Google has discovered a solution to free up storage space on Android smartphones. In a blog post published on March 8, 2022, the Mountain View giant explains that it has āstarted workingā on a new feature that will allow applications to be archived.
When a user decides to archive an application that he no longer uses regularly, Android will uninstall part of this app. The application will not be completely uninstalled from your phone. Google assures that the archiving of apps should make it possible to free up 60% of the storage allocated to each application, which should quickly be have effect on the amount of remaining memory.
“Archiving is a new functionality that will allow users to reclaim ~60% of app storage temporarily by removing parts of the app rather than uninstalling it completely. An archived app will remain on the device and the user can easily restore it to the latest available compatible version, whilst preserving the user data”. Lidia Gaymond and Vicki Amin, product managers at Google, say in the post.
To keep the data inherent to the app, Android will generate an archived APK file. Users can recover data stored in the app; such as usernames or passwords, notes or photos when they reactivate the app.
Android will archive apps to free up your smartphone’s storage space
Gizchina News of the week
Thanks to this feature, owners of Android smartphones will not have to periodically uninstall applications to recover some memory. Likewise, they will no longer have to expand their phone’s storage space with an SD card; or invest in a smartphone with a large memory.
Google points out that the implementation of archiving is still in its infancy. The company has started making archived APKs available to all developers using App Bundles, the release format for Google Play. “While we will start creating archived APKs now; they wonāt be functional until the archiving functionality is availble to consumers later in the year,” Google said.
“Once launched, archiving will deliver great benefits to both users and developers. Instead of uninstalling an app, users would be able to āarchiveā it; free up space temporarily and be able to re-activate the app quickly and easily. Developers can benefit from fewer uninstalls and substantially lower friction to pick back up with their favourite apps”.
The archiving of apps will therefore be available on Android by the end of 2022. The feature can be expected to be part of the new features of the Android 13 update, the final version of which is scheduled to roll out next September.
