Emily Irish

Google May Introduce Trash Bin Feature in Android 12

While changes in Android versions look less and less revolutionary, there is one that will change the experience indeed, and it’s the trash bin. There is already some evidence that Google is to introduce this feature in Android 12, so users will be able to restore deleted files system wide.

Not that it’s completely new for Android. Some aps (galleries, document editors) have already had their own trach bins that made pictures and docs recoverable. But now it becomes possible for literally any file in the local memory, due to changes in the file system implemented in Android 11 as “Scoped Storage”. It limits apps’ ability to access memory and reduces the chance of erasing recycled files when short of storage left.

Mobile users have been enjoying trash bin feature mostly via cloud services which always have enough space. But now, as an average smartphone has more storage than many computers some 15 years ago, recycling becomes an element of local storage management.

As for release date, it remains unknown so far. Given that Android versions roll out unevenly, even Android 12 official release for Pixels does not mean your device will get it any time soon. On the other hand, vendors like Samsung and Sony can introduce trash bin feature in their proprietary UI versions even on Android 11.