How to Optimise Android Apps for Performance and Battery Life

In today’s mobile-centric world, users demand speed, stability, and energy efficiency from every app they install. If your Android app lags, drains the battery, or crashes frequently, it doesn’t matter how beautiful or feature-rich it is—users will abandon it. 

In fact, a 2024 study by Statista revealed that 61% of users uninstall apps due to performance issues, while 44% cited excessive battery consumption as the primary reason. Clearly, developers who fail to optimise Android apps are fighting a losing battle. 

On the other hand, well-optimised Android apps don’t just run smoother—they retain users, improve ratings, reduce churn, and get better visibility in the Play Store. Whether you’re developing from scratch or maintaining an existing solution, this guide will show you how to optimise Android apps for maximum performance and minimal battery drain in 2025. 

Let’s dive into the techniques, tools, and tips that make Android app development smarter, faster, and more user-friendly. 

Why App Performance and Battery Optimisation Matter

The competition in Android app development is intense—there are over 3.5 million apps on the Google Play Store as of early 2025. The bar for quality is higher than ever, and users are increasingly intolerant of performance bottlenecks or power-hungry processes. 

Here’s what you stand to gain when you properly optimise Android apps: 

✅ Enhanced User Experience (UX): Snappy, responsive apps make users feel in control. 
✅ Increased User Retention: Optimised apps keep users engaged and loyal. 
✅ Better App Store Rankings: Faster and lighter apps typically rank higher. 
✅ Improved Ratings and Reviews: Users reward well-optimised Android apps with 4-5 star ratings. 
✅ Lower Cost of Acquisition (CAC): Happy users refer others, reducing marketing spend. 

At Jhavtech Studios, our Android app development strategy puts optimisation at the forefront—ensuring every build is lean, stable, and battery-conscious. 

Top Techniques to Improve Android App Performance

1. Use Efficient Architecture (MVVM/Clean Architecture)

Optimising Android apps isn’t just about fixing bugs—it’s about building software that scales smoothly, loads instantly, and runs reliably across all devices. Whether you’re creating a sleek new startup app or maintaining a legacy enterprise solution, the following techniques will help you develop Android apps that are fast, efficient, and built for long-term success. Let’s explore the core methods that power high-performance Android app development in 2025. 

The foundation of every high-performing app is its architecture. Frameworks like MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) and Clean Architecture encourage separation of concerns, which makes code modular, reusable, and easier to maintain. 

💡 Clean code isn’t just about aesthetics—it directly improves runtime performance and long-term scalability. 

2. Minimise Main Thread Work

Heavy lifting on the main thread leads to slow UI rendering and dreaded ANRs (Application Not Responding errors). As a rule of thumb, keep the UI thread light. Offloading intensive tasks like database queries, file I/O, and API calls to background threads not only prevents jank but also improves perceived performance. This ensures smoother animations, quicker interactions, and a more responsive user experience overall. 

3. Optimise Layouts with ConstraintLayout

Complex, deeply nested layouts slow down UI rendering. Instead, use ConstraintLayout to create flatter and more efficient UI hierarchies. By reducing the number of view groups and leveraging constraints, you allow the rendering engine to draw the UI with fewer passes. ConstraintLayout also supports features like chains and guidelines, which help maintain a clean design without compromising performance. 

Stat: Google reports a 20–35% speed increase in UI rendering when switching from nested LinearLayouts to ConstraintLayout. 

💡 Pro Tip: Use the Layout Inspector in Android Studio to find performance bottlenecks in your UI tree. See Google’s guide to ConstraintLayout for details. 

4. Enable ProGuard or R8

R8, the successor to ProGuard, shrinks, obfuscates, and optimises your code. This results in a smaller app size and faster load time—both critical for first impressions. 

Benefits of using R8:

• Shrinks unused classes and methods 
• Reduces method count (great for apps close to 64K limit) 
• Improves cold start performance 
• Adds a layer of security by obfuscating code 

5. Reduce App Size with Android App Bundles

Traditional APKs include everything for all devices, resulting in bloated files. By switching to Android App Bundles, app developers can deliver optimised builds tailored to a user’s specific device. 

Benefits of AAB:

• Faster downloads and installs 
• Smaller on-device footprint 
• Less memory usage 

Example: One of our e-commerce apps cut its size from 60MB to 35MB by moving to AAB and compressing unused assets. The result? A 12% drop in uninstall rates within 60 days. 

