OS is not making proper use of the SD card
asked 2014-09-27 13:10:27 +0300
A lot of threads have been posted about the SDcard so far, each with more specific issues. I feel that the problem should be named in a more general manner, namely that core GUI apps just don't take notice of its presence and hence don't make any use of it (I can't find it now but someone claimed that the OS in fact doesn't have write access! - please verify/disprove if you can). Currently numerous workarounds do exist for using the sdcard in the system, but basically not user-faced (remember that command line requires dev mode and is not intended for end users) or only through third-party apps, sometimes not available in the store. This question is not about what you can do with the phone hooked up to a computer, but the OS's standard way of handling files on the phone.
This question is for gathering votes to make sdcard access a properly integrated functionality of the software stack provided by Jolla.
Here are some examples for apps that need to be able to see the sdcard, be able to browse through its file system and write to it:
- first and foremost, the Camera! (see also this thread, and don't forget to Vote Please!)
- Media (see also this thread and this one) EDIT: automatic discovery of media works well in 1.1.1.27.
- file manager (see also this thread about mount point)
- e-mail (for attachments)
- documents (save to sdcard)
- people (for importing contacts)
- browser (save downloads to sdcard)
- basically any app that needs to choose from stored files or write their output to a location chosen by the user, which should be in all the cases where it makes sense.
- Ability to install Android apps to sdcard: vote here!
- Show info about sdcard memory usage in Settings/file manager: vote here!
- Ability to reformat sdcard inside phone: vote here!
Please add information to the appropriate section of this question if you see Jolla core apps that have this feature, or if you know a different Jolla app that lacks this capability. Do not post workarounds/command line solutions here, as there are plenty of these in other threads regarding the sdcard. You're welcome though to link to these threads here:
Some helpful threads: https://together.jolla.com/question/34087/wiki-microsd-microsdhc-microsdxc-card/ https://together.jolla.com/question/292/my-jolla-does-not-recognise-any-micro-sd-card-what-i-can-do/
EDIT (26/8/15) - There is now a number of items on the SailfishOS Roadmap around utilising the SDCard for things such as Photos and Backups so we will see some improvement in this area in the future
I have all my music on sdcard, just works for me... contacts wont be imported that much and then again how do you transfer them? $user will plug in usb and transfer a vcf to the internal storage... as said music, videos and documents work for me, iirc I had it once that I had to reset tracker because of missing files from sdcard. I agree that some applications should have the option to save things to the sdcard - downloads folder for the browser, camera (picz videos), maps and aliendalvik should have an option too for all the rest... I do not see the need, 3rd party apps can do whatever they want
chemist ( 2014-09-27 13:24:48 +0300 )editPassiv access to SD card is possible. I store my pictures, videos, random documents and backups on my SD card. Those picture, music and video files are automatically seen by Jolla's media applications. But it should be possible that apps can actively save stuff on the SD card (like pictures taken with camera) and/or downloads etc. Other than using a 3rd party file browser app, backup-copy feature by Jolla or USB connection to a PC, there is NO indication in the GUI that a SD card is in use - and if as a new Jolla user you don't do any research you actually have no clue what you can do with your SD card memory. Thanks for the suggestion @bennypr0fane
molan ( 2014-09-27 15:47:09 +0300 )edit@caprico $users expect to put files on there and have them accessed by the common apps, that is what happens/works already. $users are also not aware of what you can do with android (system wise) apart of move apps to it so that is a pretty weak argument. There are only a few valid points like the camera, the backup for example can only be written directly to the sdcard if it is ext or btrfs, $user has FAT. What the vault should actually be doing is have an automatic .tar be created so $user can actually move it to their desktops - that could also have a feature to save it to the sdcard instead of local storage, but then again the feature is manually available within the backup page's pulley already!
chemist ( 2014-09-27 16:40:25 +0300 )editI want to be able to use the SD card exactly like internal memory: so, first of all, install apps on it (you can do it on Symbian and Android), save pictures and movies to it directly, and anything else that you can do with internal memory.
Giacomo Di Giacomo ( 2014-09-29 17:15:18 +0300 )edit@chemist, I strongly disagree. Tell me how you store a file on the sdcard in any of the Jolla apps. There aren't any that can write to the card. There aren't any that show you that you have an sdcard installed. How do you move contacts from phone memory to sdcard? This question is not about what you can do with the phone hooked up to a computer, but on the phone and I thought I made that clear in the question (I wonder how explicitly one needs to state that without having the question questioned with a workaround). Put things mentioned in the question that are already possible in there, otherwise why state things outside of its scope?
bennypr0fane ( 2014-09-30 14:10:44 +0300 )edit