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Over time, mobile phones accumulate unnecessary files, cache data, and apps, just as computers do. In most cases, you will hardly notice their presence until your phone becomes less responsive and seemingly starts dying on you. This is because these junk files chew up your precious space and memory, ultimately degrading your device’s performance.
To keep your phone in tip-top shape and prevent any unwanted hiccups in the future, Google suggests checking your storage and clearing your space. This is where cleaner apps come into the picture; their primary goal is to remove anything you don’t need on your phone to boost memory and free up space. But which among the hundreds of cleaner apps on the Google Play Store are worth installing? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Let’s take a look at five of the most downloaded cleaner apps that will help you restore your Android device’s performance in no time.
Files by Google
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At its core, Files by Google is actually a file management app that lets you browse, move, copy, and share files (via Google). However, what users love most about this app is its cleaning recommendations feature. To use this functionality, simply tap on the Clean tab at the bottom of the app. Here, you will see a bar indicating how much of your total space is already used. It also gives you cleaning suggestions that list all of the things that take up the most space on your phone.
At the top of this list are the junk files, which are temporary app files that you can easily do without. Depending on your usage, you may also get suggestions like deleting old screenshots, large files, unused apps, duplicates of your files, and even blurry photos. Accessing the app’s cleaning features seems straightforward enough. But if you’re a first-time user, you might get confused since the button for deleting junk files automatically disappears after you click on it. It will reappear once you have new files in need of clearing.
SD Maid
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At only 8 megabytes, SD Maid is pretty compact, but you’ll be surprised by how much it may be able to help improve your phone’s performance. One of its top features is called Corpse Finder, which scans both your SD card and the phone’s internal storage for residual files from uninstalled apps. You also get access to the SystemCleaner for deleting unwanted files, AppControl for managing all your installed apps, and Databases for optimizing your databases.
To get an overview of your storage space, SD Maid also features a Storage analyzer; it sorts your folders and files from biggest to smallest, making it easier for you to know which ones to delete. Unfortunately, that’s all you get in the Basic version. You’ll need to buy the Pro version if you want to use more of its features like the AppCleaner, Duplicates, and Scheduler. This Pro version comes in a separate app as an add-on, so if you want to purchase this, you’ll need to have these two apps installed at the same time, as well.
All-In-One Toolbox
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The All-In-One Toolbox app seemingly lives up to its name, as it not only serves as a space cleaner but also a CPU cooler, file manager, battery saver, and speed booster. When you launch the app, you will be presented with a minimalist homepage featuring a collection of tools and an overview of your phone status, including the RAM and ROM percentage and CPU temperature.
To rid your phone of temporary files, cache, and app leftovers, simply tap on the Clean button. If you want to deep clean your phone and remove big videos and duplicate photos, tap the File Manager tool and go to Device Storage Analyzer; it will list your folders by size, so you’ll know where to look for those other unwanted files. Unfortunately, a downside that many users seem to dislike about the All-In-One Toolbox is the number of intrusive ads you get. Every time you run a feature, an ad will automatically pop up on your screen afterward. If you want to rid yourself of the annoying ads, you’ll need to subscribe to the PRO Privileges version.
Norton Clean
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Norton Clean, which comes from the same company that makes the Norton antivirus software for computers, is a fan favorite in Google Play Store — at least based on its 4.6-star user rating — and it’s easy to see why. For one, the app doesn’t come with in-app purchases, ads, or subscriptions, and it’s only about 8 megabytes in size, which is great for phones that don’t have much space to spare.
Just like any other cleaner app, Norton Clean helps keep your device free of obsolete APKs, miscellaneous junk files, and personal files that eat up a lot of your space. When you want to scan your files for junk, simply tap on the refresh icon, and it will sweep the cache and residual files; it also lets you pick which of your personal files you want to be deleted.
Design-wise, the app has arguably the simplest homepage. You only have the percentage of your storage used, a list of the junk files, and an app manager. No need to fumble around looking for the right button to tap as it’s all laid out neatly in front of you. Norton Clean’s simplicity is one of its strengths, but if you’re looking for a cleaner app that can do more, this may not be the right option for you.
Nox Cleaner
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With 100 million downloads and 2 million reviews on Google Play Store, Nox Cleaner is one of the most downloaded cleaner apps on the platform. The product comes with a one-tap cleaner that removes cached and other junk files from your phone. There are also one-tap buttons for freeing up memory, cooling the CPU, stopping battery-draining apps, locking apps, and scanning for viruses, making it very easy for you to optimize your device’s performance.
If you want to have a more in-depth insight into your storage status, the app also features a Deep Clean tool. Shown here are your duplicate files, infrequently used apps, and large media. Another notable feature of Nox Cleaner is the Game Booster, which displays a quick overview of your ping time and memory and CPU percentages. Based on these stats, it will then tell you whether your game performance will be high or low.
While Nox Cleaner is a great app overall, its size of 31 megabytes and what some users feel are an excessive number of ads can be a turn-off. If you’re fine with that, then it may just be what you need. With most of today’s Android phones packing large storage capacities and memory, you probably won’t need to use cleaner apps to maintain your device’s performance. However, they can still come in handy whenever you need help getting your personal files in order.
