Android 16 Could Introduces Cloud Compilation for Quick App Installs on Low-End Devices

It is said to reduce the dependency on the phone’s chipset for app installation and speeding up the process entirely.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 7 April 2025 14:54 IST

Highlights

Android 16 is reported to introduce a Cloud Compilation feature
Instead of generating artifacts on device, it fetches from the Play Store
It is said to speed up app installation on low-end devices

Android 16 Could Introduces Cloud Compilation for Quick App Installs on Low-End Devices

Android 16 is speculated to be moved to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on June 3.

Photo Credit: Google

Android 16 is the next big OS update for Android devices which is said to be released in June this year. According to a report, it will bring a new feature aimed at making app installation faster. Dubbed Cloud Compilation, it targets low-end devices and offloads app compilations to the cloud, eliminating the need of running the dex2oat tool and making the process faster. This is said to prove beneficial when installing apps that have a lot of code to compile, which may put strain on the handset's chipset.

Cloud Compilation in Android 16

Android Authority's Mishaal Rahman shed light on Android 16's new feature in a report. The OS usually leverages Android Runtime (ART) to execute the application's code. It starts with the dex2oat tool which converts the .dex files containing the app's bytecode into artifacts — files or directories produced by the Android Gradle plugin during the build.

These can help in several ways: speeding up the bytecode verification, contain pre-compiled code for methods, or have ART internal representations of certain strings or classes to improve the app startup speeds.

Vivo X200 Ultra, X200s, Pad 5 Pro, Pad SE, Watch 5 to Launch on This Date

On high-end devices, these artifacts can be generated quickly courtesy of flagship processors under the hood. However, the low-end devices in the market often struggle due to less capable chipsets or memory bandwidth issues. This is where Android 16's Cloud Compilation feature comes in.

The report suggests that instead of generating application artifacts on-device using the handset's processor, it simply imports the (Secure Dex Metadata) SDM file containing the pre-compiled versions of the artifacts from the Google Play Store. The files are said to be signed with the same key as the APK. This method helps bypass the need of running the dex2oat tool, reducing the dependency on the phone's chipset for app installation and speeding up the process entirely.

However, the feature isn't activated yet. As per the report, Google is required to configure its Play Store to generate application artifacts using dex2oat and provide them at the time of the APK installation on devices running Android 16.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.