Here’s your first look at Google’s app archiving feature
You probably have tons of apps onyour Android phonethat you rarely use but that you still like to keep around for convenience. Google has long recognized this issue with a feature that automatically strips unused apps of permissions and background activity privileges, but the company is ready to take things a step further. AsGoogle announced earlier this year, it wants to introduce a new option to archive apps instead of uninstalling them, giving you the storage and resource saving benefits of uninstalling without having to set up or log into apps again.
A tinkerer on Twitter, @AssembleDebug, has managed to activate the feature ahead of its release, offering us a glimpse at how exactly it will work and look like. This comesfollowing extensive research from Esper.io Android expert Mishaal Rahman, who previously accurately described how the process will work.
The feature is baked into the Google Play Store, where it’s possible to select between two options when you want to get rid of an app from your phone. You can either use the classic uninstall option, or you can opt to archive the app in question. The Play Store gives you an estimate how much storage you will save that way, complete with additional information when you tap the archive button: “By archiving your apps, Play Store will delete the apps while holding onto your data and documents. When you need the app back, just tap on the app icon to re-download.”
In the example provided by @AssembleDebug, the Google News app takes up only 1.4MB rather than 32MB, all without requiring you to set up your account, preferred languages, and news sources again. A new “archived” section then appears in the app management section of the Play Store, too, which gives you an overview of all the apps you have archived.
On your home screen, the archived app will still appear in the place you put it, but it has a cloud icon on top of it, indicating that it’s currently just a placeholder. Unfortunately, this currently clashes with themed icons, with the archived app showing its regular colorful icon instead of the monochrome version.
When you tap the icon on your home screen, you’re thrown right into a download screen that looks just like the one you know from instant apps. The Play Store quickly downloads the resources needed to get the app up and running again, but lets you jump right into it as soon as it’s downloaded and installed. It looks like you won’t have to grant permissions that you’ve already granted again, too.
It’s clear that the feature is still under development. Right now, we’ve only seen the system working with Google News, and it’s unclear if any other developers have already added support for it. Based on the screen recording embedded in the tweet above, it also appears like the archive option can only be accessed through the app management screen in the Play Store, which is quite hidden. We can only hope that the option will be baked into launchers and the regular uninstall workflow you can access through app listings on the Play Store. There are also still some problems with the language, with the Play Store labeling the app archiving process “installing,” and the option to restore the app is called “update.”
Google previously explained that the feature works thanks toApp Bundles. These are a relatively new way to package applications, making sure that only those resources are downloaded to your phone that are actually needed to get the app running. This is supposed to save both download time and storage used on your device. The method also enables the archive feature, as it makes it possible to retain only the most essential user data on your phone when you don’t want to run the app for a long time.
The note-taking app I should have used all along
Broader branding hints at wider paid-tier ambitions
It’s been a while
Epic Games' win isn’t a win for users
It’s time to sniff out the culprit
Project Moohan? More like Project Moolah
