Android Just a few questions

[Twilight Loz]

So i'm planning to get the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. But I have a questions regarding the memory.
So the phones memory is 400MB. About 290MB is usable.
I have a 8GB memory card.
But I know that there are some apps/games that still writes on the internal memory even though you don't want it to.
At the bottom of the first post in this website, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1217060 it answers my question... sort of. It tells me to go to this site: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16171876&postcount=6
I don't understand that. So what is it trying to tell me?
Bare in mind, I haven't had a android phone before, nor an iOS device... only stupid symbian.

 

[Terminator02]

I assume you mean some apps don't support app2sd, which moves most of the apps data over to your SD card to save space on your internal storage (for more apps and cache).

It's telling you to download adb, set it up, open a command prompt in the "platform-tools" folder (shift+right click in windows explorer should give you an open command prompt here option) and enter those commands one at a time with your Xperia Play plugged into your computer through a USB cord.

I'll see if i can write up more detailed instructions at some point, but there are multiple guides on how to set up adb.

 

[YayMii]

Yeah, there's a bunch of apps that don't allow you to move them to the SD card without rooting, and the 8GB microSD card included already has 5GB of data on it out of the box (because of the included games). That second link would be some sort of mod to disable this, which is pretty much telling you to plug in your phone to your PC, download the Android SDK, and type those commands into a DOS prompt.

The main reason this lock is in place is because there are apps that malfunction when used on external memory. Disabling this lock is at your own risk.

 

[Twilight Loz]

The main reason this lock is in place is because there are apps that malfunction when used on external memory. Disabling this lock is at your own risk.

So your telling me that if I disable the lock, then will certain apps/games not work or the whole phone wont work?

 

[YayMii]

The main reason this lock is in place is because there are apps that malfunction when used on external memory. Disabling this lock is at your own risk.

So your telling me that if I disable the lock, then will certain apps/games not work or the whole phone wont work?

No, I'm saying that disabling the lock will allow you to move apps to the SD even if they were designed not to, and that these apps may not function properly when moved to the SD card.

 

[Terminator02]

Alternatively, you could get more space in your internal memory by moving your dalvic cache to your SD card. (Use this for root)

 

[The_Dragons_Mast]

Well the way android regular app2sd work there will always be a part of the app in the internal memory . The amount that gets moved to the sd varies from 99% of the original size to 1% depending on how well the app support it. Right now about 95% of good apps support getting moved to sd & will have most of it's data transferred there . The hack people have been talking about above simply allow you to transfer the other 5% of apps that can't be normally transferred to the sd but that usually either cause the app to crash or simply doesn't save a significant amount to be worth the trouble.

Now since you understand how things work I suggest you leave the phone as it is . If you transfer all apps that support moving to the sd card you should be able to install atleast 50+ apps in the 290MB which is enough to keep you busy for a long time . If that doesn't suite you then the best you can do is setup an app called link2sd which allow you to fully install all app with all its data in the sd but it requires rooting & a 2nd partition in your sd ,so I really suggest you ignore it for now & wait for when your phone is full or atleast you have some basic android knowledge before doing it .

 

[Twilight Loz]

so i see that you can get more memory is you root...
Im not sure if I want to root it straight away so I might wait.
Just to clarify, does this method need the phone to be rooted?:
http://forum.xda-dev...876&postcount=6

Another Q
-When the phone is rooted, i know it voids the warranty although can i change the phone back to its 'normal' status? E.g. make the phone seem like it hasn't been rooted before?
-And since the 2011 Xperia range (this includes XPlay) are going to get ICS, Android 4.0, should I wait for the update or should I just root?
-If I rooted the phone, can I still update to the new 4.0?

 

[Terminator02]

so i see that you can get more memory is you root...
Im not sure if I want to root it straight away so I might wait.
Just to clarify, does this method need the phone to be rooted?:
http://forum.xda-dev...876&postcount=6 From what I read, apparently you don't

Another Q
-When the phone is rooted, i know it voids the warranty although can i change the phone back to its 'normal' status? E.g. make the phone seem like it hasn't been rooted before? Yes, that's referred to as putting your phone back on stock
-And since the 2011 Xperia range (this includes XPlay) are going to get ICS, Android 4.0, should I wait for the update or should I just root? Just root, then upgrade to ICS
-If I rooted the phone, can I still update to the new 4.0? Yes, but not through over the air updates, you'll have to use flashtool to update

 

[YayMii]

1. Anything that uses Android SDK usually don't need root.
2. Yeah, you can unroot your phone.
3. Root first I guess.
4. AFAIK, you can update through over-the-air updates, but you risk the update unrooting your phone and having to wait for a new rooting method for 4.0.

 

[Twilight Loz]

oh.... alright, but rooting does risk bricking your phone...
I dont really understand what you guys meant when you said not to update over air. Does this mean that not to update using my phone? Or Does it mean when someone made a custom ICS?

Overall, i think its kinda a 'win-win-situation'

Soz if im being annoying asking all these questions. I haven't had a android phone before so I just want to make sure

 

[The_Dragons_Mast]

Rooting is abit risky but usually if a damage happens it can be fixed with a factory rest. You will have to screw up really bad to cause it to fully brick , so just follow a rooting guide carefully & you should have no troubles .

As for updating over the air it's updating from the phone itself by going to the update option in the settings . To avoid causing issues with your rooted phone you will have to download the update which you can easily find in xda forums & install it .

Now as I said before try to avoid rooting for a while till you are more familiar with the android system , but if you if you insist in doing it as soon as you get it then just make sure you understand what are you doing .

 

[Twilight Loz]

oh ok. hopefully i will order the play today. I wont root it as soon as i get it though. might root later. Can I disable 'update over air' as soon as i get the phone (e.g. stock status)

 

[The_Dragons_Mast]

I don't think you disable it completely but you can simply say you don't want to update when you get the notification .

 

[Twilight Loz]

oh ok. Ive done a little research and found out that there is a program called 'SuperOneClick' (something like that) and that basically roots your phone for you. Is this is easiest way of rooting for a noob or are there some easier and safer methods?

 

[Terminator02]

oh ok. Ive done a little research and found out that there is a program called 'SuperOneClick' (something like that) and that basically roots your phone for you. Is this is easiest way of rooting for a noob or are there some easier and safer methods?

That's what I linked to in my last post, just use zergRush in SuperOneClick after you update to 2.3.3 (Over the air).

 

[YayMii]

zergRush is the best way to root right now. If SuperOneClick has it, then go for it.