Google Play Cracks Down on Android App Memory Usage Starting in 2027

Google has announced new performance requirements for Android apps, set to take effect in February 2027. These changes aim to improve app stability and user experience by measuring dynamic memory usage, bitmap memory, and DEX code optimization.

The new requirements separate memory into several areas: dynamic memory usage, which measures private memory used by the application; bitmap memory, which looks at whether apps retain bitmaps when they are no longer visible; and DEX optimization, which requires at least 25% coverage of optimization, shrinking, and obfuscation.

Teams can investigate memory growth using Android Studio's Memory Profiler, which allows them to identify temporary allocations versus retained growth. A practical investigation involves reproducing a specific user flow several times, watching what happens to memory after each iteration and after garbage collection.

Google recommends downsampling images to the dimensions the UI actually needs, as compressed file size is a poor indicator of runtime cost. Teams should also understand their configuration and caching behavior when using image-loading libraries like Coil or Glide.