Apps to SD Storage Failure

[Mirjamb]

I have a experia xa2. I want my app storage on sd card. BUT THE BUTTON ISN'T THERE TO MOVE THE APPS TO SD.

is it possible to place apps on extern storage or not?

[Hitech_redneck]

It's definitely not an Oreo thing. My XA1 had Oreo and I could move many apps to the SD card.  I think it's a glitch of some sort.  (For example, my Smart Lock feature was not working when I first got this phone; had to reset it and now that works fine)

[Hitech_redneck]

Just tried installing All In One Toolbox to move apps to SD card. Got this message. Sony, please tell us that moving apps to SD card is supported by the XA2... it was supported in XA1.   Can anyone reading this with a XA2 that is able to move apps to SD card let us know as well?

[Hitech_redneck]

Confirmed from Sony support that XA2 does NOT support moving apps to SD card. It is not a glitch, it is by design.

[Rob36]

I have a Z3 Compact and ready for a new phone.  Does Sony plan to add move App to SD card (for apps that support this) for the XA2 model?  It's surprising that App to SD appears to be available on the XA1 from what I understand and deffinately available on the older Z3, but not on the new XA2. 

[perseepj]

Hello,

Same here, with XA1 I can move the apps to SDwithout issue (I used a SD card previously formatted from another telephone).

It is impossible to do with XA2.

I even do not see the "format" option. Do you know where it is?

Thank you in advance

Pascal

[Glenni]

This is stupid. I bought an Xperia XA2 yesterday, and like on my previous phones from plenty other brands (Huawei, Lenovo, HTC, etc)  I put a 64 GB SD card in it, so that I could have plenty of paid games on my phone. ( Like I have done with literally ever other phone I bought in the past). And now I can't even do that. Sony, tempted to go back to the store for a refund, and buy something else.

[Daniel1 · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

In regards to your questions about why this is no longer available, please have a look at the text below.

Google stopped providing the possibility to move apps to an SD card to secure the security and the privacy in Android 6. This feature was removed from Android, but we continued to support it further for some time. However, we decided not to keep our solution to move apps to an SD card for users security and privacy.

I hope that answers your questions!

[Jimmy_Ephidrene]

I don't think anyone read ur reply ...just saying lol 

[Sennokazeni9]

I was considering buying an XA2, I am glad I found out this problem! I definitely need this feature so won't be getting this phone.

I don't understand why you would get rid of this feature - "user security and privacy" makes no sense - there's no point throwing out terms like this without proper justification!  How does this affect security by using an SD card?  Is there some law/bureaucracy govering this?  Why do other phones support this and new sony phones do not? 

Hopefully either somebody finds a workaround for this, or Sony reinstates support for this feature.  Until then, I will continue using my (now incredibly glitchy) sony XA, which does support using external storage.  (honestly, what's the point in having an external SD card if you can't use it!!!?)