Google tightens memory usage requirements for Android apps due to RAM shortage

Google has introduced changes to its requirements for Android apps, asking developers to reduce and monitor the memory usage of your applications, as well as optimize your code if necessary in order to face the shortage of RAM memory chips.

Android includes limits on memory usage by applications since Android 17, face guarantee a more stable environment for Android apps and users, protecting your overall experience from apps that consume excess memory and cause system-wide slowdowns and even increased battery drain.

Now, Google Play has introduced new requirements for Android applications, which are based on reduce the memory footprint of the ‘app’ to “help developers navigate the limitations of ‘hardware’ at the industrial level.

That is, in reference to the current situation that the technology sector is going through with the shortage of RAM memory chips, which has “altered the availability of device memory” and therefore also affects the consumer experience.

In this framework, since Android 17 is rolling out to a broader ecosystem of devicesdevelopers will have to adapt to these new devices and their manufacturers, who will take advantage of the memory limits per application that Android offers in its portfolio of device RAM configurations, including from 4GB to more than 16 GM of memory.

To address this challenge, Android has chosen wider memory limitswhich include new thresholds in dynamic memory usagethe use of bitmaps and the code optimization, as detailed in a statement on his blog.

Thus, with new tools in Play Consoledevelopers will have new metrics about your memory usageas well as proactive performance alerts when their applications pass these new thresholds, so they can optimize their code to fit. Also, during the next year, Google will launch new diagnostic tools and even a Memory Limiter.

In the event that the applications do not meet these new requirements, Google has warned that “will slow down and may be canceled“. In addition, they can also lose visibility and experience a reduced publishing capacity on Google Play.

However, Google will begin requiring developers to meet these new requirements in February of next year 2027, so they have room until then to modify their applications if necessary.

SEAMLESS LOGIN WHEN DEVICE MIGRATE

Separately, Google has also introduced a new standard to provide “a secure and seamless device migration experience,” to ensure that users can Move your apps when you switch to a new device “effortlessly.”

Specifically, they have included a requirement for developers to make logins faster while maintaining security, based on the Zero-Tap Log-In standard, which will require any application that supports login automatically restores the login state when a user moves from one Android device to another, using the Android Credential Restore API.

This measure will begin to be required in April 2027, although games are currently exempt from this requirement.