Optimizing the size of your mobile application is one of the many things developers can do to help users get the most of their device. Mobile devices have limited resources: battery, storage, processing power, RAM and internet connectivity (among other things). This is probably why the majority of mobile users consider the size of an app before installing it. Larger apps take up more space on mobile phones and this hampers the performance of the mobile phone. No one wants an app that uses up their phones limited space. If you are looking for ways to optimize your app’s size then you are in the right place at the right time. All you need is to continue to the end of the article to get all the answers you need.

Upload your app with Android App Bundles

To do this, simply upload your app as an Android App Bundle. This app bundle is then used to generate and serve optimized APKs by Google Play’s new app serving model, called Dynamic Delivery. This way, you no longer need to go through the stress of building, signing and managing different APKs for different devices. What’s more, your mobile users will get smaller and better-optimized downloads.

Minimize resource use from libraries

External libraries serve to improve your app’s usability and versatility when used in the app development process. Libraries like the Android Support Library provide a reference for user experience on older devices. The only snag with these libraries is that they may include methods or objects that are unnecessary for your app, especially if they are designed for desktops or servers. You can go around this by editing the library’s files where possible or simply opting for the mobile version of the external library

Use the Android Size Analyzer

This is one tool that makes it easy to identify and implement the different strategies that will enable you to reduce your app size. It can be downloaded via the plugin marketplace in Android Studio. Once you have installed the plugin, try running an app size analysis on the app you are working on. To do this, simply select “Analyze” from the menu bar. After that, select “Analyze App Size”. After you must have done the analysis, you will get recommendations from a tool window about the best way to minimize the size of your app.

Reduce PNG and JPEG files

Compressing PNG and JPEG file sizes will serve to reduce your app size. If you were worried about a reduction while doing this, then you no longer have to worry about that. Tools like pngcrush and zopflipng (among others) compress PNG file sizes without compromising the image quality. There are also tools (packJPG and guetzli) that reduce JPEG files without reducing the image quality. 

Conclusion

Developing apps is fun but bear in mind that mobile users want the best of both worlds. They want apps that add value without taking too much disk space. Apply the tips we described in this article, and you will soon be smiling to the bank.

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