Save space on your phone by downloading and archiving apps

If you are looking to free up some space on your phone, one of the recommendations often presented is to uninstall the applications that you have not used much. Save the space they take up and the bandwidth needed to keep updates, and also prevent them from collecting data about you.

However, if you don’t mind completely deleting your least used applications – just in case you need them – there is another option. Both Android and iOS allows you to remove a good part of the data and files related to an app, without uninstalling it. The app icon and some data stay on your phone. If and when you need it again, the rest of the necessary data is retrieved from the web, and the app is completely restored.

On Android it’s called archive apps, and on an iPhone it’s called download apps. Once you’ve activated the feature, you can have everything handled automatically for you, meaning your least-used apps won’t take up a large amount of space on your device, but are still easily accessible if needed.

Android storage app

You can manually archive any app on Android.David Nield

Starting with Google’s mobile operating system, archiving an app “deletes its software, permissions, temporary files, and stops notifications, but retains the app icon and data” in The words of Google. You can manually choose which apps to archive, or let Android make the decision based on which apps you use the least.

To archive an app manually, open Settings and choose Appsthen select the app you want to archive (tap See all applications if the one you want is not visible). Tap Archives to archive: The app icon in the app drawer – and on the home screen, if there is one – will have an archive icon next to it (an arrow in a cloud symbol). To restore an archived app back to its normal state, just press its icon. After a quick reset, the app will launch as normal.

To have this all handled automatically for you, open the Play Store app: Tap your profile picture (top right), then choose Settings and Generaland activate Automatically archive applications. Google doesn’t specify the criteria it uses to decide when an app should be archived, but you’ll see the same archive symbol next to the name of any archived app as it appears when you start the process manually.

If you’ve turned on automatic app archiving, you can always archive apps manually if you need to. You can also protect some Apps from being archived automatically: From the main Android Settings screen, choose Apps and then select the app you want to protect. (Tap See all applications if you can’t see it.) Turn off the Manage the app if unused toggle switch, and it will be left alone.

Downloading applications on iOS

iOS will automatically download the apps for you.David Nield

If you use an iPhone, iOS gives you the opportunity to download apps. As in Android, most app data is deleted to free up space, with key pieces of information stored on your phone. For example, if you decide to restore the app, you don’t have to go through the process of signing in and setting your preferences again.

To find the option, open the Settings in iOS, then choose App Store. You will see a toggle switch highlighted Download unused applicationsalong with some information about what it does. Downloaded apps still appear on the home screen and in your app library, but they have a cloud icon over them.

Apple isn’t saying too much about the criteria it uses to choose which apps are downloaded — like how long an app must be left idle before taking action, for example — but you can quickly restore an app back with just a tap on their app. icon. The necessary data will be redownloaded, and the app will launch normally.

You can always manually download an app too, if you need to. From Settings, select Generalso what Storage iPhone. You will see a list of all installed applications (you can sort them by size using the filter at the top, if necessary): Touch an app to find the Download the app option. That button then changes to Reinstall the Appwhich will restore the app again.