Android 2.2 - How do I detect if I am installed on the SDCard or not?

Question

I am writing an android app that stores a lot of media files. They are not the type (and are far too many) to clutter up the users notification or other media directories, but they also must be user-updatable, so I can't put them in the resources. I can use getExternalFilesDir to get a path on the sdcard, but I only want to do that if the app itself is installed on the sdcard. If the app is installed internally, I want to put the media in the internal memory.

So how can I determine if my app is running in internal or external memory?

Answer 1

You could use PackageManager to get the ApplicationInfo, and from there check the "flags" for FLAG_EXTERNAL_STORAGE.

http://developer.android.com/intl/de/reference/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.html#FLAG_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Here's a quick example I made to demonstrate:

@Override
   public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      setContentView(R.layout.main);

      PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
      try {
         PackageInfo pi = pm.getPackageInfo("com.totsp.helloworld", 0);
         ApplicationInfo ai = pi.applicationInfo;
         // this only works on API level 8 and higher (check that first)
         Toast
                  .makeText(
                           this,
                           "Value of FLAG_EXTERNAL_STORAGE:"
                                    + ((ai.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) == ApplicationInfo.FLAG_EXTERNAL_STORAGE),
                           Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
      } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
         // do something
      }
   }

Still, depending on your situation (whether or not you have all the "media" up front, or the user gets/creates it as they use the app), you may want to put it on the external storage regardless. A large size internal app is frowned upon by many users (and a lot of internal media would probably make it huge).