What the Cache Cleaner clears in DeDup 1.5.3 on Android (DeDup's own cache)
The Cache Cleaner in DeDup 1.5.3 clears DeDup's own cache. It doesn't clear the cache of WhatsApp, your browser or any other app. On the dashboard it appears as the Clear Cache Files card, described as "Remove temporary app data to free up space". The app in question is DeDup.
Whose cache
The code works on two folders: the app's internal cache folder and its external cache folder, if the phone has one. Android gives every app folders like these for its own use. The cleaner deletes what's inside them and keeps the two folders themselves.
It doesn't open your photos or videos, and it doesn't look at other apps' folders. No other path appears in the cleaner's code.
Android version limits
The cleaner has no Android-version checks and asks for no permission. It only works inside DeDup's own folders. Nothing in the code tries to reach other apps' caches, so there's no version limit to describe.
What the screen shows
- Analyzing Cache. The screen opens with this heading, a "Found 0 files so far" line and a Start Cleaning button. In the background DeDup measures the cache size, but it doesn't show you that number. If the cache is empty, the screen goes straight to the finished state and reports 0 B cleared.
- Tap Start Cleaning. DeDup first counts files in both folders. The "Found N files so far" count updates about every 10 files.
- Cleaning in Progress. A progress bar with a percentage, and a "Cleared" line giving the size deleted so far. The percentage is bytes deleted divided by the total counted.
- Finished. A "Successfully cleared" line with the size, and a Back to Dashboard button.
- If something goes wrong. An error heading, the message, and a Retry button.
A file that can't be deleted is skipped and written to the log. Cleaning carries on, and the final size counts only what was actually deleted.
What it doesn't do
There's no confirmation step after Start Cleaning. Nothing is sent to DeDup's Trash. The deletion is of cache files, not of your photos or videos.
DeDup's code doesn't state how much space this frees, and neither does this post. The screen reports bytes only after the clean, so the figure depends on what DeDup had cached on your phone.
Settings has a separate action called Clear scan cache. This post doesn't cover it, and I haven't checked whether the two touch the same files.
Scope of this post
Checked against: DeDup 1.5.3 source code (Android).
Not tested on a device: how long cleaning takes, what DeDup keeps in these folders, and whether clearing them changes how fast later scans run.