Android

Google raises required minimum storage in Android 15, but it won’t affect most phones

Andrew Romero | Apr 14 2025 - 10:19 am PT

Storage gradually becomes less valuable as apps and software on devices seem to get bigger. To combat this, Google now requires Android devices to ship with a higher minimum flash storage in order to allow more space for Android 15 to occupy.

At the top end of the Android market, devices generally ship with 128GB or more of flash storage. This allows for some to be taken up by the OS and other preinstalled apps while leaving a healthy amount of space for third-party apps and downloads. Even as users have become more reliant on cloud-based storage, devices need to maintain a certain amount of storage for the apps that facilitate stored items and so on.

According to an insight report from Android Authority, Android 15 places a new minimum storage requirement on Android devices. That new requirement is set to 32GB, up from the 16GB minimum set in Android 13. The standard dictates that 75% of that 32GB storage is partitioned for the OS and pre-installed apps, leaving only a slim portion for whatever the user has planned for the device.

It looks like this new requirement is enforced by limiting Google Mobile Services access for cheap devices shipping with less than 32GB. The nature of Google’s open-source AOSP doesn’t allow the company to withhold its OS from devices from phones with only 16GB of storage, though it can hinder support. The new requirement is detailed in the GMS requirements, which state the new supported minimum at 32GB.

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Phones with only 32GB of storage are rarely seen, but the count does appear in phones at the ultra-low end. Even the Android BLU View 5 Pro is only around $50, and it comes with double the minimum storage, 64 GB. For low—to mid-range devices, 64GB has become a standard basic option.

This will also affect “dumb” phones that want to ship with Android 15. Those devices tend to ship with stripped features and Google Play Store access, but 32GB might be the norm for a simplified device. Still, some options, like the Minimal Phone, ship with 128GB at the lowest.