Google Making Progress With Android: Gets a Performance Boost By Adding a 16 KB Page Size

Traditionally, Android has been using and supporting a 4 KB page size. A page is the level of memory management that an operating system manages. The length of a page frame is the same as that of a page. Today’s computers can handle 4 KB pages, so Android OS and apps have been designed to work well with 4 KB pages. 

Google Android engineers have shared a status update on supporting 16 KB page size when it comes to Android. In moving from a 4 KB to 16 KB page size, Google has found a 5~10% performance boost but at the added expense of around ~9% additional RAM usage.

The first-ever 16 KB-enabled Android system will be made publicly accessible on selected devices as a developer option. This is done so that users can use the developer option to test and fix their applications to prepare for Android devices with 16 KB page sizes shortly. Even though this increase will use your memory, it can boost overall system performance.

The advantages and enhancements in performance:

• The reduction in power draw usage during the app launch was 4.56% on average.

• Increased speed of camera launch: 4.48% faster hot starts on average and 6.60% faster cold starts on average.
• Improved system boot time by 1.5% (approximately 0.8 seconds) on average.

Individuals who are seeking further information regarding the 16 KB page size support for Android, which is intended to enhance performance, may obtain further information through the Android Developers Blog.