Editorial standards and testing
Our guides should help readers make a safe decision before they delete. This page explains what our review labels mean and how we separate reproducible facts from estimates.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-01
Who publishes and reviews the guides
AskClean is a product of NEXALIFY Ltd. Storage guides are written by the AskClean team and technically reviewed against the current product behavior, operating-system interfaces, and the cited primary sources.
A review label on an article means its deletion boundaries, commands, paths, and recovery costs were checked by the engineering team. It is not a claim that every device will recover the same amount of space.
How we test storage guidance
We begin with a read-only inventory, record the relevant version and size, change one category, then measure again. We distinguish repeatable product behavior from machine-specific results and do not turn a single test device into a universal savings promise.
Destructive commands are not the default. Guides prefer system interfaces, reversible deletion to the Trash, explicit backup checks, and a clear explanation of what must rebuild or redownload.
Our deletion-risk model
Every storage category is classified by recovery cost before size. Rebuildable output can be recreated from source; redownloadable artifacts require network access and upstream availability; operational state may contain local databases, test devices, or configuration; release evidence and user-created files may be irreplaceable.
A guide must name the category, its default location or discovery command, what deletion changes, the recovery path, and the safer read-only check. Age and file size alone are never enough to mark an item safe.
Reproducible evidence and reusable assets
Our Xcode storage guides share a downloadable audit script that only runs directory-size and simctl inventory commands. The script does not delete files, request administrator access, or upload output. Readers can inspect the source before running it and compare the same measurements before and after one change.
Evidence tables on our guides describe deletion boundaries rather than promised savings. You may cite those tables or the audit method with a link to the relevant guide or this policy. For a correction, reproduction detail, or a machine-readable copy of a table, contact the editorial team.
Sources and commercial separation
Operating-system behavior is sourced to Apple documentation wherever a primary source exists. Product screenshots come from our own app builds or simulators and are labeled as such.
AskClean and Photo Slim may appear as relevant tools in a guide. Their presence does not change the technical boundary: we state what each app can access, what it cannot access, and which actions still require the user’s confirmation.
Corrections
Software changes. If a menu label, path, command, or safety statement is outdated, email the exact page URL and correction to [email protected]. We review actionable corrections and update the article’s modified date when its substance changes.
Evidence standard
| Class | Required check | Claim boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuildable output | Identify its source and rebuild action | State the time and compute cost; never call it consequence-free |
| Redownloadable artifact | Verify network and upstream availability | Do not promise the exact version will remain available |
| Operational state | Inspect ownership, backups, and active use | Do not classify databases, volumes, or test data as cache |
| Release or user evidence | Confirm retention and recovery requirements | Default to keep; age and size are not deletion evidence |