Both iOS and Android offer solutions to deal with unused applications and free up space on your phone.
These two features are not enabled by default, but you can do it in a very simple way.
Have you ever wondered how many of the apps on your phone you actually use on a regular basis?
It is common to accumulate a large number of applications that you install with the idea of using them, but that, over time, are forgotten.
The big problem is that these applications take up much-needed space on your device—sometimes too much—and make it difficult for you to download new applications or files in the future.
The good news is that both Apple/iOS and Google/Android have taken note of this increasingly normalized problem and have developed functions to somewhat lighten the load on your smartphone.
iOS and Android: this is how they manage your unused apps
Since the release of iOS 11 in 2017, Apple has taken quite a bit of action regarding unused apps. To deal with this very common problem, they introduced the Download Unused Apps feature.
This feature falls between fully installing and uninstalling an app. Most of the app components are removed, but related data and settings remain on your device.
Even the app icon remains on the home screen with a small arrow next to its name, allowing you to completely reinstall it with a simple tap.
By default, this feature is disabled, but enabling it is easy. To do this, open the Settings app on your iPhone, select General, then iPhone Storage. Activate the Download unused applications option.
Once enabled, apps you haven’t opened in a while are automatically downloaded in the background.
On the other hand, on Android the equivalent solution is called Automatic Archive. This feature doesn’t turn on automatically, but Android will suggest enabling it if you’re trying to install a new app and your device is low on space. Auto-Archive frees up to 60% of an app’s storage space without deleting the app itself or its data.
You can also enable it from the Play Store app on your mobile: Tap your Google Account avatar, then choose Settings and General to find the automatically archive apps toggle switch.
Please note that the archiving process does not begin until your device is almost full. Although Google does not specify which applications are archived first, it is true that it seems that the least used ones are the main candidates.
