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The US-based tech giant Google is improving the application launch speed on Android devices. Google Play system’s update for Android Runtime (ART) will bring better performance, security fixes, and consistent core APIs to millions of devices, including Android 12+. The upcoming update will be available soon on ‘Go’ version as well.

For those who are not familiar with the Android Runtime, it is the engine behind the Android operating system (OS). ART powers apps and OS services. ART handles Java and Kotlin code, making apps run. When it is better, all apps improve, run faster, and become more efficient.

The speed at which apps start is crucial for how users feel about their devices. iPhones and iPads have been known for being faster and smoother when it comes to opening and closing apps. Users were complaining about slow app launches so Google decided to bring a new ART update to make the app start 30 per cent faster.

Google, with the ART 14 update, has significantly improved its performance. According to the blogpost, this boost is expected to significantly enhance the user experience, even faster than iPhones.

The testing process for Android Runtime updates involves compiling over 18 million APKs and running app compatibility tests, and startup, performance, and memory benchmarks on a variety of Android devices. After all this, the updates are introduced gradually, the blogpost said.

The US-based tech giant also notes developer improvements with every update. They make improvements to OpenJDK and how the code is handled, which helps both Java and Kotlin.

With ART 13, Google saw the quickest-ever adoption of a new OpenJDK version on Android devices. ART 14 is rolling out in the coming months with “new compiler and runtime optimisations that improve performance while reducing code size, as well as OpenJDK 17.

“Our target is 100% API coverage and high line coverage, especially for new APIs,” said Google.