There are not many cosmetic changes coming to mobile phones after updating to Android 15, although a few are worth updating. One of them is app archiving, a way to remove the space occupied by apps without eliminating them completely. And it's great: in just a few minutes you can delete several GB without fear of losing important data.
Uninstalling a heavy app is a good way to save space on a device; just like attacking the cache and extra storage that the software devours. Well: if we put all of the above together we get something similar to application archivinga feature that lands alongside Android 15 and promises to make life easier for those with very tight cell phones. It works really well.
From 1 GB to a few KB in one click
Weight differences between non-archived (left) and archived (right) applications
Application archiving eliminates the software footprint, removes background application execution and dumps a lot of the information it occupies on Android. It preserves user data and what the application needs to recover correctly. Therefore, once the application is deleted from its archives, it runs again as usual.
With application archiving, native to Android 15, it's very simple empty phone space without fear of deleting important information: everything can be recovered if necessary. The archiving and unarchiving process only takes a few seconds; which expand based on the storage occupied by the archived application.
I wanted to put the process to the test, so I dedicated myself to archiving some of the heavier apps on my Google Pixel 9 Pro. I opted for games: before starting the storage, my Pixel showed 110 GB occupied (compared to 128 GB it had). to my mobile series). By deleting only games that I don't use regularly, says storage It has been reduced to 106 GB. If I had looked deeper into the process, the numbers would be more comfortable.
Before and after the archiving process
And how are applications archived? Currently, and with Android 15, the process includes the following steps:
- Go to your Android 15 settings.
- Go to “Applications”.
- Go to “See all apps”. Menu names may vary.
- Browse the list of applications, paying attention to the weight of each and the interest it presents for your use. That you can do without this application but you don't want to delete it? Click on it.
- You will see an “Archive” appear at the top. Click here.
- The system will eliminate the space occupied by the application while retaining user data and other information essential to restore the application. The rest will disappear.
- If you want to recover what was archived, simply do the same thing and click on “Restore”.
To restore an application your mobile will have to load the necessary data from the Internet. You need sufficient internet connection and mobile data
With the previous process, you can reclaim space quickly without completely losing installed software. And in just a few clicks, your apps will be fully operational again: it's a change that's worth having Android 15.
Google Play also has an archiving feature, although it is not manual: only applications that are you haven't used it in a while. This function can be found in the Google Play Store settings, in the “General” tab.
Cover image | Modified mid-term
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