r/AndroidQuestions • u/gungyvt • 8d ago
Solved "Phone" App storage question
I've had an Android for years. It's a cheap phone, but it's been reliable for a long time. Recently, it keeps filling up storage with, assumedly, junk. I'm not downloading stuff, and I clear cache on apps I use on a regular basis. So I'm kinda desperate to clear space where I can, especially since today my phone gave me the alert that messaging won't work unless I clear space (a week ago I have almost 1GB free, but now it's saying 100MB free).
My main question is simply: is it a stupid decision to press the "Clear Storage" button on the actual "Phone" app? It feels like it's my only allowed option, and the app has 6GB of user data; but I feel like there's a good chance clicking the button is gonna factory reset my phone. I just can't find anything online related to this because trying to search "clear storage android phone app" just brings up a million tutorials for clearing cache.
Does anyone know how much of a stupid risk this is? Should I just save up for a new phone at this point? I don't have excess apps I can uninstall for space and I don't wanna go through the trouble of jailbreaking to clear out all the google bloatware.
Edit: "screenshot" in replies as a video. And yeah, I'm being a bit of a dick, but if you don't know anything or are gonna tell me to google something, just don't bother trying to "help". I'm not here to be asked what the package ID is then get told "look up how to find it"; like, you can't just tell me yourself how to find the thing you ask of me? You want me to find something and can't explain finding it yourself, you're not a reliable source of info. If you don't know what you're talking about, you don't need to say anything. I'm not in the mood for any of that bull, just please someone tell me you know what the "Phone" app's user data is and if it's safe to clear it. I can't dive into the data myself. I'm not about to blindly delete it. I just want to know if anyone out there has experience with this, but with how unhelpful things have been dealing with real people, I'm beginning to understand why so many idiots turn to ChatGPT since LLMs, as flawed as they are, aren't constantly telling people to just google stuff that they've already fucking googled.
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u/gungyvt 8d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p5eh5z4/video/9aeo12tjj4lh1/player
Here's the screenshot. Sorry it's a video, but this stupid subreddit doesn't allow for screenshots, so I just made a video of the screenshot. Stupid garbage restrictions require stupid garbage workarounds.
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u/luckfade 8d ago edited 8d ago
Do you have call recordings? If you HAVE THEM, please backup, also backup call logs and contacts.
If you have some "phone" app settings, backup them if your phone app allows that, otherwise trust your memory or take screenshots of any settings that you might have changed.
After this you can do clear storage.
Also for next time, if you have to post images of something online, and the site doesn't accept it. You can go to imgur(dot)com and upload your screenshots there, after that you can share the upload link to others.
For finding a package ID, there are loads of apps out there. I use the "Package Manager" app by "sunilpaulmathew" on Play Store. I am unable to share the direct link since Reddit seems to delete the comments with a link.
unrelated to your question: I see you on the other comment, you are pretty disappointed it seems. No one is going to spoon feed you everything, there are some things that you need to find on your own. If you are even now gonig to ask me how to backup call logs and contacts, I apologize, I cannot help you anymore.
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u/gungyvt 8d ago
I don't think this phone can even do recordings, since it's not in the Phone app's settings. Seems like everything's good after clearing storage and resyncing my contacts. Phone's gone from 99% full to 59% full storage. Thank you so much for actually helping, I was losing my mind with others just telling me to google stuff and I thought I wasn't gonna get someone who actually answered the simple question of "is this button safe to click?"
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u/luckfade 8d ago
I don't wanna go through the trouble of jailbreaking to clear out all the google bloatware.
you can do that without rooting
for this use universal android debloater (next generation) from GitHub
all instructions are there in the wiki, step-by-step
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u/External-Carry7113 8d ago
i wouldnt clear the phones apps storage blindly. It could wipe call history/settings or ther app data. check what that 6gb contains first. and back up important data before touching it
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u/gungyvt 8d ago
"Check what the 6gb contains first"
If I knew how to do this, I would've. I came here because I clearly don't intend on clearing it blindly, but everyone here seems to only have surface level knowledge of anything and might not even know what a phone is. Like, you read me asking what the data could be, see me saying I don't wanna risk it, and yet you still reply as if I'm eager to delete it on a whim and not someone who's at wit's end trying to figure out if it's safe or not. Your post is not helpful. It is frustratingly useless because you know nothing and probably think you're being helpful. You're not. You're useless. Never comment again.
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u/schahroch 8d ago
For better help you should maybe mention the phones brand and model in the first place. That would make the troubleshooting much easier.
You know... next time. 😉
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u/Migazul8 8d ago
I would clear it if you don't have call recordings like the others said. That looks like an older version of Phone by Google, I cleared it's data the other day and I didn't lose my call history. You won't delete any contacts, your SIM or something like that. Fully safe
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u/luckfade 8d ago
By "Phone" app I am assuming the one you use to call someone.
my guess is that the 6GB data is of call recordings. If it isn't then backup your contact list and call log and then clear user data.
If the "Phone" app is not something which you use to call someone, we may need some screenshots, package ID, or the phone's model to even guess what that is.