If the feature of MOVE TO SD CARD grayed out for an application on your Android device, you may ask: why can’t I move apps to SD card? Of course, there are reasons. Perhaps, you don’t know them. In this post, MiniTool Software will show you some hints.
How to Move Apps to Your SD Card on Android?
When you download an app on your Android device, it is saved to the internal memory by default. The free space in the internal memory will become less and less as time goes by. To free up some space for new data, you can choose to move some apps to the inserted SD card.
It is very easy to do this job. You can just go to Settings > Applications, and select the app you want to move to your SD card. Then, you can see the MOVE TO SD CARD button. You just need to click this button to move the selected app to the SD card. If you want to move other apps to your SD card, you should repeat the above steps.
MOVE TO SD CARD Grayed out
During the app migration process, you may discover that MOVE TO SD CARD grayed out for some apps. Why can’t I move apps to SD card or why can’t I move some apps to SD card will be the question that bothers you.
You should not worry about it because it is normal and it is not an issue. Your Android doesn’t allow you to do this, meaning to guarantee the normal operation of the app. In the following part, we will show you some useful hints that can help you know the reasons.
Why Can’t I Move Apps to SD Card?
Why Android Can’t Move Apps to SD Card?
- The App Developers Don’t Want You to Do So
- Widget Support Considerations
- For Normal Working
The App Developers Don’t Want You to Do So
The installed Android apps will not run from the SD card when the card is mounted. However, if the app needs to do some important things for you like remind you of a meeting, the reminder will not work if you happen to connect your Android device to your computer.
To avoid such incidents, the developers will not use the android:installLocation attribute in the <manifest> element of their app to make the MOVE TO SD CARD feature available.
Widget Support Consideration
Another possibility is the widget support. If you install an app on an SD card, its widgets maybe not available in certain Android versions when the device is mounted. You need to restart the device to make the widgets for the app show up again.
For Normal Working
If the app you want to move to an SD card needs to do some background syncing work, it will not fully function from an SD card when it is mounted. In a situation, it is necessary to disable the feature of MOVE TO SD CARD for this app.
However, if you insist to move the app to the SD card, you can first root your Android device and then do it.