https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/11/23678472/android-auto-app-archive-feature-release-storage
Android devices can now automatically archive little-used apps.

The new archiving feature automatically reduces app storage by up to 60
percent (without fully removing the applications from your device).

Archived applications can be distinguished by a cloud icon overlaid on the
app icon. Tapping the archived apps will re-download and fully restore
them, provided the app is still available on Google Play. The feature
should come in handy for those using Android devices that lack expandable
storage or users who are reluctant to completely delete apps to free up
some space, though not every application will be eligible for
auto-archiving. Google notes that the feature is only available on apps
published using Android's App Bundle format, and that apps with archive
support won't appear as frequently on a device's uninstall suggestions.

Android users will need to opt-in to use the auto-archiving feature. The
option will appear via a pop-up window when attempting to install a new app
on a device that's out of storage. Once enabled, the feature will archive
all unused apps from the device. A disclaimer on the opt-in pop-up reveals
that the feature's preferences can be adjusted in the settings menu. We've
reached out to Google to clarify how (or if) users can opt into the feature
on Android devices with storage still available and will update this story
should we hear back.

Android's auto-archive tool comes several years after Apple released
"Offload Unused Apps" on iOS 11, a feature that similarly "deletes"
little-used applications on iPhones while retaining their data, allowing
users to jump back in where they left off after restoring the app.

NewsKrawler wrote:

> The new archiving feature automatically reduces app storage by up to 60
> percent (without fully removing the applications from your device).

Help!

Andy Burns or others may know more about this than I do... however...
the comparison the article made to iOS is absolutely ludicrous...

Because... to do it the iOS way is to move _backward_ in functionality
(which, I get, is what Google wants because it ties you to the play store).

It has been my experience that most people on this newsgroup are not even
close to aware of how _fantastic_ Android APK archival currently is...

For example, _every_ app ever installed on Android (yes, even default &
system apps), _already_ has an APK archived on the device...

That's why you can always _extract_ any APK from the device at any time.
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=extract%20apk&c=apps>

In addition, you can set your Google Play Store client to simply "not
delete" the APKs after downloading, which gets you the _FULL_ APK
(and not the stripped down APK which is what is normally archived).
<https://i.postimg.cc/ry1DK5cL/apk12.jpg> Save APKs when installing apps

Furthermore, if space truly is a problem (and is it, nowadays?), there's
nothing stopping you from using portable storage that is 128GB or more.

And, since Android isn't tied to the Google Play Store, you can store all
your APKs on completely different devices, such as thumb drives & PCs.
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows

In summary, this "new" feature of Android might be welcome to some, but I
see it as a huge step backward, in terms of copying Apple's highly
primitive IPA archival use model where an IPA on iOS, shockingly, can't
ever be re-installed if it's no longer on the app store (and if you didn't
personally make a full backup of that IPA, to another system like a PC).

In short... to copy Apple is good for Google... but very bad for users.
It's like going back to stone age primitive tools of the Paleolithic era.

Having provided my opinion, I will openly state I don't know much about
this "new" concept - so I ask intelligent people like Andy Burns to help us
out by fleshing out if there are _any_ advantages to copying Apple's model.