Google Introduces the New Compression Algorithm for Reducing the Size of App Updates

Mobile apps are typically much smaller in size as in the past, there was extremely limited data storage space inside the mobile phones.
But nowadays, the concept has almost replaced by the amount of internet bandwidth every app consumes, both on initial download and on updates. Android apps are relatively infamous for having large payloads as compared to iOS versions. This will expectantly transform with Google’s new features that will keep those app sizes under control.

Firstly, Google is providing a new, updated algorithm that further reduces the apps size and updates up to a significant amount. Google has named it “bsdiff” and it can compress a download by 50%-70% in a perfect situation. It obviously depending on how much new data and code is included in the patch but it is still a considerable amount of savings.

Courtesy by slashgear.com

Moreover, it also applies to APK Expansion Files. Have you ever tried downloading a mobile game that required an initial few MB for installation of the APK, which needs 2GB more after installation? This happens when the expansion files are in action. According to Google, the new compression system can reduce the expansion files from 12%-65% on average.

At the other side, Google is updating the Play Store descriptions to include actual download size of the app and not the size of the APK. Even better, if you already have the app installed, the size information will show the size of the update you are about to install. Though it may not be as big as before, it will allow users to prepare downloading large apps by delaying those for when they are connected to Wi-Fi instead of mobile data.  

Though the updated bsdiff compression algorithm is now available for all apps, mobile developers still need to do more work to ensure their apps are well prepared to take the full advantage of this new feature. Ensuring their apps are small enough to start with, removing any unnecessary files and optimizing resources can go a long way even without compression.