Do you know that the likelihood of a person downloading an app reduces by 1% for every 6 MB that the app’s size increases?
That is correct, thank you for asking
The scope of duty placed on app developers has grown substantially in recent years as a direct result of the unbounded nature of human ambitions, which is why tech companies now look to hire android developers that possess high-level skills and technical knowledge. To cater to the ever-expanding requirements of consumers, developers are need to cram numerous features into a single application. While doing so, there is a good chance that the Android app that is produced will be larger than it would have been otherwise.
How frequently do you download a substantial application into your computer? Seldom, is I correct? How can you expect clients to download your programme if it consumes a significant amount of their time, data, battery life, and storage space, respectively? When users go to the Play Store to download an application, the file size of the programme is one of the most significant factors to take into consideration. The more compact the application is, the better it will be.
Heavy programmes require a significant amount of storage space on the device, consume a significant amount of data, and take a significant amount of time to download. It decreases the likelihood that your application will reach as many individuals as it might if it were a size that was more appropriate. Users of Android smartphones are under constant pressure to ensure that their devices have sufficient capacity to ensure the seamless operation of Android applications on their devices.
They routinely get rid of anything that isn’t as important as they maintain important documents and programmes, which allows them to make more space for the former. They eventually find out, to to their surprise, that their smartphone is running out of space, which is the most upsetting message that can appear on the screen.
As the world continues to become more and more digitised, the requirements being placed on mobile devices and the mobile applications that we use on a daily basis are also rising. The mobile storage space has increased to 256 GB, and it will almost certainly rise even further in the future as we continue to fulfil user requests, provide new features, and support apps on a variety of screen sizes.
The question now is, how can the size of the application be decreased while it is still in the development stage? During the course of the development process, there are a number of things that can be done to shrink the size of an Android application; the goal is to end up with a product that is of higher quality overall. So let’s get started.
Methods for Scaling Down the Size of an Android App
Over seventy percent of all smartphone users opt to utilise Android as their primary operating system. In addition, the Google Play Store is responsible for around 3 million of the total 3 billion mobile programmes that may be downloaded from a variety of app stores.
This highlights how pervasive Android smartphones and mobile apps have become in today’s society. The Android operating system, which is owned by the tech giant Google and is immensely popular across the globe due to its capabilities, was developed by Google. Despite this, the number of people using Android smartphones is still quickly increasing and has not yet hit its peak.
As was previously demonstrated, higher app sizes won’t improve anything and come with a number of negatives. Let’s now investigate in greater depth the additional measures that could be performed to produce a mobile application that is both more efficient and more compact in size. Are you prepared to go into further detail about it?
Optimize Images
The programme can be simplified and made more manageable by reducing the file sizes of its images. When an image’s size is decreased, the resolution of the image does not necessarily suffer as a result. Throughout the process of optimising pictures, you have the option of using either the.jpg or the.png file type. It is possible to reduce the file size of images as well as applications by converting both types of picture formats to the. web image format, often known as webp.
It is possible to reduce the size of images without sacrificing their quality using any one of a number of different approaches. On the other hand, designers have the option of making visual representations for apps using vector elements, which are unaffected by the resolution of the device being used. The design layout of the application is not altered by the numerous options available for image compression.
According to Google’s findings, download and installation rates for apps that are more than 150 megabytes in size are frequently lower.
This is par for the course. Compression can be applied to high-definition and ultra-high-definition file formats without compromising image or sound quality. Online users have access to a broad variety of apps that may be used as resources for modifying the image file sizes in a professional manner.
Use Proguard
The application known as Proguard is among the most significant solutions for minimising the size of APK files. It reduces the size of the source code files to the smallest possible amount, which can be as much as 90% smaller.
- While utilising it, “Proguard” and its various iterations should be used effectively.
- If utilised in all different variants, it assists in preventing conflicts during the process of building APK files or bundles.
- It is not possible to change the name of ProGuard, nor is it possible to delete any fields from these data classes. It uses a format that is serialised. As a result, making any adjustments will be counterproductive. It is always deemed to be safe to add a wildcard rule to all of your models or an annotation with the @Keep prefix to the entire class.
Use Android Size Analyzer
The plugin known as Android Size Analyzer can be utilised to perform an analysis on the app. This can help us figure out how to condense the application so that it takes up less space. If you don’t already have Android Studio installed on your computer, you can find it within Android Studio itself. The following is a list of the steps:
- Choose Settings under the Google Play Store menu.
