Swapping Internal and External Memory on Android Pho...

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Swapping Internal and External Memory on Android Phones

Swapping Internal and External Memory on Android Phones

Swapping Internal and External Memory on Android Phones

Plenty of times, we find ourselves trying to save cash and buy the lowest memory option for our device. On other countries, the lowest memory option is the only option possible. For some, they just feel that the memory options could be better.

Internal memory is something we can’t normally increase without a significant hardware change. Lucky people who have ended up with broken devices sometimes end up with a motherboard of a larger capacity version of the smartphone.

Many of us want that too, but risking breaking your motherboard for a one in a million chance of a free upgrade isn’t quite worth it. We still want a larger internal memory though.

Why increase the internal memory?

Having an external memory for files, music and videos is all good, but the internal memory is what really gets all beat up and used when working with your android phones.

Most of the data installed by apps are kept in the internal memory no matter if some data are allowed to be swapped to the external memory card. Games like installing their game graphics and multimedia on the internal memory, so some phones like the i9003 can’t install more than one or two Gameloft games at once.

Some phones just have crippled internal memory sizes like 4 GB or maybe 8 GB, which is just not enough to keep you going now that apps are taking more and more memory out of your phone.

Internal memory space is a precious resource.

What can we do to increase this space?

Developers have figured out a way to swap the internal memory with the external memory card. This means that you can use a large 64 GB external memory card and use that as you internal memory instead. The internal memory would then be treated as the external memory for files.

Obviously, this trick only works for smartphones that have an external memory option. It would only make sense if the external memory is much larger than the internal memory. If you have a 32 GB Galaxy Note 2, then there is no point at swapping it with an external memory card with only 16 GB or 32 GB in capacity.

What are the drawbacks to this method?

As with every modification, some sacrifices have to be made. First of all, since you have now identified your external memory card as the internal memory card, you can’t just hot swap your memory card with another card on the fly. Internal memory is where apps and data are installed, so if you suddenly take that out, it would cause a huge error for your device.

Speed of processing will also be an issue. Memory cards have speed classes that identify how fast the system can read and write to that memory. Normally, the hardware internal memory is read and written at a faster rate than external memory cards. To make sure there won’t be a hit to your phone’s performance, a class 10 or better memory card is advised to be used.

Messing with you internal memory could also be a hassle for a person who flashes their device frequently. Some ROMs may cause a compatibility issue, while often times, the hassle comes from having to perform an extra step to re-swap the memory.

Devices with a Swap Memory Mod

First, you need to download a special file depending on your smartphone. While all Android devices with external memory support may be able to do this, not all devices capable have a mod readily available. If you need one for your device, you can always approach your favorite developer and have them take a look at the files from other devices so they can port the mod.

The devices below use a special flashable zip file that you can flash using a custom ROM. As you may have guessed, you need root access to swap your memory.

Samsung Galaxy SL (i9003)

Original Thread

[I9003][MOD] Swap your internal SDCARD memory (for froyo-2.2.1)with the External_SD

Download File

Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300)

Original Thread

[MOD][8DEC] ExtSd2InternalSd v5|Increase your data storage|100% Working|

Download File

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (N7100)

Original Thread

[MOD][15DEC]ExtSd2InternalSd v5.5|Increase your data storage|100% Working|

Download File

Motorola Droid RAZR

Original Thread

[MOD]External SD as Primary/Internal

Download File

Acer Iconia Tab A100

Original Thread

[MOD] MicroSD 2 Internal Memory Swap w/ICS support

Download File

With the files above, all you normally need to do is to back-up your device and prepare to flash it using a custom recovery like Clockwork Mod. Of course, things may not go as smoothly so you better make sure to read the whole thread to see if there are any specific things to deal with for your device.

7 Comments

  1. Balramsays: May 28, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    Hi I’m using GT-I9082 model and the firmware is I9082XXUBNB2 – JB 4.2.2.
    When I tried to Swap memory with Exernal to Internal app available in google play store, i’m getting error message. I tried to root the phone and then change the vold.fstab file, but after doing that, when i restarted the phone, it was in start-up loop. It was only displaying the Samsung name on the startup but nothing was up. So i have again flashed the official firmware.

    Please advise is there any to Swap the external and internal memory for GT-I9082 with latest JB4.2.2 firmware. Please mail me on [email protected]

    Regards, Balram

  2. Umesh chandnasays: July 1, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    For micromax a121 swap file

  3. krishnasays: September 7, 2014 at 12:38 pm
  4. Guidosays: October 1, 2014 at 8:06 am

    i have an ASUS fonepad7

    How can i swap internal memory and external sd

  5. surendersays: October 2, 2014 at 4:15 am

    I want to root my Bqs37 smart phone how could I do so please gave me infermation if you know about this thanks

  6. amalsays: November 10, 2014 at 9:29 am

    i have xperia ZR i want to swap the memories but not happening i have even rooted the phone

  7. krizsays: December 1, 2014 at 1:40 am

    Hi I am using xolo Q2000l my internal memory is 1gb and my phone memory is 8 GB . so I want to change my internal memory to phone memory instead of SD memory . please help me in this regard.
    Thanks

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