Samsung changes mind, will look at storage on Galaxy S4

[techbeck]

Samsung has backed down on the Galaxy S4's limited storage after the phone appeared on the BBC's Watchdog, saying it will try to squeeze its myriad features into a smaller space, freeing up more memory for apps.

The Beeb's consumer affairs show investigated the Android powerhouse's claims of 16GB of storage, after users complained the phone has only half of that available.

"We appreciate this issue being raised and we will improve our communications," a Samsung spokesperson told CNET UK. "Also, we are reviewing the possibility to secure more memory space through further software optimisation.

"Samsung is committed to listening to our customers and responding to their needs as part of our innovation process."

Samsung had previously defended its position, saying the lack of space was necessary to provide owners with "more powerful features". The S4 is more feature-packed than ever before, although in our review we questioned whether many people would ever use even a fraction of them.

A version of the S4 without Samsung's TouchWiz software -- running plain Android -- was announced yesterday at Google's I/O conference. Out in June, it'll be interesting to see how much storage space that model has available.

Unlike rivals such as the iPhone and HTC One, the Galaxy S4 has an expandable memory slot so you can cheaply slot in another 64GB of storage. But the S4 doesn't let you install apps to the SD card, just things like photos and music. With many high-end games pushing the 1GB mark, your phone's internal storage can fill up extremely quickly.

Models with 32GB and 64GB of total storage have been promised, but are yet to arrive here in Blighty and will be even more expensive than the ?550 16GB version.

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/samsung-changes-mind-will-look-at-storage-on-galaxy-s4-50011229/

[Phouchg]

What's there to look at. It speaks for a simple requirement to write on the package plainly, but with large, bold letters "*that* much of space is taken by our pre-installed software", so as not to mislead customers.

Same goes with every product where actual space for users' stuff is even one page less than the advertised (physical) capacity. That would be every single computer with any kind of pre-installed OS and applications, be it Windows, Android, bootable Linux or whatever else.

I have a hard time explaining lost gigabytes taken by hidden recovery partition to this day.

And let's not forget rare, but still perplexing bibi-castration of gigabyte 1 GiB > 1 GB - but that's at least clearly stated on hard disks themselves.

[Growled Member]

I agree, there's nothing to look at. Just get it done already, Samsung.

[User6060]

8Gb for a phone OS and preinstalled apps? uhhhhhhh thats kinda surprising

[Buttus]

is the memory they use in the phone a different kind than a regular SD card? a 32gig sd card is only around $25, why make a phone with only 16gig's?

[Phouchg]

is the memory they use in the phone a different kind than a regular SD card? a 32gig sd card is only around $25, why make a phone with only 16gig's?

Afaik, most devices of this kind use eMMC (e stands for embedded). It's supposed to be faster than microSD cards. Is probably a tad more expensive - for example, from Nexus 7 iSuppli teardown 16 gigs chip cost Asus $21.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Damn, I did not realize apps could not be installed to the memory card? Is this a new feature of the Android OS? Granted I owned the original Motorola Droid a few years back, so it has been awhile, but I am 95% certain I could install apps to the SD card on it.

This is a bit of bad news from my perspective, as I preordered the S4 on Verizon and will be (finally) getting in on the 23rd.

[MidnightDevil]

Damn, I did not realize apps could not be installed to the memory card? Is this a new feature of the Android OS? Granted I owned the original Motorola Droid a few years back, so it has been awhile, but I am 95% certain I could install apps to the SD card on it.

This is a bit of bad news from my perspective, as I preordered the S4 on Verizon and will be (finally) getting in on the 23rd.

I think it all started with app2sd scripts back in the froyo days... after cyanogen 7 implemented a feature to let user select where wanted to install the app... now I think by default, most of them are installed on internal memory but you can move them to sdcard through the settings - applications :)

But yeah.. it's not new :)

[StandingInAlley]

Damn, I did not realize apps could not be installed to the memory card? Is this a new feature of the Android OS? Granted I owned the original Motorola Droid a few years back, so it has been awhile, but I am 95% certain I could install apps to the SD card on it.

This is a bit of bad news from my perspective, as I preordered the S4 on Verizon and will be (finally) getting in on the 23rd.

Yes its a bit of concern especially if you want to install games. Some games can take more than a gig. If you are installing apps + casual games then you are good to go since everything else like music, bluetooth files, documents etc can be moved to the SD card.

