Secure Wipe
In our continued effort to make this work with KitKat, we have had mixed results. So, if you are running KitKat, it may or may not work for you until I get time to investigate the issues with some phones. But, it's a free app with no ads and works for most people.
Please provide feedback to the developer rather than giving a low rating so that I can fix whatever is wrong. Also feel free to suggest improvements. Thank you.
It is possible to forensically extract information from a smart phone using mobile forensic tools such as Cellebrite and XRY even after it has been deleted. This utility can help to prevent that from happening by sanitizing the free space on a phone. Similar functionality can be found on desktop machines using utilities like CCleaner, Eraser, and File Shredder. If you are afraid of the government peeking at your phone and extracting and reconstructing deleted files, this is the app that you want.
This application does not delete files or clean the cache. Use other tools such as ES File Explorer and AVG Cleaner to delete files and clean the cache. Then use this utility to sanitize the free space. The free version of this application does not sanitize database areas such as contacts, phone logs, or SMS text messages. Look for a pro version in the future that may perform a more thorough sanitization.
Although we cannot guarantee that all free space will be sanitized, this application finds all of the free space that Android will give us in three primary areas where data is normally stored and overwrites it as completely as the phone will allow:1. System
- This is the protected data area shared by all applications. 2. SD Card
- On some phones this is the actual SD Card and on others it is emulated SD Card space.3. Optional SD Card
- On some phones this is the actual SD Card and many other phones do not have this space. Samsung phones typically put the real external SD Card here.
To run the application:1. Make sure that the phone has good battery/wall power.2. Put a checkmark next to the sections of memory to sanitize.3. Press the Start Wiping button.4. Do not use the phone while the application is working.The status area will indicate how the process is going.
Some have complained that after a wipe, they sometimes still see old files that were deleted using Hexamob or other similar apps. In my investigation I have found that the overwhelming majority of files are overwritten but occassionally one file is left intact. This could occur if Android does not allow us to write to every free sector. Watch the statistics as it is overwriting to see if the free space count goes to 0 as it is writing. Also run the app more than once to get more thorough wiping since SD cards rotate their sectors in and out of service.
Many SD cards rotate blocks of memory in and out of use for wear leveling. As a result, it is possible that after sanitizing memory there could be some blocks that get rotated back in to use that were never sanitized. To mitigate this possibility, run this application twice which statistically will usually hit all blocks of memory.
This application has not been tested on all phones. Please provide feedback to the developer about any problems. It has been found to work on Samsung Galaxy S2, S3, S4 and Victory phones, the HTC Arrive and others. System space takes several minutes to sanitize and 8GB SD Cards can take up to half an hour. If the application is aborted before it finishes, there may be large files left on the phone. If this happens, simply reboot the phone and bring the application up and it will automatically look for these files and delete them at startup.
Category : Tools
Reviews (28)
I like the idea and it looks simple. However I am notified that it's for an older version of Android. I have Android 10 and I hope you understand I'm not going to trust an app that could potentially damage files because of incompatibility issues.
I used this app since my very first Android phone (the Android 4.0 one). Now with my Android 7 phone this app still simple, tiny, yet effective!, although it's outdated. (Despite some of my old phones can't even used this app and crashed everytime I opened because it was incompatible with those phones, but it's okay it's not app fault anyway.) 😊
This app appears to work on my device. Fills up free space I think / hope but I'm sure I need to reboot to free up the overwritten free space. I've no idea whether free space is written over securely though. I give it 3 stars so far, but will need to test it with some file recovery software. Can anyone tell me what the best file recovery software is please?
I think that Secure Wipe scrutinizes all available free space on my tablet and scowers these spaces and empty files clean of all residue. Thus leaving these areas pristine for fresh data entries and storage. At least... that's what I hope it does and continues to do!
Absoluty Excellent. Outstanding. Adds instant speed and helps those who cant help themselves from your information. 1st thing I downoad on any new phone.
I use many shredding algorithms. This is a great application; Sanitizes leftover blocks. Average speed, but that's Ok. Means it's working. I recommend.
Hey I wipe out all files pfom phone using this app but for checking it's genunity I uninstall this app and then installed again ..but at this time I found out same qty of block remaining in phone(while installing the previous app)
Your app won't open the way it acts I'm sure no one can use it when you try to open it it will shut down doesn't even desere one star
Was good app when it was still compatible with my Android. Recent update to 11 broke it. Would be nice if the dev would update it.
Said that it sanitized and done. Strange fact is it does not take a long time..... Which contradicts it's warning message that "sanitized can take as long time" Thanks for the free app. Vin
This eraser had the least permissions requested out of all of the apps which are only data areas access so i trust it the most
Tried to wipe encrypted SD card from my phone that broke on the new one, this app didn't do anything.
This is a great piece. How about adding a timer option to set up scheduled wipe. Cheers.
I use the "wipe free space" after removing an app from my phone.
Worked at android 10 on my xperia 5 ii but when i updated yo android 11 it doesnt work no longer wont let me open the app. Worked fine before when will update the app?
I don't rate apps easily without testing the app from the starch, but this app is really working using very less resources.
Thumbs up🤢 been using 4 years, not working with most current software on galaxy s21+. Crashes on open
Doesn't work. Leaves files. Lack of settings
This worked great but now it crashes everytime I launch it.
A brilliant program that has never failed Ease of use is impossibly easy!
Worked great for years, now crashes when scanning SD card
This app says my phone has a SD card inplace when there is none in my phone. This is a joke.
Simple and easy to use, appears to work as advertised.
Caused phone to lock up. Not sure if it works or not.
Doesn't even launch on Android 11 . Junk!
It works. Simple & easy to use!
hanged my phone for a while. and shown fauty empty space data
Seems legit. UI isn't the most straight forward, but the help section was detailed and useful. It didn't take very long (perhaps as my phone lacks much storage) and I did not require a restart. If this really deleted such data (which I will try), I would recommend. Tiny app size, no network usage, super fast.