Excessive photos bad for the phone?

[Android Central Question]

Hi all,

I have an s9+ which I've had a major impact on performance.

Ive checked my storage, and I have 70k files, which are photos and videos. I honestly think like 60k are photos (majority screenshots, of chat logs, dating app convos, WhatsApp etc).

I was literally going to just delete since my Google photos won't sync and backup my phone (keeps getting stuck). Or literally go through them.

Is it a good idea? The phone lags and gets hot sometimes. Just going through 70k will take a while as I can only backup manually 24 at a time. I have a 128gb phone and 64gb card. I was going to buy a bigger card but then I'll just hoard more things for the phone?

Thanks.

 

[BergerKing]

[Thread moved to Galaxy S9/S9+ subforum.]

Welcome to the Android Central Ask A Question forum!

Well, your phone is a computer, and what happens as you add more and more files, apps, and etc to a computer? It slows down. While it's not really hurting the device itself, the extra work it has to do to work through the jungle you've created takes its toll after a while. Your phone is getting technically constipated, and needs an electronic enema. A computer colonic.

Back your files up to another source, like a cloud or a thumb drive, and simplify things with a factory reset, start fresh.

The heat, however, may be a battery starting to experience significant degradation after 2+ years, or depending on how you use, then charge it, and how long you've had the device. With 70k files, I'd say you're packing in some bytes. You can do without carrying all that stuff around, and your phone will probably breathe a sigh of electronic relief. (Light a match, please!)

If you need additional help or have more questions or details to share, please join the site so you can reply in this thread. See this link for instructions on how to join Android Central.

 

[ManiacJoe]

The total number of files is not a problem.

The number of files in a single folder can cause the file system to slow down. These days, 4000 files in a single folder is probably not a problem, but I am old enough to remember when 1000 was a problem, so I use subfolders to cap things at 1000 or so.

Keep in mind that most picture apps are not scanning the file system. They are reading the media database which contains lots of metadata about your pictures as well as the full file path to each picture.