Google's New Tech Promises to Boost Android Performance
Google is testing a new method that could significantly enhance Android's performance, potentially boosting it by up to 10%. The secret? Utilizing larger 16KB memory pages.
Currently, Android is optimized for 4KB memory pages. Google's calculations suggest that quadrupling this size could lead to a performance gain of 5% to 10%, with a trade-off of approximately 9% increased memory usage.
Benefits of the New Technology:
- Faster app launch times: A reduction of 3.16% on average (and up to 30% in some cases) when memory is limited.
- Reduced power consumption: A decrease of 4.56% on average.
- Snappier camera performance: A 4.48% speed increase for "hot" launches and a 6.60% boost for "cold" launches.
- Shorter system boot times: A reduction of 1.5% (roughly 0.8 seconds).
"Every time a program needs more memory, the operating system has to step in and make a note in a 'page table', assigning that chunk of memory to the process," Google explained. "This means the system can spend more time making sure videos look great, games run well, and apps launch smoothly, and less time filling out low-level operating system paperwork."
Android 15 has already been equipped to handle both 4KB and 16KB page sizes. This innovation is expected to be incorporated into the QPR1 Beta 1 build, soon to be available on Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro smartphones. While developers will need to unlock the bootloader and reset their devices to access this feature, regular users can anticipate its arrival in the near future as device memory capacities continue to increase.
