From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy

The Marion entity claims that a major advantage of Android is the
ability to plug in a SD card and expand storage, avoiding paying the OEM
for more internal storage space. This is not strictly true. Even if the
phone has and SD card slot that card is far from a perfect substitute
for on-board storage.

First, the SD card slot is going away on high-end Android Phones

https://www.androidauthority.com/using-microsd-card-android-3362538/

"ItrCOs not easy to find a high-end Android phone with expandable storage
in 2024. As companies scramble to raise their bottom line, the
simplicity and lucrativeness of the no-microSD-slot strategy made it a de-facto move: Why let users buy extra storage for next to nothing when
they could force you to pay $100 more per meager increase in internal storage?"

Second, if available, an SD card is far from a perfect substitute for
internal storage. You cannot just plug it in and go on your merry way as
if it is an extension of internal storage. To start with, how you even
access the SD card varies depending on the phone OEM.

Just like OS updates, how all this works varies across Android phone
brands.

What follows is exactly my Android personal experience. In some cases I
moved apps to the SD card only to see them move themselves back to
internal storage! You have some work to do to use an SD card, and SD
cards will never be as fast as internal storage.

https://www.androidauthority.com/using-microsd-card-android-3362538/

"In the case of stock Android, the Google Files app will launch and show
you whatrCOs already on the card. If yourCOve stored photos, videos, music files, or any other documents, you can open them with compatible apps.
And you can copy files from the phone to the SD card or vice-versa.
Nothing groundbreaking here; itrCOs all the basic stuff of using external storage on any operating system. Things get more confusing once we delve deeper, though."

"Can I store apps on the microSD card on Android? Or play games from the microSD card?"

"The short answer is yes, you can store SOME apps and MOST games on the microSD card on your Android phone, but the real answer is more
complicated than that."

"First, you canrCOt directly install apps or games on the SD card on
Android. You have to install them on the internal storage and then move
them to the card. YourCOll find the option under Settings > Apps > pick an
app > Storage > Storage used > Change."

"App and game developers are the ones who choose whether or not their
software can be moved to external storage. For example, Plex, Telegram, Instagram, and Adobe Lightroom can be moved to the SD card. But Spotify, WhatsApp, Slack, Pocket Casts, and others canrCOt. Thankfully, most games
and many large apps already support the feature. However, just because
you can move something to the SD card, doesnrCOt mean you should. Internal storage is much, much faster than the best microSD cards, so you should
keep demanding and resource-intensive games on internal storage for the
best performance. Think of it like this: Candy Crush? SD card. Genshin
Impact? Internal storage."

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