[Beyond Godlike]

I got a 32GB SD card for 30 bucks for my music/photos/etc. I rather my phone put those things there as i flash roms alot, its independent of any issues that may arise with the phone. Either way, it is pretty excessive how much bloat is on the S4. They've denied older GS1 users upgrades because htey couldnt fit ICS onto the devices + the samsung touchwiz stuff...

For my S3, a Rom thats been cleaned up thats Samsung based is 800 megs, with Cyanogen is 150mb.

Got to admit though, the S4 does have alot of features, more so than any other device.

[Growled Member]

Got to admit though, the S4 does have alot of features, more so than any other device.

That may be true but how many usful features does it have, features that people will use every day?

[Buttus]

That may be true but how many usful features does it have, features that people will use every day?

yea, but now-a-days a useful feature of a cellphone that people don't use everyday is the ability to actually make a phone call....

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I think it all started with app2sd scripts back in the froyo days... after cyanogen 7 implemented a feature to let user select where wanted to install the app... now I think by default, most of them are installed on internal memory but you can move them to sdcard through the settings - applications :)

But yeah.. it's not new :)

Okay cool, that is what I remember, that you could move the app to the SD Card (and not all apps I remember as well).

I actually just picked up a 32GB SanDisk Ultra SD card for $25, and I actually plan at really giving Google Music All Access a legitimate go, so it really should not be an issue. I checked and I have about 8GB free right now on my 32GB iPhone, and I chose to sync a good amount of my music, so I should be fine regardless.

The thing I actually see taking up the most space is photos. Now that I will have a decent camera, I plan on using it. :punk:

[DKAngel]

its a non issue all the android phones are like this the surface tablet is the same

just people are making to much of a big deal over it

[FloatingFatMan]

its a non issue all the android phones are like this the surface tablet is the same

just people are making to much of a big deal over it

No, it's an issue. People expect SOME of the storage to be used by the system, but not 50% of it. That's just ridiculous. Of course, it's not QUITE as ridiculous as them charging an extra $100 or more for double the storage when it only costs them around $20 for the chip...

[DKAngel]

meh and it has a sd slot so add another card yet another no big deal

[Elliot B.]

meh and it has a sd slot so add another card yet another no big deal

You missed that even with an SD card installed, you can't install apps to it. Some apps are huge.

[DKAngel]

some apps automaticly put things to the sd card

[Elliot B.]

some apps automaticly put things to the sd card

Some.

[fusi0n]

Damn, I did not realize apps could not be installed to the memory card? Is this a new feature of the Android OS? Granted I owned the original Motorola Droid a few years back, so it has been awhile, but I am 95% certain I could install apps to the SD card on it.

This is a bit of bad news from my perspective, as I preordered the S4 on Verizon and will be (finally) getting in on the 23rd.

You can root your phone and install apps to SD.. that is what I did with Spotify when I had my S3.. I am trying to get a S4 from Craigslist.. I LOVE my nexus.. but the lack of LTE and crap camera is starting to bother me more than I thought.

[FloatingFatMan]

You can root your phone and install apps to SD.. that is what I did with Spotify when I had my S3.. I am trying to get a S4 from Craigslist.. I LOVE my nexus.. but the lack of LTE and crap camera is starting to bother me more than I thought.

Rooting is not the solution. Many people don't actually WANT to lose their warranty, you know.

[fusi0n]

Rooting is not the solution. Many people don't actually WANT to lose their warranty, you know.

Yeah, it is a solution that works for me.. Should be like that? No.. and most people that know how to root their phones, know how to take everything back to 100% factory.

But, I agree, it shouldn't have to that hard. I do not like when companies dumb down their products for the general population. .

[The_Observer]

Why not have storage only for OS and another storage for apps & games.

[Growled Member]

Rooting is not the solution. Many people don't actually WANT to lose their warranty, you know.

I know. It's a terrible situation. There are a couple of things I want on my Note 2 but to get them I have to root, and I don't want to lose my warranty.

[techbeck]

I know. It's a terrible situation. There are a couple of things I want on my Note 2 but to get them I have to root, and I don't want to lose my warranty.

Its just as easy to unroot and go back to stock as it is to root. Not like it used to be.