Android M is bringing extensive SD card support at a very ironic time
The lack of expandable storage on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge is among the few major gripes consumers have with Samsung’s latest flagships. But while Samsung only rejected microSD cards here in 2015, Google has always been against the notion of having expandable storage on its Nexus devices. Android has never properly supported external storage, with Google offering excuses like a confusing user interface and the slowness of microSD cards as the reasons behind its reluctance to support them.
But now, with Android M, Google is introducing support for external storage in a way that no one would ever have thought possible – on Android M, the OS will adopt an SD card inserted into a device and treat it like internal storage, and allow users to install apps on the card. This is no doubt a result of Google’s new Android One initiative, which brings stock Android with direct updates to users on a budget. Since budget smartphones have very low internal storage, the fact that the microSD card will now be treated as additional internal storage will negate the limitations of low storage spaces for things like app installation.
It took a lot of time, but Google finally seems to have seen sense and understood that while microSD cards might not offer the best experience, they are something the smartphone market cannot live without, especially in the low-end and mid-range smartphone market. Unfortunately for buyers of Samsung’s newest flagships, the search giant’s new found acceptance of expandable storage is extremely ironic, as they will not be able to use a feature that many have long clamored for on the world’s most popular mobile operating system.
The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge feature UFS 2.0-based flash storage, and adding a microSD card would do nothing but hold down the performance of what is the fastest storage technology on smartphones today. But again, Android M’s extensive support of SD cards is sure to make a lot of S6 users feel somewhat disappointed. Thankfully, cheaper Samsung devices will still be able to reap the benefits, unless and until fast memory technology for mobile devices becomes considerably cheaper and manufacturers start ignoring SD cards on smartphones from all segments.
What do you think about Android M’s expandable storage support? Let us know in the comments below!
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there is absolutely NO EXCUSE not to include microsd support. its effecient, space saving, and cheap.
anyone who design a phone without it is an idiot. period. dumb too
i refuse to buy any phone without micro sd support. period.
will only buy LG or motorola from now on
… and if Samsung wants to stick with no support for adding a micro SD to their flagship phones then my next phone won’t be a Samsung. A removable back cover isn’t necessary to make a slot available. A simple slot located on the side would suffice with a pinhole ejection release. They’ve already done away with any sort of weatherproofing and that tiny slit doesn’t add any more vulnerability to the phone than the already exposed charging / data port. I’ve had a Samsung phone for every android phone I’ve ever owned and a great many samsung phones before… Read more »
Indeed good time to dump Samsung high end, for brands that actually listen to consumers.
What about the new faster protocol for SD Cards ? Will we see these on Smartphones ? Also, there can be a buffer so the Phone slows down ONLY on read and write to the SD Card WITHOUT slowing down the internal Memory. Plus- 1)Cloud Storage and Retrieval is not that fast either. 2) Cloud Storage is a terrible place to store Financial Info and other Private Files. 3) Cloud Storage will cost Data and will unnecessarily clog Data Streams with uploads,downloads, searches for 4k Video Clips etc. 4) Files can be stored locally and backed up to a 2nd… Read more »
micro sd does NOT slow down internal memory. they are totally separate and its absolutely not slow.
os can easily be external storage aware much like Windows, when an external storage is in the system, it doesn’t affect internal storage of the system.
My S4 is reaching the end of its life (courtesy of a typical Queensland downpour) and I was looking forward to upgrading. The the S6 came out with fixed battery (I could have lived with it, maybe) and no SD card. When I contacted Samsung to complain their answer was two-fold: 1) Use the cloud; or 2) Use external USB storage. Really? 1) I don’t live in South Korea or the USA. Providers here in Australia still charge like a wounded bull for every MB you download. The Cloud? Don’t make me laugh. Not an option in the current “gouge… Read more »
Excellent Points above from Neoculture in Australia.
What is the end Goal here ?
To have 50 million people or more each storing 100 Gigs of Data on the “Cloud” and uploading/downloading/searching EVERY DAY wasting data,money, and increasing cost and Internet Data Traffic (*¿)when in fact Personal Files,Photos, CAN and SHOULD be stored locally for FREE.
*¿= question mark with a WTF
Yes , that is grate news, all though we have internal storage on are smart phones it is better if we could install all are applications on the sd card which will give more storage on the device, that will make less of lagness.
Installing apps to SD is what causes lag in the first place
Will Google finally support class 10, or are we still stuck with class 6?
I have 3 class 10 cards and all work with Note 2 & 4?
And there are faster SD Cards and Systems emerging which have better read/write speeds .
Lo malo de las actualizaciones y de nuevos sistemas operativos bajan mucho el rendimiento de la bateria
It’s not like all phones will get android M anyway, my gs6 edge probably will next year.
More than happy with the new tech my gs6 edge has, I don’t wanna step back in time with sd cards and before you know it Google ditches it again.
