Saturday, June 23, 2012

Android : How (and when) to clear app cache or data


Apps sometimes can misbehave. Before you go reaching for that task killer (don't do it!) here's something else to try. Above is the screen you'll see if you go to Settings>Applications>Manage appliations and tap on an app. You've got a bunch of buttons and numbers. The top buttons are pretty self-explanatory -- force stop makes an app quit. Uninstall either uninstalls an app -- or if it's permanently loaded onto the phone (like the Android Market should be), you'll have the option to uninstall updates.


But when we have a misbehaving app, first thing we'll try is to clear the cache. That wipes out temporary files that might be causing trouble. Your app's still there, as are all your settings.

Clearing data is a little more drastic, basically giving you a clean installation of the app, with all of your settings and log-ins returned to zero. It's pretty much the same as uninstalling and reinstalling, just quicker.

So if you're having trouble with an app, try clearing then cache, or go all-out and clear data and see if that doesn't do it for you.

1 comment:

back to top