Android 15 can tell you how long your phone’s storage will last
Android 15 could come with a smart new feature that can check the status of your phone’s built-in storage, alerting you to the risk of losing files or running out of usable space when you need it most.
The feature is called Device Diagnostics, as noted by Android Authority in the latest Android 15 beta, offering users a percentage of how much of your internal storage is still usable.
So why would you need such a feature? Despite the quotes about onboard storage space, many phones lose some of it to the operating system and native apps, and overtime they use the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) smartphones, chosen for their speed, compact size and low power consumption. can cause it to worsen over time. Such degradation comes from downloading flies, storing photos, and transferring flies back and forth.
This happens to all forms of storage, eventually causing data to be lost or completely unreadable, causing the loss of anything that hasn’t been backed up. Currently, there are no tools to help you check the status of your phone’s internal storage, like some phones use to assess battery health. So without warning, your storage could fail and you could lose valuable data that wasn’t backed up.
However, the Device Diagnostics could provide access to battery and storage status information in the same place, making it easier to track components that are more susceptible to deterioration over time. It may also include the ability to test your phone’s display and touchscreen functionality to see if they still work properly. This can help you decide when to transfer your files to another storage option or switch to a newer device.
The wrinkle here is that Device Diagnostics is in Android 15 beta, meaning there’s no guarantee it’ll make it to the full release that we predict will come sometime between August and October, with more information likely to be released unveiled during the upcoming Google I/O 2024 event on May 14.
Additionally, if it becomes part of the full Android 15 rollout, Device Diagnostics may only be available for Google Pixel devices. This is because not all Android devices share the relevant information with the Android operating system. As a result, it may not be able to provide accurate storage lifetime information or support it at all.
After following Android Police’s instructions, I got it Activity Launcher app at my Google Pixel 7 Pro with Android 15, I was able to access the device diagnostics without the need root my phone.
From here I was able to see the component status of my Pixel and was able to confirm that my phone is retaining 98% of its 128GB storage space. I was also able to check the status of my battery with a detailed overview of its capacity, number of cycles and date of manufacture. So such a feature could be quite useful for people who want an extra layer of insight into the health of their phone and don’t want to take big steps into cloud-based backups yet.
Save memories
Although not every phone supports the Device Diagnostics feature, there are still some things you can do right now to prevent the loss of important files and phones.
The first is to backup your important files to another device or use cloud storage. The second is to perform performance maintenance on your device by deleting unnecessary documents and duplicates and uninstalling apps that you no longer use or that are not supported.
You can also clear the cache and data of most apps through your phone’s settings; However, this may require you to log into those apps again.