Lifehack logo

7 Best Ways to Reduce Android App Size

How to effectively reduce Android App Size?

By Pinal GodaPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
Like

Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems in the world, but it's not without its faults. The biggest problem with Android's apps is that they're generally much larger than their competitors, and this can cause problems on older hardware or phones with limited storage (like those running on an SD card).

There are a number of ways to reduce your app size, such as removing redundant code and using optimized libraries.

In this post, we'll take a look at some other ways to reduce your app size.

Redundant Code Removal

There are a lot of factors that impact android app development. One of the factors that would impact the app size tremendously is redundant code.

This is the easiest way to reduce your app size. This is what the companies who provide the android development service say. You should remove all non-essential code from your app and then reformat it into a smaller version.

It will reduce the number of lines of code in each function and make it easier for you to maintain future updates.

For example, if you have an app that offers multiple functionalities within itself (for example, a game), then removing redundant files like levels or maps will allow users with older devices who don't need them anymore can still play all games without having any issues!

Support for Specific Screen Densities

Density is the number of pixels per inch (DPI) on a device's screen. A higher density means that more information can be displayed on the screen at once, and thus, it reduces file size and increases performance.

The device's screen density is based on two factors: physical size and resolution.

If you're using a phone with a smaller physical size compared to other phones in its class (such as an iPhone 11 or Samsung Galaxy S9), then its pixel count will be lower than those phones—and therefore, your app might run slower due to less RAM being used by your app while running at full speed.

Use Proguard

If you're looking to reduce your Android app size, you can use a tool called Proguard. It is an open-source classifier used by most android development service providers that shrink and optimizes your code.

It can be used to make your app run faster when on-device and off-device, as well as giving it better protection against reverse engineering attacks (i.e., being able to understand what's inside).

It also reduces the size of your APK file by removing unused classes from Java files and removing whitespace from Java files (among other things).

Optimize Libraries to reduce app size android

Optimizing libraries is one of the best ways to reduce your app size. If you're using old versions of libraries, they will have a negative impact on your app performance and may even cause crashes.

The good news is that there are several free tools available that can help you analyze and optimize your Android library files for better performance.

The first step in optimizing a library file is to check if it has been deprecated or not: if so, then remove it from your build folder!

This ensures that when Google updates their SDKs (and they always do), we won't need any additional changes made by us so as not to break AOSP code paths etc.

Use Android Size Analyzer Plugin

The Android Size Analyzer plugin is a free plugin for Android Studio that lets you analyze the size of your app and its resources. It helps you optimize your app by finding unused resources, removing redundant code and shrinking PNGs.

When installed on an Android project, the plugin will automatically detect all images in the project and provide their information, including their original dimensions, bit depth, color space etc.

This tool also allows users to export resized versions or create new ones from existing images (with or without padding).

Removal of unused resources and class

There are several ways you can reduce the size of your app. One of the easiest ways is to remove unused resources and classes. This means that you should remove any resources that are not used in your app (such as images) and also any code or libraries that you don't need anymore.

If you've been using an old library, but now it doesn't work with newer versions of Android or iOS, then chances are that there's something wrong with either the library itself or its dependencies; if these issues aren't fixed quickly enough, then users may find themselves facing problems when trying out new features or apps on their device!

Another great way to reduce Android App Size is by removing unused files from its folder structure.

This helps reduce unnecessary bloat from within our operating system by making sure everything gets loaded only when needed instead of having everything loaded up each time we launch our application.

Use Android App Bundle to Reduce App Size

The Android app bundle is a new way to deliver your app, and it will help you reduce the size of your apk file. You can use this feature to deliver multiple versions of your app in one APK.

For example, if you have an old version of an app that has been updated but not yet released for all users, then using the Android App Bundle feature will allow you to send out a single APK file instead of sending out two separate ones: one for each version (old and new).

This reduces both the storage space used by each package as well as the bandwidth needed for downloading these files from Google Play Store servers.

To leave all of this stress aside, you can hire an experienced development company that provides reliable android development services, as they have every trick up their sleeve to make your app run smoother.

Conclusion

We've gone over some of the best methods to reduce your app size in this article. It can be difficult to find a balance between something that is fast but still lightweight enough for users to download and enjoy.

We hope you found these suggestions helpful!

tech
Like

About the Creator

Pinal Goda

Pinal is a React Native Developer working with Gtech Web Infotech Pvt. Ltd., mobile app development company. Being capable of building cross-platform applications that are highly proficient and offer intuitive user experience is her forte.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.