Android 15 could bring the much-needed native app archiving feature. Mishaal Rahman of Android Authority has reported that the upcoming Android update might feature app archiving support built right into the operating system itself.
For the uninitiated, Google launched the auto app archiving feature in 2023 but it’s currently supported within Play Store only and doesn’t allow manual app archiving.
The automatic app archiving on Android is similar to iOS’ offloading apps feature but it is not integrated in the operating system. This means that there’s no option to manually archive an app. If the user opt-in to the auto archive feature on Play Store and app developers integrate the archive apk in their apps, only then the feature would work. Play Store will identify the unused apps automatically and archive them to claim as much as 60% of storage back.
However, with Android 15, the system is about to change as the archive feature will reportedly be backed directly into the software. This will allow users to manually archive apps from the Apps section in Settings.
Rahman has found strings of codes within the latest Android Beta update pointing to the native app archive support in Android 15. The analyst was able to get the app archive button within the app info pages for individual apps. The button activated the archival process for the app and replaced the app icon with one featuring the download symbol on top.
Once an app was archived, the archive button was replaced by a restore button. However, tapping on the restore button didn’t do anything since the feature is yet not fully functional.
However, we can expect the feature in the next iteration of Android. We will get to know more when Google announces Android 15 at the I/O 2024 in May. So, stay tuned!
