Large cache amounts

[Fuzzy13]

I clean my cache when I can remember too, usually everyday considering the #s I'm getting now. I came from an lg esteem on gb to this phone so these #s might be nominal.

I'm running AOKP m1. I don't have a lot of apps installed. The main root apps, juice defender, android assistant, friendcaster, etc... No games. I mainly browse and might download a file or two here or there.

Within about 5 hours or so my cache has built up to about 50MB. This just seemed high to me being that my esteem would be about 2 MB a day.

So are these numbers normal? If I didn't clean it as often as I do, I feel that I would hit a gig pretty quick.

 

[Tim K]

What cache are you referring to, and how (and why) are you cleaning it?

 

[Fuzzy13]

What cache are you referring to, and how (and why) are you cleaning it?

App cache. Why am I cleaning it? The difference between cleaning and not isn't noticeable. So there no point in having all that space eaten up when it's not beneficial.

 

[Tim K]

You mean going to "Apps" and clearing cache for individual apps? Or going to cached processes and stopping them? All what space?

Either way, you really should just let the phone manage itself. I've never heard of anyone manually doing that on a regular basis.

 

[Fuzzy13]

You mean going to "Apps" and clearing cache for individual apps? Or going to cached processes and stopping them? All what space?

Either way, you really should just let the phone manage itself. I've never heard of anyone manually doing that on a regular basis.

"A cached file is a mechanism for the temporary storage (caching) of web documents, such as HTML pages and images, to reduce bandwidth usage, server load, and perceived lag. A cached file stores copies of documents passing through it; subsequent requests may be satisfied from the cache if certain conditions are met.
The cached files are stored in the phone built-in memory, and sometimes can take a lot of storage space. Through the clearing of cached files, you are able to recover the precious phone memory space. Most importantly,the cached files can safely be cleared."

Okay. I've never seen Android clean the cache itself from which usually will have to be managed by the user. Just like an Internet browser, you can set the cache to CLEAR when it's closed. There are actually apps that will clean cache all at once or what ever you choose. Who in the world would go one by one by one and clean each app's cache? I actually use Android Assistant which is a very good app with many many features. What space? Well cache takes up space and being that there isn't external storage on the Nexus, there is only one place left for it to go. Haven't you ever seen the option in certain apps settings to "cache to SD" or something to that affect? That's so system storage isn't being used to accommodate cache.

And yes, people do this on a regular basis. Well, people knowledgeable enough to keep their phone clean and tidy that is. And If I'm cleaning 50MB every 6 hours or so, think of that as about 25-30 apps being installed every 6 hours or so. That's how much space is being used when the cache isn't cleaned. Yes, it's supposed to aid in loading apps faster and for apps to be more proficient when starting but I don't notice any difference. Plus I can wait an extra .5 seconds for the app to load.




I just want an answer to my original question and not be asked questions. I would actually be satisfied with a proficient yes or no so I can get an idea of what I'm working with.

If you would like more info on cache and what it does and what its for, I'll be happy to post links for you.

Thanks for your time.

 

[jkc120]

Are you referring to /cache? If so, it's not wasting space. It's pre-partitioned (at least on AOKP JB m1):

# df /cache
Filesystem Size Used Free Blksize
/cache 425M 7M 418M 4096

So unless you are re-partitioning /cache to free up space for other partitions, you're not wasting anything, since nothing else (apps, data, etc) can use /cache.

I never clear cache unless:

a. an app is misbehaving, in which case I try this as a troubleshooting step
b. I'm flashing a new ROM, in which case I format /cache via recovery

The only thing you're accomplishing by wiping the cache is wasting CPU (and hence battery) to clear it, only to have the app re-generate it upon the next run.

And if you're clearing the cache for background apps regularly, you're just wasting CPU/battery.

Regardless, the above is my cache usage with an uptime of:

up time: 4 days, 02:23:37, idle time: 3 days, 09:44:55, sleep time: 2 days, 08:08:49

 

[Fuzzy13]

# df /cache
Filesystem Size Used Free Blksize
/cache 425M 7M 418M 4096

Thank you

 

[Tim K]

I don't need a lesson in what cache is thanks. I'm quite familiar. Also, its not like anyone was interrogating you, I simply asked why you were bothering. Cache is, as you said, designed to speed up app loading so deleting it does little but slow things down. In terms of freeing up storage.... I've got a 32gb drive so 50mb is meaningless. Its not as if the cache is constantly filling and filling and taking up the whole phone. If you are so desperate for space on your phone that 50mb is that important perhaps you should look for a device that offers an SD card.

 

[Fuzzy13]

I don't need a lesson in what cache is thanks. I'm quite familiar. Also, its not like anyone was interrogating you, I simply asked why you were bothering. Cache is, as you said, designed to speed up app loading so deleting it does little but slow things down. In terms of freeing up storage.... I've got a 32gb drive so 50mb is meaningless. Its not as if the cache is constantly filling and filling and taking up the whole phone. If you are so desperate for space on your phone that 50mb is that important perhaps you should look for a device that offers an SD card.

All I needed was an answer. Thanks for your response and time.

 

[Tim K]

Since you want answers....
My cache is about 435MB on stock JB.
212 is google music
120 is chrome
70 is gmail

The cache of those 3 items I have no problems with. I want them to store that data and speed up my access times (though chrome annoys me with its constant re-loads anyway so its not speeding anything up). There is about 35 MB total cache used for everything else on the phone.