Android apps that help keep you organised

Your smartphone lets you access lots of information

A smartphone can contain a lot of useful information, in a range of different forms. You can use your phone to save:

• Documents you've downloaded from the internet
• Photos you take using the phone's camera
• Contact details and old messages.

Google apps help you manage files

Some of Google apps are dedicated to helping you access and manage all your digital files, in a way that keeps things as simple as possible. And other apps include features that help with keeping things organised.

Your phone might have manufacturer apps too

Your model of Android phone may have its own versions of the apps in this activity. Some work more or less the same as the Google version, but with others the difference is more significant. For example, your phone manufacturer's Gallery app will show and organise photos, but it won't sync them with your Google Account and Google cloud storage, the way Google Photos does.

Google Files

Your Android phone has a limited amount of storage space for files, documents, and photos, so it's useful to be able to manage them directly. The Google Files app shows you where everything is saved on your Android phone, and you can use it to move files around or delete them entirely.

You can learn more about the Files app in the Android phone: Saving, deleting and sharing files course.

Google Files and Google Drive

As well as files on your phone, the Google Files app will show you files in your Google Drive and any other cloud-based storage services you have set up and signed into on your Android phone.

You can find out more about using cloud storage in the All about cloud subscription apps course.

eSafety tip

It's important to avoid moving files that are essential for your Android phone's operating software to function. By default, Google Files only shows you files that are safe to move or delete.

The Google Photos app

The Google Photos app lets you use Google's cloud photo service to manage all the photos you take with your phone's camera. When you take a photo, it gets saved to the Google Photos app and will sync to your Google cloud storage. You'll be able view the photo on another device and download it to that device's internal storage.

You can find out more about other Google Photos features in the Android phone: Cloud backup and sharing course.

eSafety tip

Google Photos uses the term Backup to refer to syncing with the cloud. If you don't want Google Photos to automatically back up every picture you take on the camera, you can turn this off via the Google Photos app.

1. Tap the profile circle in the top right corner
2. Tap Photos settings
3. Tap the Backup option
4. On the Backup screen that appears, tap the switch at the top of the page to stop photos backing up.

The Google Contacts app

The Google Contacts app contains a list of people and details about them such as their mobile phone number or email address.

When you add someone to your Contacts, the list is synced to the cloud and updates across all your Android devices. This means that when you get a new Android phone, you just need to sign in to your Google Account, and all your contacts from the old phone will be downloaded from the cloud ready to go.

Viewing texts in Google Messages

Messages by Google saves the texts that you send and receive, and you can tap a text to show the other texts from that contact or phone number.

While you can't sync messages to view on other devices, messages are part of your phone's backup feature. So, when you get a new phone, or need to restore your phone from a backup, your messages will still be there.

Well done!

This is the end of the Android apps that help keep you organised activity. You've learned how to manage documents and other data on your device with the Google Files app, and how to sync photos and contacts to view on other devices you use.

Up next is the Android apps that help you get around activity. You'll find out about your Android phone's location services and how to stay safe and secure when apps are accessing your location.