- Go to the Plugins tab after you’ve visited the Marketplace.
- Try searching the internet for “Android Size Analyzer.” Set it up
To begin using the analyzer, open the Analyze menu and select the Analyze App Size option. It brings up a popup that provides advice on how to minimise the size of the application.
Eliminate the Codes and Classes That Aren’t Being Used
The process of designing a mobile app results in the production of streams of codes and resources that aren’t necessary. These codes are completely useless in the app’s context. Nonetheless, the overall size of the programme is significantly decreased as a result of these components. Thus, it is prudent to get rid of them given that they do not make any contribution to the operation of the programme. It’s possible that this will increase performance while also reducing the size of your software’s APK.
Eliminating unnecessary scripts and classes can be accomplished with the help of a number of tools and approaches. A software such as Android Lint, for instance, gives you the ability to investigate an application and locate underutilised resources. After that, you can choose those components by hand and delete them manually.
Make Use Of the Resource Cutting Tool
The resource shrinking tool will automatically eliminate any resources from the build that are not required at the time of construction. The function for reducing the size of resources is only employed in conjunction with the code reduction tool known as ProGuard. You also have the ability to generate a diagnostic output with this tool. Which will show you why a particular resource was excluded or included, depending on the circumstances.
Only non-valuable resources, such as menus, layouts, and drawable files (.xml,.png, 9.png, etc.), will be deleted by the resource shrinker. The resources that are defined in the Values folder, such as strings, dimensions, colours, and styles, are maintained in their original state.
Keep Several APK Files
Some software developers provide features that are almost ever utilised. Such as additional languages that are included but are never ever used. These add-ons cause the software to become larger while also consuming more data. This issue will be remedied once the app is uploaded as part of an app bundle. Which will enable Google to optimise the APKs for a variety of devices. If this is not the case, you can separate the app into multiple APK files. By doing so, the users will, of course, only obtain APKs that are appropriate for the devices they use.
Use Fonts That Can Be Downloaded
Because the vast majority of apps available through the Play Store use the same typefaces. The App bundle already contains a good number of those fonts. A user is committing duplication when they utilise the same device to run numerous applications that use the same typefaces. As a solution to the problem, Google expanded their collection of Support resources to include downloadable fonts. Instead of having to bundle files, APIs may now just make a request for typefaces.
Android app bundles are a great way to cut down on app size
While developing the release version of their software. Developers have the option of choosing between an Android App Bundle or an Android Package Kit (APK). However, making use of the App bundle is strongly recommended because doing so makes it possible for Google Play to build an APK with characteristics that are friendly to users.
An Android App Bundle can be defined as follows:
- A publishing format that is exquisitely crafted and includes both the materials and the code for your project. It enables the creation of APKs and the signing of those APKs for use on Google Play.
- While using Android App Bundles, the maximum size of a compressed download is limited to 150 megabytes. It is not possible to make use of APK expansion files with the app bundle.
How Google Can Assist Developers?
The Android operating system has Google’s support. And some software designers already have some knowledge on how to upload applications to the Play Store. When we use the Google Play Store as our primary resource for all Android applications. Google is helping you improve the quality of services that you provide to the general audience. Google has been making attempts to aid you with better user-appointment optimization for your Android programme. And the debut of Android app bundles in the previous year was a signal of those efforts.
Some announcements contributed to a growth in value as well as profits. At Google I/O 2019, there will be a discussion on the upcoming new features that will be offered to users. It possesses dynamic features, in-app upgrades that are pre-installed, internal testing, higher app database security, and improved rating statistics. The ability to pre-register for events is, without a doubt, the feature that will appeal to you the most. Information pertaining to it will be included in I/O 2019.
The Last Words
The market for mobile applications is experiencing a meteoric rise. Users are becoming more knowledgeable, which is leading to an increase in the number of apps they install. And the market share held by Android applications continues to grow. Because of the increased demand, the developers add a wide array of different features. The size of the application grows as a direct result of the inclusion of new functionality.
As the size of the software continues to grow, users are experiencing storage issues. The procedures described in your apps are applicable to all stages of the development process for Android applications. As a direct consequence of this change, the size of your application will be decreased.
We are a well-known app development business, and as such. We have produced and successfully implemented a large number of apps across a variety of industries. Hire android developers from us if you too want to design an interactive application for Android. And you can start unlocking the power of digital transformation right away.