Offloading: What does it mean?
Do you usually take breaks from your social media handles because sometimes it is just too much for you?
You feel like disappearing for a while and when you come back, it’s like nothing happened and this off-and-on process becomes your go-to method to cut yourself off from people or vice versa.
Well, what if I tell you there’s a similar way where you can temporarily get rid of some apps that have no business with you at present, but maybe, in the future?
Yes, you heard it right! You can control the presence of the apps on your phone depending on their present need. This feature is called “App Offloading”.
App offloading allows you to uninstall an app without deleting your app data. You save storage space with the app is gone, and because the data is retained, you can reinstall the app later and pick up where you left off as if nothing has happened. Offloaded apps cannot be used until they are reinstalled.
Earlier, there only came two choices when dealing with apps on your device – you could either install one or entirely delete it. There was no middle path between both extremes.
Deleting an app without deleting its data, used to be a far cry. Well, not anymore! Because technology did what it’s best at – advancement and it heard our prayers when iOS introduced the feature called “App offloading”.
This became the middle path between the two extremes and users can now get rid of whatever app they want without suffering any data loss.
Offloading an app means that the app is deleted (freeing up local storage space on the device), but the app data is kept on the device. This means that if you decide, in the future, to reinstall the app, you can do so.
Do It Like A Pro | How To Turn Off “Offload Unused Apps” On Android
Well, iOS users might have their own perks and stuff, but Android isn’t holding back either. A year ago, Google announced that it started to work on a new feature that would allow “App Archiving.”
This feature is basically the Android equivalent of the “App offloading” feature of iOS. I mean, they had to keep the name originated.
Archiving an app lets users reclaim almost 60% of the storage space it took up by “removing parts of the app rather than uninstalling it completely.”
Since the app is still basically installed on the device, the app’s data is preserved when archiving it, making it easy to get it back up and running. See, just like “App offloading”.
Developers building their apps with the Android Gradle Plugin 7.3 will soon have a new type of APK called an “archived APK” generated for them.
This “archived APK” will be generated through an updated version of the bundle tool, the tool that converts app bundles into the APKs that get deployed to devices.
Android apps are distributed inside of APKs, which are basically ZIP files with a special structure. Inside, they contain the app’s code, resources, libraries, some metadata, and other stuff.
Distributing a single, universal APK that supports every density and language keeps things simple for developers, but it results in a lot of wasted space on users’ devices.
That’s why Google made the Android App Bundle. An Android App Bundle is a file that contains the app’s code and resources organized into modules.
Developers upload an App Bundle to Google Play, which then uses those modules to generate only the APKs needed by a particular device. Google handles the distribution (and signing), so there’s little to no downside for most developers.
Disable apps that came with your phone: You can’t delete some system apps that came pre-installed on your Android phone. But on some phones, you can turn them off so that they won’t show on the list of apps on your phone.
Unused Apps: If You Haven’t Used Apps For a Long Time, Android Optimizes it by:
- Freeing up space by deleting temporary files
- Revoking app permissions
- Stopping the apps from running in the background and sending any notifications
You can go to App > Unused apps to review apps that were unused and have been optimized. If you want to exclude any specific app from this feature, go to App Info > Unused apps > Pause app activity if unused toggle, then turn this off.
iOS: The Real Deal | How To Enable and Disable “Offload Unused Apps” On iPhone
Automatic Offloading:
Offloading apps is simple. You can either use the “Settings” app to automatically offload apps you don’t use, or you can choose the apps you want to offload. Here’s how to execute this process:
- Open the “Settings app” and select “iTunes and App Store.”
- Tap to enable the “Offload Unused Apps” control.
This feature lets the OS monitor decide which apps you have not used for a long time, and automatically offload them without your input. You know which apps have been offloaded because they have a tiny cloud icon underneath the app icon next to its name. If you want to undo this feature — just toggle it off from the same domain in the “Settings” app.
Manual offloading:
- Toggle off the “Offload Unused Apps” control, if it is on.
- Go to “General” then “iPhone Storage” to see the list of apps you can offload.
- Select the app you want to offload and then tap “Offload App”.
Even after apps are removed from your device, you can re-install them from the App Store anytime you want. You’ll just have to sign in with your Apple ID and password, and your other settings are still saved. The “Offload Unused Apps” setting gives iOS control over which unused apps get offloaded.
iPad Shenanigans | How To Turn Off “Offload Unused Apps” On iPad
You can follow these steps if you want to offload unused apps on your iPad:
- Go to the “Settings” app.
- Select “General” and then go to “iPad Storage”
- Tap the “Enable” option beside “Offload unused apps”.
