com.google.android.storagemanager Copy

The Google-named build of the Android Storage Manager app. Its English labels on this site are "Storage Manager" and "Smart Storage", with localised equivalents in other locales. Two independent open-source projects map this package name to the AOSP package com.android.storagemanager, documented separately on this site: the PACKAGE_NAME_MAP in GrapheneOS's arsclib and the package-name map in LineageOS's resource overlay tooling. The description of what it does below is taken from the AOSP sources for com.android.storagemanager and applies to this package on the strength of that mapping; Google's own build was not found as published source. In AOSP, the Storage Manager's manifest declares a DeletionHelperActivity handling android.os.storage.action.MANAGE_STORAGE. The Android developer reference documents that action, added in API level 25, as one that "Allows the user to manage their storage" and "provides the ability to free up space on the device by deleting data such as apps". The same manifest declares an AutomaticStorageManagementJobService, described in its source as a job "to start automatic storage clearing jobs to free up space", and a boot receiver. Both are gated on a resource, enable_automatic_storage_management, which AOSP's default configuration sets to false. Whether Google's build turns it on could not be established from the sources cited here; the "Smart Storage" label is suggestive and no more. This site records the Google-named package requesting all thirteen permissions in the AOSP manifest, including DELETE_PACKAGES, MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS and WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS, plus INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, GET_ACCOUNTS, READ_DEVICE_CONFIG and a Google services read permission that the AOSP manifest does not list. This site aggregates permissions across observations rather than per build, so which builds request them cannot be established. Version note: this site records the package on Google Pixel devices only, on API levels 31 to 37, with version names from 13 to 17. No change of role across those releases could be sourced. The one signer recorded is classified as a Google key and is not recorded signing any other package in this site's data. For Android Enterprise, EMM and kiosk fleets no enrolment or policy role is identified in the sources cited here. If it fills the role the AOSP sources describe, disabling it would be expected to leave the manage-storage action without this handler, which would affect any app that sends users there to free up space. No benefit of disabling it was found, so it is best left in place on general-purpose managed devices.

• arsclib Constants.java (PACKAGE_NAME_MAP) - GrapheneOS →
• dev/rro/target_package.py - LineageOS scripts →
• StorageManager AndroidManifest.xml (main) - Android Open Source Project →
• StorageManager res/values/config.xml (main) - Android Open Source Project →
• AutomaticStorageManagementJobService.java (main) - Android Open Source Project →
• StorageManager.ACTION_MANAGE_STORAGE - Android Developers →
• Package provenance for com.google.android.storagemanager - Android System App Database →

• Signed by Google's own signing key (the same key Google uses across devices), so it is a Google-provided preinstall that updates independently of the system image, and that single certificate is consistent across all 8 device profiles.
• Its largest observed manifest declares 19 permissions: 4 runtime (user-granted), 8 signature or system-level, 5 install-time and 2 vendor or uncatalogued.
• APK size ranges from 4.3 MB to 11.1 MB across the reporting device profiles, so the build differs substantially between them.
• Never reported as user-facing, so it runs as a background or system component rather than an app the user opens.