One of the main advantage of Android devices over other OS platforms is that is has the expandable storage options, but not all the Android smartphones and tablets have it. Most of the android smartphones and tablets have the microSD card slot, and for those who do not have this, they can support USB On-The-Go (there are many android devices which support both of them though, usually the flagship devices). But, the point is that not all of us can afford the flagships, and are bound to buy the budget or mid-range devices. While these phones mostly do not have the USB OTG support (here’s how to check if your phone supports USB OTG), we would like to have it in our device. If you are also the one who like to store a lot of files and view them in your Android device, but is suffering from the storage problem and don’t even have the USB OTG driver or microSD card slot in your device, there is a solution. Here, we are sharing a guide on how to use external storage in unexpandable Android smartphones or tablets.
The first and primary aspect required for this method is the root. You should compulsorily have your Android rooted to follow this method. If you are a nerd and have your Android rooted, it is so much easier. But in case if you do not have your phone rooted, you can root it first, and then follow this guide. (see our guide on why to or why not to root android devices)
After you have your phone rooted, another thing that you will need is a USB OTG cable, and also a flash drive indeed. After you have these, you will be required to download an USB OTG host application from the google play store. There may be many of them, but the USB OTG Helper is a good one. You can follow the following steps for the process:
- Download and install the USB OTG Helper from the play store in your Android device. This is an absolute free app, so don’t worry about it.
- Just connect the USB OTG cable to the flash drive, and its other part to your phone’s microUSB port.
- The app will itself browse the files you have in your flash drive, just the way that the system works in the driver pre-installed devices.
- Play your files, or do whatever you want with them.
Now that you can use external storage in unexpandable Android smartphones, you can enjoy it the way you want. Happy storage expansion!
