Setup guide

White paper | Xperia™ SL
20 August 2012
3. Phone Memory (also known as “Data partition” or “/data”) is a memory type that is used as working
memory. It can be compared to the C: drive on a PC or to the startup disk on a Mac. All applications
downloaded from Google Play™ or other sources are installed (at least initially) to this type of memory.
Some can later be moved to another memory.
In this type of memory, as with System Memory, all applications have an allocated area which no other
applications can access and to where the applications can and usually do save their data (such as
phonebook, calendar, notes, and email applications).
Phone Memory will tend to fill up as a result of normal use, the use of applications saving their data,
and you downloading and installing new applications. Therefore, the larger this memory is from the
start, the more applications you can download and use.
If the Phone Memory starts to get full, the phone slows down, and in some cases it might no longer be
possible to install more apps. You should always ensure that you have at least 50 MB of free Phone
Memory. If not, you should consider removing some apps that you seldom use, or move some
applications from the Phone Memory.
You can see how much Phone Memory is free under Settings > Storage > Phone memory. You can
also view Phone Memory availability and usage information under Settings > Applications > Manage
Applications. In the Xperia™ SL, about 2 GB of Phone Memory is available out of the box.
4. Internal Storage/SD card (also known as “/sdcard”) is the memory used for:
• Content such as photos, movies and music which is added, for example, as a result of the user
taking photos with the camera, downloading media files, and performing file transfers.
• Certain applications to store data in cases where larger amounts of content are involved. For
example, applications for games and maps need to store larger files which would not fit in the
Phone Memory.
• Applications that can be moved after installation from the Phone Memory. Note that not all
applications can be moved, and in such cases the option to move the particular application will not
be available. Typically, apps running as services, apps with widgets, or apps for live wallpapers
cannot be moved. Also note that when apps are moved to the Internal Storage or to the SD card
memory, a small part of the app will still remain in the Phone Memory.
This type of memory differs most between different Android phone models. In some models, a large
amount of internal memory is built into the phone and is referred to in the user interface as “SD card”
memory. In other cases, the phone features a memory card slot and a removable memory card that is
bundled with the phone. No Android phone can be shipped without this memory type whether it comes
as built-in storage or in the form of a removable memory card. The advantage of having an external
memory card slot is that a user can replace the memory card with a larger one later on. In contrast,
built-in internal memory cannot be extended. The drawback for the manufacturer is that a removable
card is more expensive. Therefore, at a certain price level, a manufacturer can offer a larger amount of
memory if it is built in, everything else being equal.
You can see how much Internal Storage is available under Settings > Storage > Phone memory. In
the Xperia™ SL, which does not feature a removable memory card, about 26 GB is available as Internal
Storage.
In the Xperia™ SL, the three areas of persistent memory (System Memory, Phone Memory, and
Internal Storage), together with some small memory allocations for system operations, share 32 GB of
built-in eMMC memory.
Note that in some products you may find both a large internal memory and a memory card reader slot.
However, on the current Android platform, the card reader slot does not work in the same manner in a