This feature lets you free up storage space by archiving the apps. Apparently, this would negate the need to uninstall apps from your Android device. However, Google did not reveal much information about when it plans to launch this new app archiving feature for Android, but it said that it has laid the foundation for developer adoption. So, it may take a few months before it actually rolls out. Anyways, coming back to the feature, Google notes that the app archiving feature has been implemented as an alternative to uninstalling apps. Moreover, app archiving also lets you archive not so-very-often used apps and save up to 60% of your storage space. This storage can be pretty crucial for devices with no dedicated option for storage expansion.
Users will be able to re-activate the archived apps without any issues
Furthermore, Google reveals that the archived apps will remain on the device’s storage but will eat up less space. Now, if a user wants to reactivate the app, it can be done without any issues, and that too in the latest available version. The latest version of the app can be achieved after reactivating the archived app via the new “archived APKs” format. This is a new format that Google will begin generating for apps created with the Android Gradle Plugin 7.3. These archived APKs will be small in size and will preserve the user data until the app is restored. The blog also reminded the developers to be on the lookout for the upcoming version of Bundletool 1.10. Besides, developers will have the option to opt-out of the generation of the archived APKs. The archived APKs can be inspected using the Generated APKs API. Alternatively, it can also be done using the App Bundle Explorer on the Play Console. The best part is that by using this feature, other app stores that are alternatives to the Google Play Store will also benefit from it. Well, these are some of the details Google shared about this upcoming feature. More information about the app archiving feature is expected to come out soon. As noted by 9To5Google, there are chances that Google may launch this new feature along with Android 13. For your information, Android 13 is speculated to come out at its usual time, sometime around September of this year.
