18
ADB is close, but things like adb shell pm clear <package_name> to clear caches (and data, oops) from selected apps requires root (as would clearing Dalvik cache). But there's a similar approach to just wipe out all app caches (not Dalvik/ART, though): fastboot erase cache would do that with the device booted into the bootloader. Details can be found e....
18
tl:dr; addressing OP's question - sorry, no way AFAIK. From Android 10 onwards normal apps can't access IMEI number.
Revised answer with additional inputs from Izzy (thanks)
How do apps (Google or third party) identify you?
Apps identify a device using:
Some or all of device identifiers, mainly Android ID, GSF Android ID, build serial number, and ...
9
When you leave an app that was running in the screen, it stops running, but Android keeps its process in memory. This means that next time you want that app in the foreground, or next time it runs a service in the background (e.g. to check for email), the app can run again without Android having to load it from storage again. This means it starts faster and ...
9
App developers decide what information to be kept in "data" and what to be kept in "cache".
Usually, "data" is used for account info, settings, saved activity data, game scores, and whatever is need to be kept permanently. Clearing data will make your app "forget" everything like you have reinstalled it.
"Cache" holds all information and files that can be ...
8
Unfortunately, there is no cross-app sharing of map information.
Firstly, there is a privacy concern - If Google allowed other apps to know your Google Maps offline areas (or infer them, for that matter), it would be possible for nasty apps to work out where you live and to sell that information.
Sadly, Google don't provide an 'offline maps' API to ...
7
I finally figured it out, here's how I did it:
Even though adb can't get root, and the phone it's self can't get root, as it turns out, there is in fact one more way to clear the cache without fully booting the phone.
Turn the phone off
Make sure you have fastboot working on your computer
Press the power button on the phone and then hold down the volume ...
6
If you run adb with no arguments, the help text will tell you the answer to this question.
adb uninstall -k com.mycompany.myapp
removes the app but leaves the data and cache directories. Similarly,
adb install -r myapp.apk
reinstalls an existing app with a new APK file, keeping its data intact.
As a side-note, I don't know if this affects you, but don't ...
6
In general:
Cache is temporary files. One example might be thumbnails for contacts in a social media app. These can be cleared without any major effect — the app can just download them again when it needs to — and if space is low the Android OS may remove cache files itself.
Data is the "important" information. This might include credentials ...
6
As you mentioned you're using Magisk for root, I'm assuming you're running on Android 5 or up.
The answer would be no. You can safely ignore the "Wipe Dalvik Cache" after OTA updating and re-rooting.
Dalvik cache is compiled binary code (optimized DEX) for your installed applications, so it usually makes sense to wipe them if you removed/replaced your apps ...
5
See if you have something like this:
System settings > Application Manager > All > Downloads
4
That's unlikely to be possible. Dalvik cache is stored in /data/dalvik-cache, and doing an ls -l /data (as root) shows:
drwxrwx--x system system 2013-03-29 14:54 dalvik-cache
As you can see, it is owned by user system of the group system, and all other users only have "execute" permission (i.e. they are only permitted to change into that ...
4
it is possible, but you will need to get a root.
FolderMount allows to transfer not the apps but their cache. This program requires root access. If you don’t know what root is then go here and here to read about how to gain root access.
Cache transfer is performed in a few simple steps:
Open FolderMount and press “+” in the top right corner.
Name an app ...
4
Found very insightful information on dalvik-cache at stackoverflow from reputed sources(Google's employees who worked on Dalvik virtual machine platform).
Below is the summary of it, more from Android User's perspective in (hopefully) simple words.
Where is dalvik-cache located in my Android device ?
In a typical Android device, there is a directory named ...
answered Apr 2 '16 at 16:20
AADAndroidEnthusiasts
2,2734 gold badges26 silver badges45 bronze badges
4
From the overflow (3 dots menu)
Settings → Site settings → tap All sites → choose your site
→clear and reset
From Chrome help
Cached images and files: Chrome remembers parts of pages to help them open faster during your next visit. Text and images from pages you've visited in Chrome are removed.
