Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
It’s so easy to go on the Play Store today, pick a new Android app, install it, try it out, and if it doesn’t work out as intended, tap to uninstall. That’s the familiar path we’ve all taken for years now; it’s so simple that we don’t give it a second thought each time we’re looking for a new app or game or trying a cool new service. But that’s not the only way anymore.
Android now offers a few more options both when installing and uninstalling apps. Since most of the apps I use are permanent fixtures on my phone, the only time I really need to install or uninstall an app is when I’m trying something new. Most people probably fall in the same category: You’ve got your preferred music streaming service, social media apps, productivity tools, and more; everything is already chosen. So when you need to try out something new, I recommend you use these tricks instead.
Do you uninstall or archive apps? 219 votes Always uninstall. 72 % Depends on the app and how often or not I need it. 18 % I usually archive apps, in case I need them later. 3 % I didn't know you could archive and restore apps! 7 %
Install new apps in Private Space (or on a second user profile)
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
A new app doesn’t earn its full privileges on my phone until I know it’s useful to me and will stay long-term. So when I want to try a new app or service, I don’t go to the Play Store and install it immediately. Instead, I go to my Pixel 10’s Private Space and install it there.
Private Space segregates apps and games into a standalone area on your Pixel where they don’t have many privileges. They don’t run in the background or have access to anything else on your phone, so they can’t track you across apps. This lets me assess how well a new app behaves, all the permissions it requests, and whether or not it does what it’s supposed to. Weeding out duds and bad apps is easy this way. Plus, it’s perfect for apps I only need temporarily, like the bus app of a city I’m traveling to.
I treat Private Space like the lobby to my phone. Any app that surfaces tons of ads, requires subscriptions for something I’m not willing to pay for, is full of bugs, or doesn’t actually do what I thought it would, gets dumped and uninstalled. If an app is good enough, it earns the right to graduate to my main phone. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to transfer it with all its data yet, so I have to uninstall, reinstall, and oftentimes set it up from scratch again, but that’s a small price to pay.
If your phone doesn’t have Private Space or a feature like it, you can still use Android’s multiple users and keep the second one as a temporary test area for new apps before installing them for your main user.
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