Google is getting ready to release the stable version of the operating system, which will probably land on Pixel smartphones first and for everyone else over the next months. Now, the latest change to the operating system could boost performance on some devices.
Android 15 is introducing a significant change in how the operating system manages memory, potentially leading to a 5-10% performance boost. Traditionally, Android has used a 4 KB page size, but now it will support a larger 16 KB page size, enabled by newer ARM CPUs. This shift to a larger page size means less overhead for the operating system when allocating memory to apps. The result is more resources available for enhancing your videos, games, and overall app experience.
Android 15 has been refactored to work seamlessly with both 4 KB and 16 KB page sizes. In addition to this, file systems like EROFS and F2FS, along with the UFS storage layer, have been adapted for 16 KB compatibility. Memory management has been optimized to avoid unnecessary loading for the extra padding introduced by the larger page size.
Developers need to rebuild their native code with 16 KB alignment and thoroughly test on 16 KB devices or emulators to identify and fix any hardcoded assumptions about page size. Detailed developer documentation is available to guide this process.
The sad part is that this is not a feature that will become available out of the box with most new Android 15 smartphones, nor with phones that get the update down the road. Instead, it looks like it’s something that a phone manufacturer will need to implement on whatever new phone it releases. It’s a kernel-level feature, after all, and it’s not that easy to change it on existing devices, at least not without breaking a lot of things. For now, Google is rolling out a developer toggle that will enable 16 KB mode on Android 15 QPR1 Beta, although that will require you to wipe your device and unlock your bootloader.
Source: Google via 9to5Google
