Google Android engineers have shared a status update on bringing support for 16KB page size handling to Android. In moving from a 4KB to 16KB page size, Google has found a 5~10% performance boost but at the cost of around ~9% additional RAM usage.
There are not yet any production Android devices using a 16KB page size but with Android 15 is the ability to switch between 4KB and 16KB page sizes. The first 16KB-enabled Android systems will be made available as a developer option to help in testing and ensuring app developers can properly test for the larger page size.
Google has made adjustments in Android 15 for 16KB page size compatibility, all OS binaries supplied by Google are now 16KB aligned, and file-systems like EROFS and F2FS are ready with 16KB page size use.
Of the Android 15 developer option for the 16KB page size, the feature is described in today’s status update as:
“When built for 16 KB pages, the same binary will work with 4 KB and 16 KB devices, however the Linux kernel has to be separate. In order to solve this problem, we’ve added a way to include an extra kernel you can switch to as a developer option. Incrementally compressed, with one copy for each page size and takes ~12-16 MB of space on disk.
Using the 16 KB developer option will require wiping the device once and an unlocked bootloader. Following flashing, developers will be able to switch between a 4 KB and 16 KB mode by toggling the developer option over a reboot.”
Those wishing to learn more about the 16KB page size support for Android to yield greater performance can learn more via the Android Developers Blog.