UKH

So I have a 2017 Samsung Galaxy A3 which mostly suits my needs and is still working fine. However, it has run out of internal memory and I can't get it to use the extra memory card which I put in for anything other than photos. I have a lot of maps stored on OS map finder and a some music on Google play, I think these are the biggest culprits for filling up the memory. Can I force the phone to put these on the memory card somehow? 

The maps and music both get used for work, and need to be available offline. 

In the google play music settings there should be a downloading or storage settings option  where you can choose sd or internal. In the offline maps settings there should be the same setting where you can choose the device to store them on. Not sure if it's possible on all versions of android but I would presume yours is new enough to be on a reasonably recent version

I'm definitely not an expert and this is all Google-fu and apologies if you've done all this...

This presumes there is no default save to SD card function.

At some point Android/Google changed how SD card/external memory could be used. Security issues. After some searching on Google I have found that you can force some apps to save direct to the SD card (my phone is a Blackview). You need to know the specific pathway to get the app to save. So for instance my mapping software is now saved to my SD card - SD Card>Android>data>com.anquet.com>... and so on. A file manager app will help work out the specifics (there probably is one on your phone). 

In your favour is you're using a big brand phone so there will undoubtedly be people on forums etc who have cracked the problem.

All the music on my phone is on the SD card (I don't use Google Play), photos are in built-in memory. First thing would be to back those up elsewhere and remove from the phone - which is a good idea, anyway, should you lose your phone. 

Have a look at FileCommander, which may/should already be installed - can't remember if I downloaded it form the app store, or not. That should allow you to move (some) stuff around to the SD card, free up some memory and clear out the temp files cache

Otherwise, install AppMgr III - similar capabilities.

Thanks, the google play one worked. I had been looking in phone settings rather than the app settings to try and do it, that's where I went wrong!
Not found a way with OS mapfinder yet.

I don't appear to have a file manager app, and don't have space for more apps!!

Frustratingly, there are several factory installed apps which I don't want and it won't let me get rid of!

My photos are all backed up elsewhere and are on the memory card, that was the easy thing to get onto the card. The music and maps I need to have on the phone as I need them when there is no signal.

I don't seem to have a file manager app on the phone and don't have space to install it. I would love to get rid of the apps which samsung put on the phone like their own internet browser, samsung pay etc, but there seems no way of deleting them.

I deleted some stuff which I could easily download again to get the AppMgr. 

There were only a couple of things which could be moved. I have cleared up about 2gb of space, but might be starting to reach the limit of this phone's storage

I'd plug it into your PC and create a folder on the SD card called Music, I'd then move all the music files from internal folder to SD folder, this should give you more memory. Setting the Default folder to SD, probably hasn't moved all the music you have already, but will make sure it goes there in future.

OS Mapfinder is no longer supported, you should be using OS Maps:

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/mapfinder

However, looking at OS Maps on my tablet, there's no option to store map tiles on the SD card.  (OS Maps doesn't work on my phone, and the OS have washed their hands of trying to fix it claiming that my phone is "too old" - it runs Nougat, which is still a supported release of Android, so b*ll*cks to that.  Numerous other users have reported the exact same failure symptoms on the Google Play Store but the OS doesn't seem to have any desire to do anything about it.  Given that I paid good money to have online access to OS maps on my phone, you might guess that I'm not a happy customer.)

You should be able to move some of your bigger apps from internal storage to the SD card.  Samsung being Samsung it's probably not in the same place in the system setting as it is in vanilla Android.  It's usually accessed via the Apps section, if the option's offered at all.  Trying tapping on a single app in there, and then on its Storage details - there may be an option in there to move it to the SD Card.  If there isn't then it may be that the app doesn't allow itself to be run that way (some don't).

EDIT: I just checked and OS Maps definitely can be moved to the SD card this way - on my phone at least.  Which is ironic considering that it doesn't work...

I keep photos and music on the SD card - it's easy to pop the card and back up the contents to my desktop computer that way (and from there it gets backed up to a networked disc on my home network, and to my secure cloud backup host).  The only stuff I actually keep in internal memory is temporary and scratch files.  If I download a file that I then decide I want to keep, it goes on the SD card, I don't leave it in the Downloads folder in internal storage.

In what way is it not supported? I bought new maps on it last week no bother. It's all working fine for me.

I did eventually manage to do some temporary deletes to download an app to manage apps (which seems like a long way for a shortcut!), and it did highlight a couple of apps which could move, but not big ones sadly. Freed up a bit of space though.

Map finder couldn't.

I don't keep any files on my phone, the space all seems to be taken with apps. Frustratingly, loads of apps are Samsung own ones which I don't use or want but it won't let me delete. 

"In what way is it not supported? I bought new maps on it last week no bother. It's all working fine for me"

You can still use it but the developers are no longer maintaining it and advising using OS Maps instead.

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/mapfinder

I have used OS Maps but you cannot keep the maps on the SD Card just in internal memory which is a pain if you havent got much, so that wont help you Im afraid.

I now use ViewRanger mostly and that does let you store maps on the SD Card.

It doesn't need maintained, works just fine as it is! I don't need to pay for a subscription service when I have bought my maps and it is all working well. I like the app!

Which is the same link that I posted but apparently the OP dioesn't click on links...

See above: I can set OS Maps to use the SD card on my phone via the system settings, not the app's own settings - it's just that the flippin' app doesn't work on that device!  It does work on my tablet but that doesn't offer me the option to move it to the SD card, which is odd.  Seems to be device specific in some way (which could offer some insight in to why it works on my tablet but not on my phone...if anyone who understands the inner workings of the app - say, oh, I don't know, maybe the Ordnance-Flipping-Survey's developers - could be *rsed to investigate the problem).

If you look in the play store, search 'move apps to SD card' you'll find applications that can help you with this.

Cheers 

Mark