I remember getting my first Android phone and installing every other app that I liked. I didn’t manage those apps and ended up with lots of useful apps on my phone, taking up a lot of storage space and RAM. If you want to make sure that your Android device stays smooth and responsive, then continue reading to find out how you can manage your apps. In this post, I’ll show you how to manage apps on Android, such as installing, sharing, uninstalling and moving apps.
Why Manage Apps On Android?
When I first switched to Android, I made a mistake of not managing my apps properly and it messed up my phone. While managing apps does make your life easier, you might be wondering whether it is worth the hassle. Here are the reasons why you should regularly manage your apps.
Take care of your storage space. Apps can take up a lot of storage space, specially HD games, which is why you need to manage apps and make sure that apps don’t consume all of your storage space. Improve your phone’s performance. Managing apps can also keep your phone smooth and responsive as apps can take up a lot of RAM. Keep your apps up to date so that you get all the latest features. Remove useless apps from your phone.
1. Installing Apps On Android
Before actually managing the apps, you need to install the right apps on your phone and you can easily do so using the Google Play Store. In order to install your favorite apps, follow these steps. You can also check out my detailed guide on downloading Android apps.
Step 1
Open the Google Play Store app. Make sure that you’re logged in with your Google account.
Step 2
Search for your favorite apps or browse through different categories.
Step 3
Select the app that you want to download. Read the reviews first before installing the app. Reviews can be really helpful and they tell users whether the app has any problems or if it messes with the phone.
Step 4
Tap on the Install button in order to download and install the app.
Step 5
You can also install apps through the Google Play website on your PC. Simply open the Google Play website, log into your Google account, search for the app that you want to download and click on the Install button. Select your phone from the list and tap on the INSTALL button. The app should now start installing on your phone. You can also read my detailed guide on remotely installing Android apps.
2. Sharing Apps From Your Android Phone
Sharing apps is a great way to tell others about an app that you enjoy using on your phone. As we use the Google Play Store app on our Android devices instead of the Google Play website, we can’t just copy and paste the links.
Step 1
To share an app, select the app on the Google Play Store.
Step 2
Tap on the Share button and select the method that you want to use for sharing the app, such as Bluetooth or Email.
3. Force Stopping And Disabling Apps
While you can easily close apps using the multitasking or recent menu on your phone, some apps keep on running in the background. This might not be a problem for certain apps, but if you feel that an app is draining your battery and eating up your memory, then you can force stop it. You can also disable an app that is bothering you. Disabling is the perfect option if you don’t want to use a system app and you can’t uninstall it or if you want to temporarily get rid of an app.
Step 1
Go to Settings and tap on Apps or App manager. You’ll now see a list of all the apps installed on your phone.
Step 2
Select the app that you want to close. Tap on the Force stop button. The app will now close along with all its processes. If you do this to a system app, your phone might start to malfunction.
Step 3
In order to disable an app, simply tap on the Disable button after selecting the app. You can easily enable the app back by going to the Disabled or Disable list in the App manager.
4. Uninstalling Apps From Your Android Phone
Uninstalling is the best way to get rid of third party apps and junk that you don’t use. You can’t uninstall system apps so you’ll need to disable them if they’re bothering you, but for third party apps, you can easily uninstall them to free up your memory.
Step 1
On some phones, you can directly uninstall apps through the app drawer. You just need to press the Menu button while in the app drawer to find the uninstall option.
Step 2
In order to uninstall apps using app manager, go to Apps or App manager in the Settings app and tap on the app that you want to uninstall.
Step 3
Tap on the Uninstall button.
Step 4
You can also uninstall apps through the Google Play Store app. Tap on Menu in the Google Play Store app and select My apps. Select the app that you want to Uninstall and tap on the UNINSTALL button.
5. Clearing App Data And Cache From Your Android Phone
The built-in app manager on Android phones also lets you clear app data and cache easily. If you’ve been using the Android operating system for a while, then I’m sure people keep telling you to clear your app cache if you’re having a problem with an app. You can easily do so using the steps below. Clearing app data or cache usually fixes most problems with an app. So, if an app is suddenly not working properly on your phone, it should become fine after clearing the data or cache. Note that clearing data deletes everything that you’ve done on the app. So, if you clear data of a game, all your progress and scores will be deleted.
Step 1
Go to Apps or App manager in the Settings app.
Step 2
Select the app from the list.
Step 3
Tap on the Clear data button in order to clear app data and tap on Clear cache in order to clear app cache.
6. Updating Apps On Your Android Phone
I think that the most important thing when it comes to managing apps on Android is keeping your apps up to date. Previously, I didn’t like updating my apps and I always thought that it just uses up my internet connection without giving me any benefit. You’ll be surprised to see how much your apps can improve after installing updates. From bug fixes to new features, developers are constantly tying to improve apps. However, this isn’t the only benefit as updates can also improve the performance of your phone by making apps more efficient. So, updated apps might take less RAM and battery from your phone.
Step 1
Open the Google Play Store app, tap on Menu on the top left and select My apps.
Step 2
You’ll now see all the apps installed on your phone. The apps that require updates will be shown under the Updates tab. In order to update all apps, tap on the UPDATE ALL button. In order to update an individual app, select the app that you want to update and tap on the UPDATE button.
Step 3
One of the best things about the Google Play Store app is that it also lets you update apps automatically. Go to Menu in the Google Play Store app, select Settings and tap on the Auto-update apps option. You can now select between do not auto-update apps, auto-update apps at any time and auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only. The third option is perfect if you don’t want to use mobile data for downloading updates.
7. Uninstalling App Updates On Your Android Phone
For some apps, an update might be causing an issue and if you feel that the app was better before the update, then you can uninstall its updates and get it back exactly as it was before the update. You’ll usually find this option only for system apps or apps that came pre-loaded on your phone.
Step 1
Go to Apps or App manager in the Settings app and select an app.
Step 2
Tap on the Uninstall updates button.
8. Moving Apps To SD Card On Your Android Device
Large apps, such as games, can take up a lot of your phone’s internal storage, which is why moving these apps to your SD card is the smart thing to do. Not all Android phones support this option and you’ll need an SD card placed in your phone.
Step 1
Open Apps or App manager using the Settings app and select the app that you want to move.
Step 2
Tap on the Move to SD card button.
Step 3
In order to move an app from your SD card to your phone’s internal storage, tap on Move to device storage.
Conclusion
I’m sure all Android users love installing apps on their phones and tablets from the Google Play Store. Without installing third party apps, you can’t really do much with your phone. That being said, some users can really mess up their phone by installing every other app that they like from the Play Store. In order to keep your phone organized, you need to manage apps on Android. Once your apps are organized and up to date, your phone should feel snappier and you’ll be able to enjoy all your apps without facing any issues. Make sure that you follow all the instructions carefully and feel free to shoot us any questions below.
