Using SD card as default memory on Sony Xperia Z3 D6603

[rowan.bradley]

I have a Sony Xperia Z3 (D6603). Its memory is full. I have moved all the apps that can be moved to the SD card. Also I have moved all the files to SD card where possible. The memory is still full, and many features of the phone have stopped working, I presume because the memory is full. The only option that I have seems to be to convert the SD card to be used as default memory. How exactly do I do this?

Will the performace of the phone be reduced in this mode? How much reduced?

Does it matter how big an SD card I use? Will it be slower with a large SD card? Is there any reason not to use a 128GB SD card (which is said to be the largest that I can use)? What is the best type of SD card to use? It is supposed to be "high quality" - what exactly does this mean?

Thank you - Rowan

[HannahEd01]

Hi rowan.bradley, if you have already moved a lot of data to the SD card and the memory is still full, that's not normal. It should decrease. Is that what happens? 

Also, how big is the memory card? Did you test another one? Did you try force restarting your phone or formatting the SD card before use?

[Strampke]

Hi @rowan.bradley 

You will understand that filling up a phone with files will slow down everything.

Are all those apps really needed?

Why don't you give your phone a fresh start and speed up everything with a software repair.

Before doing so be shure that Google made your backups.

After the software repair DO NOT put everything back in place, just the things you realy need.

It leaves room in memory and you'll have a more snappy device.

[rowan.bradley]

The memory card that I am using at present is 32GB. I suppose that when I moved files and apps to the SD card the amount of available memory increased slightly, and has since been filled up, but I have done this over the years and don't have precise details of what happened. The amount of data on the SD card is only 1.63GB at present, so this would not have made a massive effect. I have not tried another card. What would be the benefit of doing so? I believe that I formatted the card before use. I have force restarted the phone a couple of times. Do you mean that I have to do this BEFORE using the SD card? If so, please explain why this is necessary. I may not have done this.

Thank you - Rowan

[rowan.bradley]

Is it really the case that having files and apps on the phone that I don't use (or that I am not using at the time) makes it slower? If so, why? A system that slows down just because it contains files that are not being used seems badly designed to me.

Rowan

[Strampke]

Apps take care of their own memory usage.

Some apps are not well designed, occupy memory and don't give it back to the system.

The fewer apps you have installed the lesser the risk.

[EMS_MO72]

The phone slows down if it has apps and files that consume most of the internal memory and this is the case with any device that has internal memory.

Also with time, if the device doesn't have a big internal memory, it will be consumed by the updates and system apps that the phone receives and it won't be even files or apps issue.

[rowan.bradley]

That sounds like an excellent reason to fit a large SD card and configure the phone to use it as default memory, which is what I'm trying to do. Then I will have 128GB of memory to fill up before things start to slow down, rather than the phone's own 16GB internal memory.

Rowan

[HannahEd01]

Hi rowan.bradley, using a larger SD card won't help with the slow performance, as you need the CPU of the phone to operate these apps. 

Also, even if you're not using most of them, they refresh in the background, and many of them operate almost fully even when not in use (To push notifications and stuff). 

Anyway, here's how to make the SD your default, the steps are on page 42 here: 

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/V141/V1414283M.pdf