New Year’s resolution: Start clearing your phone’s cache

KSNF/KODE — A smartphone is an amazing little device, letting you fit a flashlight, camera and computer in your pocket. It gives you access to the entire worldwide web on the go, letting you browse through page after page of information online at high speeds.

But even the latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models might start to feel sluggish over time. One of the simplest New Year’s resolutions you can make is to start clearing your iPhone cache every month. If you’re not quite sure what cached data is, let’s take a quick look.

What Is Cached Data?

With every app opened or website visited, comes a flood of information. The user gets to enjoy content in exchange for location info, which device they’re using, which browser they’re using, time spent on pages, and other user behaviors.

Then there’s cached data.

Laptops, tablets, smartphones — it doesn’t matter. All our devices have some level of reserved space to store this type of data for quick access.

The technique of storing cache data or cache files as history on a phone or web browser to improve the user experience on future visits to a website or an app is known as “caching.”

Is Cached Data Important?

Cached data isn’t inherently important, as it’s only considered “temporary storage.” However, it does exist to improve the user experience.

On-page elements like images, videos, and even text take some time to load. When this data is cached, we can reopen the app or revisit the page with confidence that it won’t take anywhere near as much time.

Cache memory also saves states. For example, if you close your Twitter app and reopen it 10 minutes later, you’ll be able to scroll down and see posts that were previously loaded. Without cache, everything would need to reload. You can specifically remove the cache on certain websites but leave others in place, which can be particularly useful if you are managing multiple sites.

Should I Clear My Cache?

The short answer is ‘yes.’ If you find your mobile device memory being drained from cached data, you should probably clear it. After all, cached data isn’t vital to the performance of an app or website; it just means the files on it will have to be reloaded.

Although, constantly clearing your cache isn’t a permanent solution since you’ll eventually be reopening apps and revisiting websites at some point. The data will be re-cached, and the cycle will continue.

If you’re that strapped for memory, consider deleting old text messages, images, or video files on your device. It’s also worth looking into cloud-based file storage and sharing software like Google Drive or Dropbox if you want to hold on to your files. These options typically offer a free amount of cloud space.