title: Android – Where to store downloaded content, internal versus external storage?
body: <p>A number of separate, but related, questions concerning where to store downloaded content within my application.</p>
  
  <p>I have an application that downloads content from a central server. This content is sometimes premium content, or at least content where the publisher does not want it freely distributed. I understand that the “external” storage is readily accessible whereas the “internal” storage is protected, unless the phone is rooted.</p>
  
  <p>If the application is installed on the SDCARD (as mine is configured to be) then is the “internal” storage also physically on the SDCARD? Thus if my SDCARD installed application downloads, say, 100MB of content to internal storage then is it actually ending up on the SDCARD, or is it ending up in the device’s physical on-board storage?</p>
  
  <p>If the application is installed on the SDCARD, and the “internal” storage with the downloaded content is on the SDCARD then is it physically stored in an open format or is it encrypted? I seem to remember reading that an application stored on an SDCARD is encrypted. Does this also apply to the “internal” storage?</p>
  
  <p>(Deleted question about storing files in a single directory as Context.getDir() implies that a directory system can be created and maintained in the internal storage)</p>
  
  <p>Is there a better approach?</p>