Press Releases

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2015 – Avast Software, maker of the most trusted mobile and PC security in the world, today announced the launch of Avast GrimeFighter, a new application that helps Android users free extra memory on their devices with just a few taps. Unlike some mobile device cleaners, Avast GrimeFighter doesn’t violate user trust by recommending the removal of competitive products in order to install more apps from that developer. Avast GrimeFighter will help the more than one billion Android users free up anywhere from 500MB to 1GB of storage per device to enjoy faster performance.

Avast GrimeFighter scans all the applications on an Android device and identifies unimportant or superfluous data for one-tap removal. This excess data comes in the form of initiated app downloads, residual data, thumbnails, and app caches. In addition, many popular applications, like Facebook and Instagram, can inflate significantly from their original download size through regular use. Avast tested some of the most popular Android apps and found that their size can grow exponentially during one week of heavy usage:

                                          install size:                         additional data accumulated:

1) Facebook                            36.7MB                                153MB

2) Flipboard                            12.6MB                                71.1MB

3) Google Maps                       23.21MB                              68.8MB

Avast GrimeFighter helps users identify these data accumulations and eliminate the excess data files without damaging the application’s functionality, all from one clean and simple-to-use interface.

In order to maximize storage capacity, Avast GrimeFighter can sync with users’ personal cloud storage accounts so they can manage their device storage without having to delete valuable data. Users can simply drag files to the cloud icon within the easy-to-navigate interface, and Avast GrimeFighter will instantly transfer them to a safe folder in the cloud. Avast GrimeFighter can even assist users in setting up a Dropbox account. The application is currently compatible with Dropbox and additional popular cloud storage solutions will soon be added.

“Many Android users cite limited storage as one of their main concerns, but most don’t know how to fix the problem without deleting the applications or files that they love,” said Jude McColgan, president of Mobile at Avast. “Avast GrimeFighter is a simple-to-use solution for Android users to manage their device storage, so they can save the data that matters to them, and enjoy better performance thanks to newly-cleared device storage. Unlike some of our competitors, we don’t recommend the removal of competing products – that only serves the interest of the app developer and not the customer.”

Avast GrimeFighter operates in two modes: Safe Cleaner and Advanced Cleaner. Safe Cleaner is a customizable scanner that quickly identifies unimportant data for instant removal. Advanced Cleaner runs in parallel to Safe Cleaner and maps all of the device storage and creates a simple overview of all files and applications that take up space. Advanced Cleaner locates inflated or unused applications, and arranges them by file type, size, usage, or name, so users can permanently remove the files and free up storage space.

Avast GrimeFighter is in public beta and available for testers at https://plus.google.com/communities/112394513906169233317.