App Review : CCleaner Review: Optimize Your Android Device
The Android market is abuzz with apps of all kind which claim to provide the user complete control over their devices primarily by deleting cache, organizing installed apps and boosting overall performance. But over time we have come to see that such claims oven come out as being more hype than truth. As with our previous Clean Master Review.
CCleaner like most of the apps in its category offers pretty much the same in terms of features. This includes a basic cache and junk cleaner that doubles up by clearing old SMSes, call logs, browser history, Gallery thumbnails, obsolete APK files, empty folders & other junk. However, unlike its competitors lacks a dedicated Task Killer and antivirus. As a result of this, it is much smaller and lighter on the system resources. But its standout feature is that the app is COMPLETELY FREE FROM Ads. Something which is almost unheard of in these times.
CCleaner offers precious little in terms of features, and the only other feature apart from its Junk Cleaner that’s worth mentioning is the App Manager, which again is quite basic. In addition, it also has a real-time performance monitor and a quick clean widget.
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User Experience: (4/5)
CCleaner before debuting on the Android platform had gained quite a reputation among PC users as a light and user friendly utility software that cleans cache and registry files to boost performance. Building on this reputation the android app was launched with the intention of bringing the same functionality to your mobile device.
The app installation file is miniscule, a paltry 2.5 MB. Upon installation we are greeted with a homescreen, the top of which displays RAM and Storage space information in the form of Bar graphs. Below that is a space where items like Cache and specific apps and their relevant files (which can be cleaned) are listed (after analysis). At the bottom are options to Analyse and Clean.
Pressing “Analyse” runs a deep scan of the system, which yields a list of apps, files and logs which can be cleaned by CCleaner. Once finished the user can manually select or de-select items that must be cleaned. For a better understanding of what is being cleaned, pressing the app name reveals a collapsible menu showing a breakdown of files that are being cleaned. When the list has been sorted according to preferences, Pressing “Clean” clears the cache and the app reveals the amount of space saved.
What we liked most about the Cache cleaner was the option of customising the same to include or exclude certain apps and logs. For example, users may choose not to clear call and sms logs or whatsapp cache. Although as far as logs are concerned users can choose whether to delete all logs or those older than a specified time period. However, a small drawback was that cleaning browser history does not permit any review, thus creating ambiguity. Deletion of gallery thumbnails causes a particular predicament whereby after the cleaning, opening the gallery app leads to generation of thumbnails afresh, slowing down the app as well as reclaiming the space that was cleared.
Features: (3.5/5)
From the CCleaner’s main menu users can gain access to more features like MANUAL CLEANING. Where specific apps can be cleaned one at a time. However, the ambiguity here is there is no distinction made between the cleaning performed manually and the automatic cache cleaning. Cleaning downloaded files and processes allows multiple selections but the overall impact of the same is questionable.
CCleaner’s quick clean widget is a nice tool that gives users access to most of the apps features in a single touch. The widget’s cleaning capabilities are fully customizable as well.
Next under the System information menu we can gain access to some crucial information like RAM usage and available storage space. Building on this is a Doughnut chart representation of CPU resource usage, which is very handy and accurate. But another clear drawback, was the inability to Kill tasks to increase free RAM and the lack of logs or history of performance statistics. The same information screen also provides CPU temperature, but here again no logs are present nor is the user given tips or options to conserve battery life.
App Manager :
Finally, we come to the App Manager part of CCleaner. This we must admit was a major let down. Because, although it overcomes the shortcomings of stock android app manager by providing a list of all available apps including system apps, allows bulk deletion of apps and sorts apps in terms of size. It does not categorize apps into ones which can be removed and ones which cannot. It also cannot MOVE apps between Internal storage and SD Card.
Verdict :
Purely from the standpoint of functionality, CCleaner delivers the basic goods ie: a simple, solid cache cleaner with no other aspirations. The system monitor and app manager are weak and provide precious little in terms of functionality. The lack of a dedicated task killer can be a deal breaker for people who are expecting instant performance increases from this app.
But then again the USP of this app is its simplicity. Lack of add-on features means its light on the system resources and draws very little battery. The Lack of Ads is commendable but its obvious drawbacks make the app only suitable for people with limited requirements.