Question Google Play Store App

[MikeFerrell19]

In the Play Store App I tap my profile pic (top right), that opens a menu. Tap Manage App's & Devices > Tap (in my case) 19 GB of 23 GB Used > Free up space (see attached screenshot). If I expand the 19 GB of 23 GB Used graph it shows Apps 8.9 GB and 9.9 GB Other. So my query is: What is the "Other" and hopefully, where can I access it? Also out of curosity, their math is wrong! I don't have anywhere near 8.9 GB of Apps. And: Why is it impossible to get an answer to a question from any Google product. In all their (useless) Help Centers I get lots of replies to questions I didn't ask but never an answer to the question I did ask...just saying.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Can you also show a screenshot of your Settings>Storage menu in the system settings? I notice that these figures don't quite match up on my Pixel 7 Pro (but I don't know why there's a discrepancy). I would trust the system settings more.

In my system settings, "Other" is mostly backup databases for messaging apps, but those don't add up to the total amount that's shown, so I suspect there are also files that are protected by the system, and therefore not visible to the user.

As for direct support from Google -- there's a gargantuan user base for Google products, so it's probably just not feasible to have help centers for everything they do. That's why they have those Help Communities with volunteer Product Experts, which are overseen by community managers that are Google employees. Just like any forum, the Help Communities can vary in terms of helpfulness and atmosphere. (I'm a Product Expert in the Chromebook Help Community.)

 

[MikeFerrell19]

Welcome to Android Central! Can you also show a screenshot of your Settings>Storage menu in the system settings? I notice that these figures don't quite match up on my Pixel 7 Pro (but I don't know why there's a discrepancy). I would trust the system settings more.

In my system settings, "Other" is mostly backup databases for messaging apps, but those don't add up to the total amount that's shown, so I suspect there are also files that are protected by the system, and therefore not visible to the user.

As for direct support from Google -- there's a gargantuan user base for Google products, so it's probably just not feasible to have help centers for everything they do. That's why they have those Help Communities with volunteer Product Experts, which are overseen by community managers that are Google employees. Just like any forum, the Help Communities can vary in terms of helpfulness and atmosphere. (I'm a Product Expert in the Chromebook Help Community.)

Thanks for replying so soon. Sounds like it's not going to be possible to eliminate any of the "Other", Apps, files, or whatever is in that Folder (we're not even allowed to look and see what's there, even though we OWN the Device those items are used? for).
So, I guess the progression leads me to ask how do I contact a Human Being @ Google that has some authority to remedy the problem this creates: Since the Other Folder cannot (it appears) be accessed to, as the heading says, Free up Space, Google should subtract the 9.8 GB from the 19 GB they say I've used (although I have absolutely no way of confirming that they're claiming I, no WE (that 9.8 GB is Google's since they racked up that total, not me, and I, the owner and user, cannot even look at it to see what's there) have "Used". I've uninstalled a lot of App's, some that I now need to reinstall (which prompted all this), to Free up Space and Force Stopped those that cannot be uninstalled, too.
By the way, what's up with that 23 GB of Space (seems like an arbitrary number) that I'm restricted in using? I've never encountered that before. The only limit used to be determined by the amount of available storage on my device.
I'm baffled by your request for a screenshot of the storage in settings, I assume in the Play Store App. The 23 GB maximum on the Apps I can install from the Play Store isn't in there. So, obviously the storage total will be different. That 23 GB maximum is a limit on the Apps one can install, not a storage limit.
Anyway, Thank You for your input. It's very much appreciated since all I ever get from any Google product employee is silence and cobwebs (I know they're busy but, so is everyone else these days, a Bank handles hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of transactions a day and they manage it). Having a lot of clients and products doesn't give them an excuse to show the hubris they do. Thanks, Mike...

 

[B. Diddy]

You may own the device, but you won't have total control over every single app or its storage, because there will always be components that are crucial for proper functioning of the system or for the apps you install. If the user tinkers with those, it could potentially cause app instability or system crashes. That's why the system will protect certain files and directories from manipulation by the user (or by 3rd party apps).

Rooting a phone can give the user much more control over these things, but if the user isn't careful, they could really mess things up and make the phone unusable. Not all phones have a root exploit either -- if you want to start wading into that, the forums at XDA-Developers.com would be a better resource.

The 23 GB of space available to the user implies that of the 32 GB (I assume) your phone came with, 9 GB are taken up by the system, as well as any uninstallable bloatware the manufacturer and/or the carrier preloaded. This is standard reporting for any device, including iPhones.

Sorry if I was confusing you, but I was asking for the Storage menu in the system settings (not the Play Store app settings). So bring up the system settings, then Storage, and that's the screen I'm referring to.

And FYI, for some more perspective, there are more than 3 billion Android users globally. Compare that with, say, Bank of America, which has an estimated 69 million customers. It's a pretty big difference. And if you want to compare with Apple, keep in mind that iPhones are entirely in-house, while there are more than 1000 different Android device manufacturers (and each manufacturer has to tweak the base Android code to make it work on their hardware, as well as to give it their own little features and characteristics). So while Apple support can know immediately all of the technical details of a customer's phone, Google can't (and the individual Android device manufacturers often have terrible support, because support costs money). The closest Android comparison to iPhones would be Google's own Pixels -- and Google does have an option in Pixel devices to chat with support.