Google announces Archived Apps- its big fix for the limited storage problem both Android, iOS users face

A major struggle we face with our smartphones is that of limited storage, especially if the phone has been in use for well over a year. With the flood of media files and games we play, little space is left to house all the apps we needed at some point. As a result, we often resort to the only option to keep our phone going - deleting the less used apps on it. Google now seems to have an alternative for that.

In a new blog, Google has mentioned a new functionality for Android phones, named Archiving. Addressing the widespread problem, the tech major talks of a feature that will allow users to "reclaim around 60 per cent of app storage temporarily." This will be made possible by "removing parts of the app" instead of uninstalling it completely.

Google says that an archived app will remain on the device and will even retain the user data. This will make it easier for the users to restore an app "to the latest available compatible version," if it is to be used after a period of time. The function will understandably help prevent unnecessary uninstalls of an app in lieu of extra space on a phone, which will in turn also help the developers.

There is still some time though, to a public rollout of the Archive app function. For now, Google will be releasing a new Bundletool 1.10 version that will bring archiving to all developers through App Bundles. Apps that have been built with the Android Gradle Plugin 7.3, will be able to utilise the archive function through a "new type of APK" called archived APKs.

Google says that the archived APKs are "very small APKs" which are able to retain user data until the app is restored. Google, however, clears that even though the archived APKs are already under development, they won't be functional until "the archiving functionality is launched to consumers later in the year."

Once the archived APKs are generated, they will be made available to the developers for inspection through Generated APKs API or in Play Console under App Bundle Explorer. Interestingly, Google has made the archived apps functionality open source. This will allow developers to inspect the code, and even other app stores to make use of it with a few altercations.

Apple, for instance, currently allows users to "Offload" apps that are not much in use. Though the function requires users to have an internet connection as and when they want to restore the app. They can then reuse it after a small download. Whether Google's archived apps will work in the same way or not is yet unknown, but it still would be better if no such download is required at all to reinitiate the apps.