The much-needed native app archiving feature could be coming to Android 15. According to Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, the next Android update might include built-in app archiving support.
Currently, the auto-app archiving feature is only available within the Play Store, and manual app archiving isn’t supported.
Similar to iOS’ offloading apps feature, Android’s automatic app archiving feature is not integrated into the operating system. Manually archiving an app is not possible. Only if the user opts into the auto archive feature on Play Store and app developers embed the archive apk in their apps will the feature work. To reclaim up to 60% of storage, Play Store will identify unused apps and archive them automatically.
According to reports, Android 15 will introduce an archive feature that will be built directly into the software. Users will be able to manually archive apps from the Apps section in Settings.
The latest Android Beta update contains strings of codes that indicate native app archives will be supported in Android 15. In the app info pages for individual apps, the analyst found the archive button. Activating the button archived the app and replaced the icon with one featuring the download symbol.
The archive button was replaced by a restore button once an app was archived. Since the feature is not yet fully functional, tapping the restore button did nothing. Android’s next iteration is likely to include the feature. In May, Google will announce Android 15 at I/O 2024.
