How Much of a Device’s Storage Space Can the ScreenCloud Player App Use for Media Caching?

This article will go through how much of a device's storage space the ScreenCloud Player app can use for media caching.

When choosing a digital signage device, you want to make sure that the storage drive will have enough space to accommodate the media files you want to be cached on the device.

In general, you will want a device with at least 8GB, with 16GB being preferable, with devices that have less than this meant more for use cases where you are streaming video content and not storing it on the device. There are many layers of caching on ScreenCloud, but let's focus on the one you need to know about Media Cache. Media files such as images and videos are stored on the media cache file folder which we have specifically designated for on each device you can use for digital signage.

For example, a device may have 16GB of storage, the operating system may already use 4GB (such as Android or iOS) so there is 12GB remaining. The media cache may use 60% or 7.2GB of the remaining storage to allow other apps to function and store on the device. Each device is different and has a range of storage volumes, though the concept is still the same. Once a media file displays or plays back on the screen at least once, it will be stored on the media cache.

As more and more files get played and stored the media cache will eventually fill up. When the designated storage is nearly filled up, new media files will overwrite the oldest media files so the storage will not be overflown. If the storage is nearly filled up, new media files will begin to replace cached media. When getting a device though, you won't have access to all the space on the device's storage drive. Some of that space will be used up by the OS and apps by default, and even out of the remaining space, only some of it can be used by the ScreenCloud Player app for media cache purposes.

So how much storage space will actually be available to you on all the different digital signage devices available? Here's an overview by the operating system.

Table of Contents:

• Android devices
• Amazon Fire TV devices
• Desktop OS (Windows, MacOS)
• Chrome OS devices and devices running Chrome browser extension
• iOS Devices

Android devices

The ScreenCloud Player app can access 50% of the available storage space for media cache purposes.

So for example, on a Mi Pad 4 which has 32GB of storage space, the operating system and apps take up about 10GB of that available space. Out of the 22GB remaining, the ScreenCloud player app can use 11GB for media cache.

Amazon Fire TV devices

The ScreenCloud Player app can access 50% of the available storage space for media cache purposes. 

So for example, on an Amazon Fire TV (3rd Generation) which has 8GB of storage space, the operating system and apps take up about 3.5GB of that available space. Out of the 4.5GB remaining, the ScreenCloud player app can use 2.25GB for media cache.

Desktop OS (Windows, MacOS) devices

On desktop operating systems like Windows and macOS, the ScreenCloud Player allocates 5GB of storage space for media cache.

Chrome OS devices and devices running the Chrome browser extension

On Chrome OS devices and devices running the Chrome Browser extension, the ScreenCloud Player app or extension attempts to allocate 10GB of storage space by default for media cache and will auto adjust as needed, so if a device does not have 10GB of available storage space it will adjust to match the lower amount of storage space available.

iOS devices

On iOS devices, the ScreenCloud Player app it set allocate 500MB of storage space for media cache purposes but you can change that amount to be more or less in the app's settings. To do this open the app, swipe inward from the right of the screen to bring up the settings menu, click on "Advanced Settings" and under "Maximum Cache Size (MB)", change the number to the amount of space you want allocated. The app helps you by showing you how much space is available on your device.

If you have any additional questions on how much of a device's storage space the ScreenCloud Player app can use for media caching, or any other questions or feedback about ScreenCloud, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@screencloud.com or give us a call at our toll-free support line at +18885575335.