Link2SD

Link2SD is an application that makes it easy for Android 1.6+ users with root privileges on their phone to move applications to the SD card.

The idea behind is same with apps2sd scripts, linking applications to SD card’s second partition but differs in two ways.

One, instead of linking /data/app folder (that means moving all applications), you can select applications that you want to move.
Two, it’s an application which means has a user interface. You can manage your applications, create or remove links with just one click.

Features:
- Creates and removes link for application you select
- Lists applications, shows their link status
- Sorts and filters applications
- Displays available space information of internal storage, SD card and SD card 2nd partition.

What you need:
- root permission.
- a second partition on your SD card.

You should have two partitions on SD card and both should be primary.
The first FAT partition is your standard SD card storage. The second partition is used for application files and can be ext2, ext3, ext4 or FAT32.
Some phones lack the ext2, ext3 or ext4 file system support and you may get mount errors like “no such device”, “invalid argument”. These phones need ext2.ko or ext3.ko modules and even some additional modules to be able to mount. Using FAT32 on the second partition will eleminate such problems, because FAT32 is supported on all phones.

Link2SD does not create ext2 partition, you need to create it yourself. You can use any partition manager such as Minitool, Paragon, Easeus etc. for this.

How it works:
Link2SD mounts the second partition of your SD card and makes OS mounts it at boot time.

When you press “Create Link” button it moves apk file and dalvik-cache file (if you select) to SD card’s 2nd partition and creates symbolic links in original directories.

Note: After this step, application icon disappears from the phone on Android 1.6 and 2.1, but after reboot you can see and run without problems (if any, shourtcut and the widget of the app should be re-added to homescreen after reboot).
On 2.2+ reboot is not required.

Can I remove the link and put application back to phone?
Yes, just click on app that is linked and press “Remove Link” button. Link2SD removes symbolic links and moves apk and dex files to original directories.

What happens if I uninstall a linked application?
If you uninstall a linked application apk and dex files will be automatically deleted from the SD card by Link2SD.

What happens if I update a linked application?
If you update a linked application new apk and dex files will be placed in the internal memory at first and then they will be automatically relinked by Link2SD in the background.
Note: Since it is linked again application icon disappears from the phone on Android 1.6 and 2.1, you need to reboot.

Android Market and Link2SD
Android Market doesn’t see applications that have been link to SD card on 1.6 and 2.1. Because vending process marks them as “UNINSTALLED” when the link created.
To repair their state use “Market Fix” menu, missing market apps will be repaired.
Note: Before starting, make sure market is not running and you’re not downloading anything from the market.

Some points
- Link2SD detects applications which are already moved to SD card on Android 2.2+ natively and disables create link for them.
- System applications should not be linked to SD card. Link2SD does not allow these applications to be linked.
- When you connect your phone to PC as mass storage, Android unmounts first FAT partition but the second partition remains mounted. Therefore linked applications are not affected and can be run without problems.
- Link2SD does not move application data directory, it moves apk and dex (dalvik-cache) files.

DISCLAIMER: It is made available for use at your own risk with no warranty of any kind.

Recent changes:
- added notification to status bar for automatic re-linking after app update
- added “reboot required” notification to status bar after linking app on Android 1.6 and 2.1
- some bugfixes

Latest version: 1.5.4 (for all Android versions)