Question [SOLVED] Difference in System Storage in March update

[TheMystic]

The allocation of storage between System and 'Other files' has changed after the Mar'23 update.

Before the update, System was occupying 50.40 GB data. It was always this number for almost a year now (since the phone launched).

But after the update that my phone got in the 3rd week of March, this value has increased to 81.94 GB.

I haven't lost storage space. Just that the values allocated between these two categories have changed.

Can anyone confirm this on your device?

SOLUTION​

I uninstalled updates to My Files app and restored it to the previous version 14.1.02.10.

This version reports the storage classification.correctly. System now has 50.4 GB as before and the rest goes under 'Other files' as before.

Check out comment #23.

 

[butchieboy]

Mine still says 50.30

 

[gernerttl]

Mine is 59.30GB.

 

[raul6]

61.23GB for me

 

[TheMystic]

@gernerttl
@raul6

Have you noticed if it changed from before? Or is this what you had before the update too?

 

[raul6]

@gernerttl
@raul6

Have you noticed if it changed from before? Or is this what you had before the update too?

I think, based on a very vague memory, that it has slightly increased from when I just got it

 

[TheMystic]

I think, based on a very vague memory, that it has slightly increased from when I just got it

Slight change is okay. The issue is how the system has allocated some of the items. In my case, about 30 GB data is reclassified from 'Other files' to System. While I'm not 100% sure, I think these are the .apks files (apps backed up using SAI) that I have in a folder, which is now about 28.5 GB.

 

[AlanDS]

Mine shows 61.19

 

[WoKoschekk]

But after the update that my phone got in the 3rd week of March, this value has increased to 81.94 GB.

But at the same time "Other files" also occupies 30GB less.

Before: System 50,40GB + Other 63,44GB » Total 113,84GB

After: System 81,94GB + Other 34,95GB » Total 116,89GB

Looks like some files have been moved to a system directory. While only "System" and "Other files" have changed, all others continue to occupy the same space.

 

[TheMystic]

Mine shows 61.19

My question is if you see a good chunk if files reclassified from 'Other files' to 'System'?

But at the same time "Other files" also occupies 30GB less.

Before: System 50,40GB + Other 63,44GB » Total 113,84GB

After: System 81,94GB + Other 34,95GB » Total 116,89GB

Looks like some files have been moved to a system directory. While only "System" and "Other files" have changed, all others continue to occupy the same space.

Yes, the issue is only of reclassification of files between these two categories.

I suspect .apks files are now showing under System, instead of 'Other files' that they used to before.

 

[WoKoschekk]

I suspect .apks files are now showing under System, instead of 'Other files' that they used to before.

No, APKs are listed in "Apps". Apart from that APKs are no system files and accessible for any user in /data/app/*.

 

[TheMystic]

No, APKs are listed in "Apps". Apart from that APKs are no system files and accessible for any user in /data/app/*.

I'm talking of .apks format (split APKs). These are currently not counted under 'Installation files' which includes files ending in .apk (not .apks).

Apps are what you have installed in your device.

 

[WoKoschekk]

I'm talking of .apks format (split APKs). These are currently not counted under 'Installation files' which includes files ending in .apk (not .apks).

Apps are what you have installed in your device.

It doesn't matter what type of APK. A so called App Bundle (split apk) is nothing more than a signed ZIP archive containing multiple APK files. But at the end you have the app's source and installation file. These files - in case they belong to an installed app on your device - are ALWAYS stored in /data/app or /system/(priv-)app. These directories + all app data = "Apps"

 

[TheMystic]

It doesn't matter what type of APK. A so called App Bundle (split apk) is nothing more than a signed ZIP archive containing multiple APK files. But at the end you have the app's source and installation file. These files - in case they belong to an installed app on your device - are ALWAYS stored in /data/app or /system/(priv-)app. These directories + all app data = "Apps"

You're missing my point.

I keep backups of installed apps on my device. These backups are taken with SAI and stored in .apks format. The My Files app used to classify them under 'Other files' before the update in March. Now they are (most likely) showing under 'System'. I say 'most likely' because the folder where SAI saves all the backups is now about 28.5 GB.

These are not counted under 'Apps' or 'Installation files'.

 

[WoKoschekk]

I say 'most likely' because the folder where SAI saves all the backups is now about 28.5 GB.

Why did you backup 28,5GB of APK files? I guess the most of them are available by Play Store and they would need an update once installed anyway.
What happens if you delete/move some files? Is "System" getting smaller?

 

[TheMystic]

Why did you backup 28,5GB of APK files? I guess the most of them are available by Play Store and they would need an update once installed anyway.
What happens if you delete/move some files? Is "System" getting smaller?

I back them up just in case an update breaks some functionality. It is also done so I can access it if the app is pulled out of the market.

So I deleted the folder containing those files that occupied 28.5 GB. But after deleting, I see that only about 15 GB got reduced from System, while the remaining got reduced from 'Other files'.

So it is not doing the allocation properly. I guess the problem could be with the My Files app version 14.1.03.16 that is installed in my phone. It is not necessarily OneUI problem.

 

[Marcelocohenarg]

Hi, my system folder is 73.5G. So, why we have different numbers listed here? Is it because it's including the downloaded apps or just the bloatware included by Samsung and the carrier?

 

[TheMystic]

Hi, my system folder is 73.5G. So, why we have different numbers listed here? Is it because it's including the downloaded apps or just the bloatware included by Samsung and the carrier?
View attachment 5878021

You haven't given 'Usage Data Access' to My Files app. So the size occupied by all installed apps have been included in your System classification.

Also, the value of System will be different for devices with different storage sizes, even if it they are identical in all other aspects and are running on the same build of the OS.

This has been discussed here:

Why is the OS (System) size different for different storage variants of the same device model?

I have seen that the space occupied by 'System' is different for different storage sizes of the same device. My Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra shows space occupied by system as over 50 GB. Mine is the 512 GB variant (Snapdragon). While I don't...

forum.xda-developers.com

 

[WoKoschekk]

why we have different numbers listed here?

The category "System" is made up by
a) all partitions except /data
b) all directories and files on /data that are only accessible to the system, e.g. /data/system or /data/misc
The size of "System" may vary depending on how much data is stored on /data by the system. Mostly these are logs and configuration files.

Your installed apps (system + user) are listed as "Apps".

 

[butchieboy]

I'm just asking, does this do anything to the functionality of your device?