Android TV Cleaning Apps ?
- Thread starter HrdWired
- Start date
Villa
Administrator
IMO you need to do your own housekeeping with both Android and Android TV!
notrui
Trusted Helper
If you want boxes running smoothly you need to know, install only trusted apps and keep the system with basic (only the needed apps).
The more apps you have installed, you start to lose control and the device is going to be slower, etc...
Skynet
Administrator
Thank you for your responses guys.
Villa, could you elaborate on how one does their own housekeeping ?
Villa
Administrator
I just wondered what you're expecting to clean?
As I understand it, as you use your device it starts to accumulate junk files which slow the device down and need to be cleaned out.
One such app that seems to be popular on pure Android is CCLeaner, though we couldn't find it for Android TV.
midnight
Moderator
Your T5 ?
No for now we're using a Mi Box to get a feel for Android in general.
I'm thinking of picking up a 22 for myself, and possibly a T5 for my mom.
CybeRider
Trusted Helper
You should consider if you really need to install any of those so said "cleaners" if you are not prepared for a Factory Reset in case something goes wrong. I do prefer a Factory Reset myself as an extreme cleaning measure, it gives me better guarantees, but that is my opinion, and I used it so far on extremely rare occasions.
Things you can try before taking any drastic steps to clean an Android device:
- Clear the Apps cache at the Storage level.
- Should you have a Tasks Killer shortcut in your Launcher, as there is in Minix Metro Launcher, use it when you find the performance is decreasing, and restart the box.
- You can go to your Apps folder in Settings and manually turn off the ones clearly not related to System tasks, such as games, browsers, etc. and restart the device. (You should avoid to clear the Apps Data in there as that brings all of the app settings to default nd should be done only for peculiar reasons)
- Make sure to leave enough free space in the internal storage area for the system to perform its tasks. A web browser or Youtube player can easily go close to 1Gb of cache alone.
- Related to the above, as you scroll your apps check for the ones you already had forgotten that you had in there and uninstall them. You can have them back whenever you need them later by reinstalling from the Play Store. The Google Play Store Library keeps trace of the apps you had in the past, in case you forgot the name of something you miss just look for it there.
- Should you be using a Minix box you will very likely find a file explorer called ES File Explorer, it doesn't exist for download at the Play Store anymore, but it has a good clean function that gets you in track with just the default setting, you could go deeper, beyond default, but then you increase the risk. (Someting to know about this app: although it is an all time favourite of many users, it tends to increase in size, so it is advisable for once in a while look at the size it is getting in the Apps area of the box and clean its Data should it get close to 1Gb as it tends to interfere with performance from then)
- You can also try a renewal of the device cashe in the System Recovery mode (each device has its own way to get into it)
Read the following as an example of what you can get, even using "trusted apps" - apart from the fact that most apps have publicity and will very likely put some unnecessary items in your box to perform tasks that you can pursuit on your own:
https://theminixforum.com/index.php?threads/mouse-cursor.2553/#post-19068
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I wouldn't recommend ES File Explorer, it was removed from Playstore for a reason https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ES_File_Explorer
There's a very good file manager MiXplorer that can be downloaded from playstore or from the XDA-developers website, here's the thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1523691
CybeRider
Trusted Helper
- Thank you for the recommendation. Please take into context that this is Minix Forum, and I was not reccomending any explorer whatsoever, just pointing out that ,should a Minix user need to perform an action related to the thread title, there is a tool in the device to help perform a task he needed to perform.
- Regarding the ES File Explorer itself, the versions supplied with the Minix boxes, are still to proove more unsafe than the next app available at the Play Store. Yet they are probably safer than advising someone to install an app from a website from outside the Google Play Store envyronment. That is something I really can not recomend unless strong labeling it "at your own risk".
- In what concerns your recommended explorer, I tried to go for it yet I can't find a free version at the Play Store, there is however a paid version
available. Besides, I found that the website asks for a registration for someone to be able to download the free version. I could have taken the risk to provide whatever data they would require, at my own responsibility, yet I couldn't see any function advertised to benefit this particular thread any further and make it any more valid than what has been said so far about this subject.
- To make it clear, in what other explorer apps are concerned, I can recommend X-Plore, backed up by the fact it is replacing ES File Explorer in the new U22-XJ box, and I can also recommend CX File Explorer, both available from the Play Store and used by trusted members of this forum. Please note however this recommendations don't have anything to do with the subject in the title above.
- Regarding the safety of any app, I can recommmend any user to take great care downloading and providing data to access apps from outside the Google Play Store. When downloading apps from the Play Store take into consideration the list of permissions the app requires, easy to check from the app settings folder. Keep in mind that a safe app today can become unsafe from a simple update tomorrow. Should you concern much about apps safety keep updated with what is said in the media, have in mind an opinion is like a nose, everybody has one, and that in what has to do with software you should mistrust everything and everybody:
(click the picture to enlarge)