You will also lose browsing ...
4
I don't know exactly how each app implements this but I wold assume that they use the ANDROID_ID. Each app gets an ID that does not change.
ANDROID_ID is a random number generated on first boot after factory reset.
On old devices all apps (with the appropriate permission) can get access to this ID. The ID is the same for all apps.
On modern devices each app ...
3
This is normal behavior, my brother has a moto e (same amount of ram), and it ends up unloading lots of recent apps, if this was a priority you maybe should have gone with a different phone (the moto g has a good processor, so can run plants vs zombies, but it can't multitask as well.
3
A quick bit of experimentation shows that they will be able to view your cached Gmail, but will not be able to download new mail.
3
If you have root access, Using adb you can clear cache.
rm -r /data/dalvik-cache
rm -r /cache/dalvik-cache
3
Eureka!
Here is how I've done it:
SD card partition and format
Unsure about which partitions I would have been able to relocate, I decided to recreate my sd card with the exact same layout of my Samsung Galaxy S III internal memory.
USERDATA is the last partition and there is a good reason for it:
my sd card size is greater then the internal memory and ...
3
The "cache" of an app is just a directory inside that app's data directory in /data/data, so there are no special security implications compared with the app's general data. The cache directory has the same permissions as the data directory enclosing it: no other apps can access it, and the user can't access it directly (via adb or a PC), unless the phone is ...
3
Your device doesn't have /cache partition
Reasons
/Cache partition is not required to be as big on devices which have A/B partition catering to seamless updates since it doesn't need to store OTA updates which are done seamlessly
The cache partition is no longer used to store OTA update packages, so there is no need to ensure that the cache partition is ...
3
You might need to use a completely different Google account to sign into your phone. It would be interesting to see if a friend is able to log in to their account using your phone; but before risking getting their account banned keep reading.
If the problem revolves around creating a new account using your phone's app and having that account banned then you ...
2
All memory caches are safe to be cleared, as they need to be designed as such since Android will clear them when memory get's tight.
Caches stored to disc will include things saved. However, most applications either save to file or utilise an sqlite database. These can be backed up with a file manager e.g. es explorer and an sqlite manager e.g. the one with ...
2
Any cache can be cleared. Clearing the cache will not remove app settings.
Read more from this closed question in StackOverflow (should be migrated here):
What's the difference between clear cache & clear data in android settings
2
Cache:-Its a temporary storage file used by websites as well as the applications to store some data on your device.
Cache memory contains references(where to store the settings i.e. in which folder it should load or store the source file ), thumbnails(images to be displayed in the application) etc.
Advantages of Cache:-
1.Once you have already loaded the ...
2
For security and reliability reasons, private app data are stored in a directory that's only accessible by that app, unless you've previously rooted the device. The only data visible from an MTP connection are files that apps have chosen to share in this way by putting them in the "shared storage".
As well as stopping an attacker from circumventing the ...
2
What I did:
I removed my Google account from my phone, then deleted all data of the Apps: Contacts, Contacts Storage and Google Contact Sync, rebooted the phone and added my Google account again. Result: All my Google contacts are gone (and the phone is suddenly quite fast again! :-)
... however, it does not work to sync my Google contacts back (my ...
2
I fully agree the storage screen shows "incoherent data" (more cache used than there's storage available), so it must have miscalculated.
As your device is already complaining about "low storage", I assume installing additional apps is not an option. If your device were rooted (which it is not), you could figure which app(s) is/are responsible for "high ...
2
In Gmail's menu open Settings, tap an e-mail account, and decrease the "Days of mail to sync" setting. You can also hit "Manage labels" there to stop syncing certain labels altogether if desired. Repeat for every account. Afterward, I would try manually syncing each account (pull down the message list), clearing the cache, and syncing again.
If that ...
2
Why flash cache? Just erase or format would be enough.
Comment made me curious - care to share for what reason erase is unusable?
Either way it should only take a few seconds. Try flashing some other partitions (ones that won't touch your data, of course) and see if they pass.
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