To offload an individual app, tap the app on the list a bit lower down on that page. On the app’s page, tap the “Offload App” option, and then confirm your action.
In order to turn off the “Offload unused apps” on your iPad, simply follow the above steps 1 and 2 and then turn off the “Offload unused apps” option.
The More You Know | How To Disable “Offload Unused Apps” On An iPhone 14
If you want to turn off the “Offload unused apps” on your iPhone 14, follow these steps:
- Launch the “Settings” app and go to “App Store”
- Scroll down further and you’ll find the “Offload unused apps” toggle on.
- Turn off the toggle and you’re done!
How to turn off “Offload Unused Apps” on iPhone 11
If you’ve turned on the “Offload Unused Apps” via the automatic method, i.e., as explained in above mentioned steps, you can follow the same steps as they were clarified under the heading ‘How to disable “Offload Unused Apps” on iPhone 14’ but if you’ve turned on this feature manually, you can turn it off manually by following this process:
- The app which you have offloaded will have a cloud-like icon on its top corner.
- You manually disable the offload feature for a certain app, by tapping on the cloud-like icon and the app will be re-installed with all your saved-up documents and data.
- To turn off the offload feature, you can also do it from your “Settings” app by toggling off the “Offload unused apps” option under “iPhone storage”
De-Clutter That Waste | How To Manage Storage On iPhone
The photos, music, apps, and other content that you use and enjoy on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch take up space in your device’s storage capacity. And your device can fill up quickly depending on the size of its storage capacity and how much content you have. If you see a message that your device’s storage is full, you can free up space by using iCloud Photos or deleting content on your device.
I. Review the storage on your device
See how much storage you have left on your device and in iCloud, and which apps use the most space.
Device storage:
· Go to “Settings.”
- Tap “General.”
- Tap [device] “Storage.”
You might see recommendations for optimizing your storage, a list of your apps, and the amount of space that each one uses.
iCloud storage:
- Launch the “Settings” app.
- Tap on your name.
- Select “iCloud.”
You see how much space you have left in iCloud and if you need to upgrade your storage plan. Tap “Manage Account Storage” to see how apps are using your storage.
II. Store your photos and videos in iCloud
By default, your photos and videos are stored on your device in their original, high-resolution version. This means that they use a lot of space on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. With iCloud Photos, you can make more space available on your device and still have access to your entire full-resolution collection wherever you go.
Get started with iCloud Photos:
- Go to “Settings”
- Tap on your name
- Go to “iCloud” and then select “Photos”
- Tap on “Sync this iPhone”
- If your iOS is 15 or older, tap to turn on “iCloud Photos”
- Select “Optimize iPhone Storage” to save space on your device.
When Optimize Storage is turned on, full-resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud, and, when needed, space-saving copies are stored on your device. As long as you have enough space in iCloud, you can store as many photos and videos as you want.
III. Extend your Storage space
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you need more iCloud storage, you can upgrade to iCloud+. If you need more storage on your device, you can transfer the photos and videos that you don’t want to store in iCloud to your computer.
If you need more help with your storage plan — for example, if you bought more storage but you don’t see it in your account — contact Apple Support.
FAQs:
How do I stop my iPhone from offloading unused apps?
There are two ways to tackle this. You can either do it manually by tapping on the cloud-like icon, present on the top corner of the offloaded app. Doing this, the app will be re-installed. You can also turn off the offloading feature from the “Settings” app, as explained earlier in this article.
How do I turn off offload unused apps on iOS 13?
You can do it so by following the same steps as explained for the same process for iOS 11
How do I turn off offload unused apps on iOS 15?
Follow the same steps as explained under the section “How to disable Offload Unused Apps on an iPhone 14.”
How do I turn off offload unused apps on iOS 16?
You can disable the offload unused apps option, either manually or automatically from the “Settings” app, as explained earlier in this article.
How to Reinstall an offloaded app
Despite having offloaded an app on your iPhone, the icon for the app remains on your iPhone’s home screen. You can tell that the app is offloaded because you can see a tiny cloud icon below the app icon. Here’s how to restore offloaded apps.
- To reinstall an app, tap on the app on your home screen. A circle will appear on the icon as it starts to reinstall.
- Or go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and tap on the offloaded app.
- Then, tap Reinstall App.
Summing up
Hence in this way, this article aimed at providing a viable solution for the frequently faced issue regarding enabling and disabling the “Offload Unused Apps” on iOS devices. We also provided an abundant amount of information regarding the context of this article, so we hope, the readers would be satisfied with the content. For individual queries, you can drop your doubts in the comments section below.
