How to recover space on your smartphone or tablet

The vast majority of modern smartphones comes with 16 GB internal storage applications, photos, videos, music and files of all types. Some have 8 or 32 or 64 GB. Many, but not all offer a slot for microSD or microSDHC memory, thus extending its capacity. But the amount set aside by the manufacturer is never entirely free: part of that storage space they take their own applications for the operating system. In some cases the impact is less, but in others it is surprising.

As noted on other occasions, the lack of space can be key. For example, the Motorola Moto G has 8 GB of non-expandable internal storage and only has 5 GB for the user, a situation that was already given to the Sony Xperia U (2 GB for applications, 4GB for files of all types). The Moto X frees 12 of the 16 GB that comes with factory.

Other examples: the Nokia Lumia 720 and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini only offer 5 GB 8 GB internal they bring, but add a microSD slot, the Lumia 1020, with 32 GB expandable not, leaves 29 GB free for the user.

As noticed in the comments below, the South Korean government requires manufacturers and mobile operators who want to sell equipment to allow there to uninstall any application that comes already loaded on your computer, unless it is essential for the functioning of the device (Typically, these games are in fact just a demo, never used no tools, etc.). This was already possible using some third party applications, but now must be official, native, insurance, etc..

How serious is the lack of storage space depends on each user, of course, 1 GB of data means lots of pictures and songs, and some take forever to exhaust the available space, which will fade with long videos recorded in Full HD. Most applications take tens of megabytes on your installation (not bad) but especially the most sophisticated games may require much more space.

An alternative to alleviate this situation is, of course, to use a memory card, but a growing number of models of phones and tablets does not allow this expansion. Android applications can be copied to external memory using a couple of tools available in the Google store, but does not fit all programs.

SOFTWARE AND SERVICES, TO THE RESCUE

What to do then? Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 automate uploading photos and videos to several free services (Dropbox, Google+, Box.com, Skydrive or icloud), this allows deleting the oldest go-especially videos, taking much space without getting lost, as they are supported on the Internet or in our desktop, if you install the appropriate software synchronization.

You can also use some tools to analyze what is happening on your computer.

In Android 4.x in Configure> Storage (name may vary by manufacturer) you can see how the storage is going, it is possible to remove temporary data, uninstall apps or clear the cache each (where it stores temporary files).

An alternative is to use an application such as Clean Master (free, no more of its kind) that allows to know in detail how the internal space of the team goes, massively delete files to free up space, trigger alerts for periodic cleaning, etcetera.

In iOS, in Settings> General> Usage you can see which applications and files are taking up the internal storage, and delete them if necessary. An alternative is to use an application like PhoneClean (free, but runs on Mac / PC) doing a more thorough analysis and offers more tools to recover space.

Nokia Windows Phone 8 provides Storage Check, an application that shows what kind of files are taking most of the storage, while offering clear temporary files, beyond uninstalling applications (already comes with the Amber update, accessed from Settings mobile). A trial version downloaded maps allowed to move to the memory card, but not available yet.

None of these applications makes magic, and must be used with care not to delete something valuable, but with a little discretion may recover some storage in a computer memory.

Modern smartphones come with 16 GB internal storage applications, pictures, video, music and files of all types. Some have 8 or 32 or 64 GB. Many, but not all offer a slot for microSD or microSDHC memory, thus extending its capacity.

In the absence of excess space for apps, music and photos, Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 to automate uploading files to several free services such as Dropbox, Google +, Box.com, Skydrive or icloud. This allows us to go without deleting the oldest being lost, as they are supported in Internet or in our desktop, if you install the appropriate software synchronization.

In Android 4.x Setup> Storage (name may vary by manufacturer) you can see how the storage is going, you can delete temporary data, uninstall apps or clear the cache each (where it stores temporary files).

An alternative is to use an application such as Clean Master that allow to know in detail how the internal space of the team goes, massively delete files to free up space, trigger alerts for periodic cleaning, etc..

In iOS Settings> General> Usage you can see which applications and files are taking up the internal storage, and delete them if necessary. An alternative is to use an application like PhoneClean (free, but runs on Mac / PC) doing a more thorough analysis and offers more tools to recover space.

Nokia Windows Phone 8 provides Storage Check, an application that shows what kind of files are taking most of the storage, while offering clear temporary files, beyond uninstalling applications (already comes with the Amber update, Settings accessed from mobile). A trial version downloaded maps allowed to move to the memory card, but not available yet.

These applications must be used with care not to delete something valuable, but with a little discretion may recover some storage in a computer memory.