Have I solved my Droid Incredible storage problem?
This past weekend, I wrote a post about a problem that my beloved Droid Incredible was experiencing. It turns out that I wasn't alone in my issues surrounding bizarre memory errors (check out that last link for some good pictures of the error - thanks, WJD!). It also turns out that HTC didn't have a clue what do about the problem either, nor that the problem even existed. Even after writing the post and commenting extensively on their support feedback page, all I got was this lousy email:
Dear Christopher Dawson,
Thank you for using HTC Customer Service. We want to make your next visit even better and would like your feedback. If you haven't already done so please help us improve by taking a quick survey on your experience using HTC Customer Service.
Thank you very much for your time. Be sure to visit us online at http://www.htc.com to read the latest announcements and check out our newly released products.
We are unable to receive replies to this email account. Please visit us at http://www.htc.com if you have any questions or need further assistance.
Sincerely,
HTC
Awesome. Thanks, HTC. Your phones rock and your customer service staff are wonderfully friendly, but your feedback mechanism stinks. And guess what? So does your Android software stack. Continuing to look through the various forums on the topic, I repeatedly found suggestions that the HTC messaging, email, and FriendStream applications were somehow bleeding memory or failing to release disk space appropriately.
Another reader emailed me and told me that clearing the cache in HTC's Twitter application, Peep, solved the low memory problem. Well, I hadn't used Peep since the first day I received the phone since it's probably the worst Twitter app on the planet. Unfortunately, you can't uninstall any of HTC's software, so I had just tossed on Twidroid and never given Peep another thought. However, after clearing the cache in Peep (thank you for the suggestion, Pericles!), the memory error disappeared. Gone. No sign of it.
For good measure, I cleared the cache again in HTCs SMS application, the default browser (which also stinks compared to Skyfire and Dolphin HD), and then made sure that none of the FriendStream applications were pulling any more data. For anyone poking about, to clear the cache, go to Settings->Applications->Manage Applications, and then click on the apps you'd like to examine. Most will provide the option of clearing data and/or cache.
For other users who have reported this memory problem, the main offenders appear to be Peep, Messages, and Mail, all part of the HTC stack.
I wish I were cool enough to figure out how to root the Incredible so I could just dump the HTC social/messaging software entirely, since it seems to be the root (pun intended) of the problem most users are experiencing. It should be noted that clearing the cache hasn't seemed to work for everyone; some users have still needed to do a hard reset.
Anyway it goes, although I still highly recommend this phone, I strongly encourage you to not bother with any of the HTC social/messaging applications and install any of the countless free replacements in the marketplace. And once I figure out how to get rid of the HTC apps, I'll be sure to let you know, since invariably they seem to keep finding data whether I use them or not.