How Grab cut ANRs 32% by rolling out R8 in three phases
Compat mode, then Full Mode, then keep-rule cleanup with Configuration Analyzer.
Grab rolled out R8 optimization in three phases: it enabled R8 in compat mode, moved to R8 Full Mode, then refined its keep rules with Configuration Analyzer and added CI/CD governance. Together the work reduced its user-perceived ANR rate by 32%, cut app download size by about 30% and improved startup time by 35%.
R8 Full Mode accounted for a large share. On its own it delivered an additional 14% reduction in app download size, an extra 10% improvement in startup time and another 10% decrease in user-perceived ANRs.
The keep-rule refinement phase is yielding about another 3.6% reduction in download size.
Sources
- Grab Reduces ANRs by 32% and improves startup time by 35% with R8 and Profile guided optimization Primary Android Developers Blog
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