Google rolls out 16 KB page size supported kernel for Pixel 8 series with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1
Till now, Android has been “built and optimized to run with a 4 KB page size.” But by adding support for a 16 KB page size resulted in “overall performance boost of 5-10%,” though at the expense of ~9% additional memory usage including:
• 3.16% Lower app launch times while the system is under memory pressure
• 30% more significant improvements for some apps
• Reduced power draw during app launch by 4.56%
• Faster camera launch with 4.48% faster hot starts & 6.60% faster cold starts
• Improved system boot time by 1.5%
With Android 15, Google has refactored the OS “from the ground up to support running at different page sizes, thus making it page-size agnostic.” Developers have to recompile their apps for 16 KB page size devices, but the “same application binary can run on both 4 KB and 16 KB devices.”
The 16 KB page size supported kernel is already available in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1 for the Pixel 8 series. However, this requires an unlocked bootloader AND wiping your entire userdata partition unless it's already formatted in EXT4. That's because, EXT4 block size must be <= of the system page size, while with F2FS, it must be equal. F2FS must have a matching block size and disk block size, and otherwise would require you to wipe each time you toggle the settings, unfeasible for development.
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Till now, Android has been “built and optimized to run with a 4 KB page size.” But by adding support for a 16 KB page size resulted in “overall performance boost of 5-10%,” though at the expense of ~9% additional memory usage including:
• 3.16% Lower app launch times while the system is under memory pressure
• 30% more significant improvements for some apps
• Reduced power draw during app launch by 4.56%
• Faster camera launch with 4.48% faster hot starts & 6.60% faster cold starts
• Improved system boot time by 1.5%
With Android 15, Google has refactored the OS “from the ground up to support running at different page sizes, thus making it page-size agnostic.” Developers have to recompile their apps for 16 KB page size devices, but the “same application binary can run on both 4 KB and 16 KB devices.”
The 16 KB page size supported kernel is already available in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1 for the Pixel 8 series. However, this requires an unlocked bootloader AND wiping your entire userdata partition unless it's already formatted in EXT4. That's because, EXT4 block size must be <= of the system page size, while with F2FS, it must be equal. F2FS must have a matching block size and disk block size, and otherwise would require you to wipe each time you toggle the settings, unfeasible for development.
Follow @TechLeaksZone