What is a compressed file and what types are there?
A compressed file is the result of passing one or more files through a program in order to create a smaller one. That would be the theoretical version, but in practice, it is currently used more than to reduce the size, to package several documents, images or whatever, in one and thus share it in a simpler way.
Compressing a file can also serve to increase its privacy and prevent easy access and the need for a password to open it. Currently there is no single way to compress a file and there are several extensions of which .zip and .rar are the best known:
- ZIP
- RAR
- RAR5
- 7Z
- ACE
- R00, R01, etc.
- GZ
- tar.bz2
Find compressed files on Android
In Windows we are already used to being able to open and close these documents in a simple way, but with the increase in the productive capacities of current smartphones and tablets, we begin to need this type of actions also in our Android, something for which we will need install some external application in most cases.
That is why, to later find where the files that we have unzipped are, we need a file explorer. Most Android phones have this application incorporated as standard, but if you want to use a more complete content manager, we can suggest some like ZArchiver. It is simple, free and does not have neither advertising nor payments within the app. Its interface is similar to that of the native Android file manager and its operation could not be simpler and more intuitive.
Once we install it, we will simply have to authorize it to access the memory of our device and with all naturalness we will be able to navigate through the folder tree to find the files we have. To compress or decompress one or more files, we simply have to select and in the options menu, click on what we want to do. This app will also serve as a file manager, so we can copy, paste, rename, delete … come on, an all in one.
Apps to open, compress and decompress ZIP, RAR and other files
RAR, the WinRAR clone for Android
Does WinRar sound familiar to you? Well this is its sister for Android. It is another complete file manager that will allow us to read all our files stored in memory and do with them whatever we want, from compressing them to moving them between folders or deleting them.
What sets this app apart is that compression is much more complete, being able to choose the name of the folder, verify that we have compressed the correct files and even establish an opening password so that only authorized people can see its content. We can also choose the type of compression desired, very complete.
Now, as with its Windows brother, the developer offers a voluntary subscription to it for € 1.19 a year, but we can cancel the message that comes out at the beginning and simply use it in full without any limitation.
Zip-Unzip-File Extractor-File Opener
This recommendation is not a file manager itself, although we can use it to navigate and manage our documents.
The big difference is that this one does have advertisements within the application itself and that also has a compressed file detector to facilitate the search for these files and decompress them.
As for its operation, it is very similar: authorize access to memory, intuitively navigate through the folder tree and when we want to decompress or compress a file we will simply have to hold down on it and press the button on the top right.
Z Archiver – Zip & Unzip Files Free Android
With this option we have this application whose operation is very similar to the other two. It has the peculiarity that it is more focused on the fast compression of them in .zip format. Why this? Because unlike the rest, clicking on a file will directly display the available options.
Has advertising that we can remove with the payment of € 3.39.
Fast Unzip Unrar Tool
Unlike the rest, this app not a manager and it is purely a file decompressor. Its interface is so simple that it only allows us to find the compressed file and then indicate the place where we want to decompress it.
Simple and functional at the same time, although we can only do it with one file at the same time and we cannot compress anything.
RAR Archive & RAR UnArchive: ZIP extractor
This app allows us to decompress and compress the .rar and .zip files In a direct way. What the app will do is detect the types of files we are looking for and we can choose what we want to do with them.
It is free, although it has advertising, but we can remove it by paying € 1.79.
Zipify: Unzip Zip File Archiver
With this application we can decompress all the files on our phone. It will show us a file type search engine and from there we can select the ones we want to manage.
The application has advertising, but also a pro mode with which we can enable compression and eliminate ads.
AZIP Master: ZIP and RAR Archives Extractor, 7ZIP
This application is quite special, since apart from allowing us to compress and decompress files, it also allows us send files through WiFi or anchor points to other devices. In addition, we can connect our Google Drive and save the files in the cloud.
It is an application with ads but it has a subscription mode that eliminates the ads and removes the limitation of files to transmit.
It is a matter of time before Android natively supports this action, as Windows did at the time, but while it will be time to make use of some of the apps on this list to be able to send university papers, download documents from the cloud or send several files by email or WeTransfer.
