Android Defrag FREE

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on April 24, 2013

The name caught our attention: Android Defrag Free. Defrag Android? How? More to the point, why? Defragging doesn't benefit Android and can degrade flash memory. Some digging uncovered a partial explanation: The app doesn't actually defragment your Android device's flash memory and cards, although it suggests just that and even uses defrag-style graphics to drive the point home. But Android Defrag also claims to clear your caches and kill unnecessary apps and to delete and/or repair corrupted files. Unfortunately, so-called task killers usually aren't any more beneficial in Linux-based Android than file defragging. Android Defrag Free is ad-supported freeware.

After we tapped past the slots game screen, we selected Phone Memory from a list view displaying capacity, free space, percentage of free space, and other attributes for our phone and SD Card. The only button applicable to the app's function is Defrag, so we pressed it, hoping for the best. Android Defrag analyzed and then "defragged" our device's memory, finishing with a list of files that were repaired or defragmented. A graphical display showed before-and-after views similar to a disk defrag's drive map, but since the app doesn't actually move any files, we aren't sure what it's for. Android Defrag also claims to kill unneeded processes (other apps make similar claims) thus reducing battery drain. But Android doesn't work like Windows: it's pointless to "free up" memory because Android will fill it right back up again and free up resources as it needs them. Likewise closing apps you think you don't need doesn't stop Android from opening them up again, as we discovered when we visited our device's Applications Manager (the right place to go when apps run amok).

Android Defrag Free seems to take common, longstanding concerns about Windows and apply them unnecessarily to Android -- though what this app actually does or doesn't do seems to be open to debate. However, it permanently deletes browsing history, so it will be of interest to some users, no doubt. In the end, the only thing we could be sure about Android Defrag Free is that it places a lot of ads under your eyes.