I found which apps were destroying my phone's memory; the culprits shocked me
Android Police 2026-07-01 10:00:10
Context: A recent investigation into Android phone memory usage has revealed that certain apps are consuming excessive amounts of RAM, causing performance bottlenecks. The inquiry, conducted by Features Writer Jon Gilbert for Android Police, highlights the growing importance of sufficient RAM in modern smartphones, particularly with the increasing demands of AI processes. By analyzing memory usage statistics and identifying problematic apps, users can take steps to free up RAM and improve their phone's performance.
Key Facts
- Android apps can use a phone's memory in three ways: when the app is actively being used, through essential background activity, and via cached background processes that can consume gigabytes of memory without significant benefits.
- To access detailed memory statistics, users must enable Developer options, toggle on Memory Usage Profiling, and restart their device, allowing the feature to track up to 24 hours of activity.
- The Memory Usage Profiling feature provides statistics such as Maximum usage and Average used percentage, which can help users identify why an app is using excessive memory and determine if it's causing performance issues.
- System and utility apps tend to consume the most memory, with Android OS and AI Core being among the top users, and disabling or switching to lightweight alternatives can help free up RAM.
- The author found that Pixel Screenshots and AI Core were using significant amounts of memory, and disabling these apps or features can save gigabytes of storage and hundreds of megabytes of memory.