Android 12 will hibernate apps that have not been used for a long time to save battery and free up space

From Android 11, Google began to put an end to applications that have not been used for a long time, being able to revoke your permissions automatically. With Android 12, this will be extended with a hibernate state of which we now have more details thanks to XDA: free up space from apps you haven’t used for a long time.

Until now, we knew that Google was preparing a hibernation system, but not how it would work or what would be visible from the process to the user. Now we have a better idea of how will hibernate Android 12, as they have managed to activate it in a filtered beta of Android 12.

Limits for apps you don’t use recently

We finally have an idea of how automatic application hibernation will work that Google is preparing or, at least, how the current version that Google is testing works, since the system could always change before the final version.

For starters, your username looks like it will be Unused apps or Unused apps in English. Google describes them as applications that have not been opened in the last three months. In Android 11, the system already makes this distinction to revoke the permissions of applications that you have not opened for a long time.

In Android 12, the concept is expanded and a new section will be displayed in the information of an application for remove permissions and free up space when you haven’t used an app for a long time. There will also be a new section in the applications section of the settings, where you can check which installed apps fall into this category.

When an application falls into this category, three things will happen: their permissions are revoked, they stop showing notifications, and temporary files are deleted to free up space. It is not clear which files exactly are removed, although the cache is most likely among them and not the personal data or settings.

This will put applications in a difficult situation that need to notify you of things every few months, although it should be possible disable hibernation from your settings. Also, it is not clear whether Android will activate hibernation by default in all applications or not. We will have to wait for a next Developer Preview and that should be when it falls: the DP3 has to arrive before the end of April.

Via | XDA

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Android 12 will hibernate apps that have not been used for a long time to save battery and free up space

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Engadget Android

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Ivan Ramirez

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