The developer team working on the Android Open Source Project has a new feature in the works that will help save storage space in future versions of Android. The feature is called “Hibernation” and it will reduce the size of apps not being used.
The way it works is that if someone on a single or multi-user device chooses to hibernate an app, Android will automatically clear up the cache for that app, saving a bit of space.
It is also speculated that Android will seamlessly compress the apps that are not in use to save space (along with the usual cache clearing). These apps could later be uncompressed when needed. It is unlikely that Android will permanently uninstall apps, given the name of the feature.
Keep in mind that this hibernation feature is different from what some other apps offer, which pause app execution similar to Android’s Doze feature.
Hibernation is still in the early stages of development but some reports believe that it will feature in Android 12. There is no indication of a release date, but since the Developer Preview for Android 11 came out during February 2020, we can expect to hear more on Android 12 around the same date.
