Why don’t Nexus devices have SD cards? Google’s Matias Duarte answers

Since the launch of Nexus S, all Nexus lovers had one pertinent question in their mind, why Google does not provide microSD card slots in Nexus devices.

The only Nexus device to have a microSD card slot was the Nexus One, since then none of the Nexus phones or tablets have microSD card slot.

Even the latest Nexus 4 comes with just 8GB and 16GB internal memory options and there is no expendable storage.

Well, we cannot answer that – why don’t Nexus devices have SD cards? But Matias Duarte, Director of Android operating system User Experience can and he did, on his Google+ page.

Here is his answer:

Everybody likes the idea of having an SD card, but in reality it’s just confusing for users.

If you’re saving photos, videos or music, where does it go? Is it on your phone? Or on your card? Should there be a setting? Prompt everytime? What happens to the experience when you swap out the card? It’s just too complicated.

We take a different approach. Your Nexus has a fixed amount of space and your apps just seamlessly use it for you without you ever having to worry about files or volumes or any of that techy nonsense left over from the paleolithic era of computing.

With a Nexus you know exactly how much storage you get upfront and you can decide what’s the right size for you. That’s simple and good for users.