Only apple stuck to their guns on that one
As I mention in the article, the main reason behind this seems to be Android One. Apple has no such initiative to support the low-end market so it’s easier for them to stick to their word. Google would have as well if the emerging markets hadn’t become so important.
good news. as owner of SM G900H [GALAXY S5 OCTACORE]
But samsung is being generous to give updates to low end devices since lollipop is a huge upgrade perhaps we havent seen it on much mid and low range devices but samsung will do it…today or tomorrow… And u can USE ONLY MEMORY CARD FOR MAKING UR EXTERNAL STORAGE AS INTERNAL STORAGE BY ADOPTION….see full post at phonearena they have xplained with pictures very well..by the way if u use OTG and connect card or hdd or ssd then u CANT ADOPT Them as internal..because google wants you to connect adopted storage forever to your device and even after adoption… Read more »
Hell, I am still waiting for my S4 SCH I545L to get that Lollipop update!!! It’s a joke, and they won’t say when I’ll be able to get it.
that’s up to your carrier once Samsung puts it out its up to them to use there resources for testing updates and sending them out or choosing to pass on it and not waste resources on an 3 gen old device
Ahh I dont think that cheaper Samsung devices will see android M update. If you see which devices get lollipop from samsung are only the Note 3 , 4 and the S4 ,S5 and the A line up ( for now only the A5 AND A7)… And for me is not that bad that there isnt a sd card slot… thay offer 32 GB, 64 and 128 GB variant. My S4 was with 16 gb and 8gb of SD CARD slot. Both make 24 gb and 24 gb was alot of memory. For me who played so many games I… Read more »
Good to see Google realise most users want an sd card option, i have had to go to htc for my new phones as i need sd card options.hopefully samsung will go back to sd card options
But……. what I want to know is, if since external SD card readers via USB or 5 in 1 Power Banks with Wifi SD Slots…… are really no different than plugging an SD memory card into your phone’s SD card slot (being external too), will Android M treat them as internal storage too??? What they are saying is way too ambiguous. If they manage SD card Slot w/ an external memory card in it, then why limit it to just phones with SD card slots in the device??? Why can’t I also plug in my 2tb USB NAS and use… Read more »
I think that Google doing a better job of supporting sd cards is fantastic for users that are not always connected. I’m planning on buying a used Note 4, for the swappable battery, sd card, and big screen. I could do without the touchwiz interface. I may go with a nexus device for the following device, if they have a swappable battery, sd card, and big screen.
Samsung s5 sm g900f update android M??
LOL 😀 he is the Dumbest guy here !!
june 2016
This is a very great feature from google to note 4 s5 note 3 users and other mid range device that are going to update to android m…althought u have to bought class 10 memory card of good company then only u can get most out of this feature by the way google have made it so its undoubtedly going to serve us as we want..even if we have lower like class 6 memory card…its a bery good move from google..
For me, SD cards have been largely unreliable, often failing for no known reason. As long as iconic devices are offered with larger internal storage options (32, 64, 128GB), I would rather not deal with them. That said, I do see their value in the low and mid-tier devices that will never have more than 16GB.
Absolutely agree with you, SD Cards ground my S4 and S5 to a halt after loading lot’s of videos, music, photos and downloads, mediaserver keeps killing my battery too. 32GB base model is more than sufficient for the average Joe, if you need more, buy bigger storage option. SD Cards cannot keep up with UFS 2.0 storage. It slows down camera too when you take photos. Good riddance for me.
dumbest thing I’ve heard all day. DSLR which takes way better photos,than any camera phone out there uses SD cards with zero läg.
Heck, my A7 takes photos, plays 1080p video with zero lag.
it’s nice to have an option to store photos, videos and music on a seperate storage not running the OS t the same time.
Nothing wrong you use cheap Chinese cards for $1.
Use proper cards
A well-deserved slap in the mouth for Samsung. But at least for now they got to show off their little S6 experiment. Android M won’t be the full experience for S6 users once they get it next year. That’s unfortunate. But that’s what you get when you mess with Samsung.
The same experience will be with Google own smartphone line (Nexus) which don’t have a SD port. I really don’t understand your statement against S6. Samsung choose to use ufs 2.0 for speed and I am supporting this choice. I want the fastest solution on reading memory. I own an S4 with SD card and I know how apps which are stired on SD are behaving. Next will be S6 Edge 64GB green.
Now that they’re building an SD-card based TPM (Vault) they need to get the card slot in again. So they rather do it properly.
and android m will officially released in august samsung like always will took months to developing touchwiz android m thats mean note 5 will come with lollipop out of the box and no supporting for sd card such a shameful movement s7 will came with android m that support sd card as internal storage
Android M is coming in September last month of Q3.
Read online
That’s great news from Google, and i hope that Sammy will still retain the SD-Card on some medium-end devices
she would only with phones that can’t run android m