I disabled this Google Pixel core to free up to 10GB of storage space - how it works
Source: ZDNet
Every so often, I have to check that I have plenty of storage space on my Pixel 9 Pro. It’s not that I regularly run out of space, but it’s always best to be safe—an Android phone that runs out of storage can suffer serious performance issues.
Many Android (and iPhone) users fill their devices with photos and videos they don’t want to delete. On Android, there’s a system component you can disable that can free up to 10 GB of space.
It’s all about AICore
AICore handles self‑hosted AI models such as Gemini Nano. These large language models (LLMs) occupy a lot of storage and are used for features like:
- Magic Composer
- Pixel Studio
- Call Notes
- Pixel Screenshots
- Smart replies, audio summarization, image and sound understanding
AICore performs two main tasks:
- Keeping the AI model up to date.
- Connecting the model to various apps.
Because of its size and background activity, AICore can consume significant storage, RAM, and battery power.
How to disable AICore on a Pixel phone
1. Open Settings
Open the Settings app (tap the Settings launcher in the App Drawer or pull down the notification shade twice and tap the gear icon).
2. Open Apps
Scroll to Apps near the top of the Settings list.
3. View all apps
Tap See all X apps (where X is the number of installed apps).
4. Locate AICore
Find AICore in the list (it’s usually near the top unless you have many apps that start with “A”).
5. Disable AICore
- Tap Disable.
- When prompted, confirm by tapping Disable app.
6. Uninstall updates
- Tap the three‑dot menu in the upper‑right corner.
- Select Uninstall updates.
This removes the pre‑installed model data and frees up space (on my device, AICore was using over 5 GB).
Note: Disabling AICore does not delete the component entirely, but it stops it from running and frees the occupied storage. You can re‑enable it later by reversing these steps.
What you lose
Disabling AICore removes access to certain AI‑powered features, most notably Pixel Screenshots. If you rely on that feature, you may want to keep AICore enabled.