select certain Android versions. The device must be restarted to reappear as an option for the widgets from the app.
Reason 3. Syncing, Service, or Account Interface
Syncing, Service, or Account Interface When an app handles some kind of background syncing, runs as a service, or uses an account, the app does not work fully from an SD card when installed. This option to move it to the SD card is therefore disabled. So, You can read more about this issue and how apps run on SD cards on the App Install location page of Android Developers.
FAQ
- How do I download apps to the SD Card directly?
You will need root access on your device and then use the Android SDK Tools to set your home directory to an SD card. There used to be a way to allow the option without root access for older Android versions. But you now need root access for newer versions of Android in order to set the home directory.
- What apps can I move about?
See if gaming apps are moved to the SD card. Well, Games typically don’t have to run in the background or handle major device tasks all day long. They take up the most space so that they are perfect candidates for the installation of an SD card.
Now you know why many of your Android apps are greyed out on the “SD card move” button. Have questions yet? Comments? Leave one in the following comment section.
- How do I enable an app’s “Move to SD Card” option?
Also, Check:
Unrooted users used to enable the “Move to SD card” option. That’s not the case anymore. You need root access to your device to move any app to the an SD card. If you don’t know how to do this, you might want to look for suggestions from the XDA Developers.