Frequently asked questions

No. Scanning, duplicate detection, compression and deletion all happen on your device. No file operation makes a network call, and there's no server on the other end to receive anything.

No. There's no sign-up, no login and no user account of any kind. You install the app and use it.

Yes. Every feature runs offline, because none of them depend on a server.

No. Every destructive action asks for confirmation first, showing how many files and how much space are involved. Nothing is removed silently or automatically.

Photo library access is used to find duplicate photos and manage your media. File access is used to scan your storage for junk, large files and empty folders. App usage access is optional, and only tells the app which apps you haven't opened recently. Each one is explained on screen before it's requested.

Where possible, StoragePilot uses Android's Storage Access Framework. That lets you grant access to a specific folder rather than to your whole device.

App sizes and last-used dates come from Android's usage statistics, which need the optional usage access permission. Until you grant it the app can't read them, and it won't show made-up numbers in the meantime.

Photos are compared by file size first, which eliminates most pairs immediately. The remaining candidates are then hashed with SHA-256. Only files with identical hashes are grouped as duplicates, so a match means the files are byte-for-byte identical rather than merely similar.

The scan works through your files in small batches and hands control back to the interface between each one, so the app stays responsive while it runs. Staying usable on lower-end devices was an explicit design goal.

Yes. Similar Photos groups burst shots and repeated takes of the same scene by comparing capture time, image dimensions and file size. It's a grouping aid rather than visual analysis, which is what keeps it entirely on your device with nothing extra to download.

Android 10 and newer (API level 29 and above).

iOS is a planned secondary platform, targeting iOS 15.1 and newer. It hasn't shipped yet, and no release date has been announced.

Pricing hasn't been announced yet. Rather than guess, we'd sooner say nothing until it's decided. This page will be updated when it is.