with the number of good apps on mobile platforms increasing by the day, power users of devices may run into a problem more and more frequently: running low on device memory to the point where everything just grinds to a crawl.
We gave Free Memory for iPhone a try on an iPhone 4. (While the app is named “Free Memory,” it’s not free. It’s a 99-cent download from the Apple iTunes App Store.)
After download and installation, we opened the app and it provided a quick inventory of apps that were taking up memory; additionally, it provided basic device information including CPU speed, software version, and available storage. Step two was to push a refresh button, that zipped through the phone and cleaned up its extraneous use of device resources. Before using free memory, the iPhone reported 30.86 Mb of free memory; afterward it reported 36.58 Mb of free memory.
The device itself felt marginally quicker afterward.
As mobile devices perform more and more functions that we’ve traditionally delegated to PCs, it will become increasingly important to manage device resources. Apps like Free Memory are a simple step in that direction.