In recent years, Android version upgrades have started to feel more like iterative improvements rather than the noticeable visual changes of the past. Android 14, too, doesn’t appear dramatically different from its predecessor. However, improvements on Android 14 might actually include a core aspect of the device – RAM management.
Dave Burke, the VP of Engineering for Android, discussed how Android 14 enhances performance in an interview on The Android Show (via Android Police).
A better RAM management to come with Android 14
According to Burke, his team has managed to reduce the cold start time of an app by 30%. For those unfamiliar, a cold start of an app occurs when you open the app for the first time after a bootup. In other words, a cold start happens when the phone must retrieve the code pages of an app from flash to RAM before executing them. Not to mention, it takes some time. You will certainly notice these improvements in real life.
To avoid a cold start, processes must be kept in RAM (cached processes) in an inactive state. Inactive processes can almost instantly resume their operation, providing a fluid and smooth experience. However, there is at least one challenge when it comes to retaining processes in memory. Besides occupying RAM, the processes continue to run in the background to some extent, consuming resources such as CPU and battery life.
Android 14 smartly reduces background activities for apps. This might very well be at least one of the reasons behind the controlled thermals of the Google Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro.
Burke reported significant performance gains resulting from this effort. Background activities were reduced by 50%. The team achieved this by effectively freezing processes and reducing broadcasts. Broadcasts are the way the operating system communicates with multiple apps simultaneously. Repeating broadcasts are queued for the entire time the process remains cached. It resulted in a 30% reduction in cold starts, as Burke mentioned.
He also noted that the new ART (Android Runtime) 14 includes improvements that reduce code size in memory by nearly 9%.
Manufacturers are increasingly adding more memory to their devices to meet certain expectations. So any software-level improvement in RAM management is a valuable addition for sure.
2023-10-24 15:06:31