Best Practices for Battery Life Optimisation

While performance is crucial for keeping users engaged, battery efficiency plays an equally vital role in app retention. Android users today are hyper-aware of which apps drain their battery—and they won’t hesitate to uninstall offenders. To optimise Android apps for long-term usage, developers must follow best practices that balance functionality with smart resource management. Here are four proven ways to extend battery life without sacrificing features. 

1. Use JobScheduler or WorkManager for Background Tasks

Waking the CPU too often can drain battery quickly. Instead, batch your background tasks using WorkManager or JobScheduler, which are designed to respect system conditions like charging state, network availability, and battery level. These APIs help ensure that your app only performs tasks when it makes sense—like syncing data overnight or updating feeds when on Wi-Fi. This approach significantly improves battery longevity and keeps your app aligned with Android’s background execution limits. 

Use Case: Scheduling nightly backups only when the device is idle and plugged in. 

2. Limit Location Updates and Sensor Usage

Real-time GPS and sensor tracking can be power-hungry. If your app relies on user location, follow these tips: 

• Use FusedLocationProviderClient for efficient GPS access 
• Opt for passive location updates when pinpoint accuracy isn’t necessary 
• Throttle sensor data requests (e.g., every 10 seconds instead of every second) 

You should also dynamically adjust update frequency based on activity—for instance, polling less often when the user is stationary. Additionally, avoid using background location updates unless absolutely critical, as they are notorious for draining battery and triggering user complaints. 

⚠️ Avoid continuous location tracking in the background—it’s a fast track to 1-star reviews. 

3. Respect Doze Mode and App Standby

Android 6.0 introduced Doze Mode and App Standby, which limit background processes when the device is idle or unused. These features are crucial to modern battery management, and apps that ignore them risk being throttled or even flagged by the system. 

How to Adapt:

• Replace setExact with setAndAllowWhileIdle to ensure alarms still run during Doze 
• Use WorkManager to align periodic tasks with system wake cycles 
• Avoid persistent “keep-alive” services unless absolutely essential 

Failure to comply with Doze Mode can result in delayed push notifications, broken background syncing, and a poor overall user experience—especially on devices with aggressive battery-saving policies. 

4. Use Firebase Performance Monitoring

Google’s Firebase Performance Monitoring gives developers real-world insights into how their Android apps behave on actual user devices. By integrating Firebase, you can pinpoint inefficiencies that traditional testing may miss and quickly prioritise what needs fixing. 

Here are a few key metrics you can track and how they benefit your app:

• App Start Time – Measuring how quickly your app launches helps you improve first impressions and reduce user drop-off. 

• Slow Rendering Screens – Identifying which screens lag during rendering allows you to fix UI bottlenecks and enhance responsiveness. 

• Network Latency – Monitoring how long it takes for network requests to complete helps you optimise API calls, caching strategies, and data sync processes. 

• Battery Usage Patterns – Analysing power consumption across user sessions enables you to detect excessive drains and refactor energy-heavy operations. 

This data is especially powerful when combined with crash analytics and user feedback. For example, a travel app used Firebase to diagnose a slow splash screen caused by oversized image assets. After compressing the assets, launch time dropped by 43%, dramatically improving user satisfaction and retention. 

Ask Engine–Optimised FAQs

What causes Android apps to run slow?

Heavy UI threads, excessive object creation, unoptimised layouts, and poor memory management are common culprits.

How do I improve battery life in my Android app?

Use WorkManager, limit background services, throttle GPS/sensor use, and comply with Doze Mode and standby limitations.

Why is my Android app consuming too much battery?

It may be waking the CPU too often, using high-frequency location updates, or running inefficient code loops.

Does app size affect performance?

Yes. Large apps load slower, take more memory, and are more likely to crash on low-end devices.

What is the best layout for performance in Android?

Constraint Layout is ideal for complex UIs due to its flat hierarchy and superior rendering efficiency. 

How do I optimise Android apps for older devices?

Use lighter assets, avoid memory-heavy operations, and test across a range of Android versions and screen sizes.

Is Firebase worth using to optimise Android apps?

Absolutely. Firebase helps you track performance across devices, isolate bottlenecks, and improve UX based on real usage.

Internal Links to Explore

• Learn more about our Android App Development Services 

• Already have an app that’s slow or draining battery? Book a Free Code Review with our Android experts 

• If your app needs a complete performance overhaul, consider our Software Rescue Project Solutions 

Final Thoughts…

If your app isn’t fast and power-efficient in 2025, it’s on borrowed time. With rising user expectations and fierce competition in the Android ecosystem, it’s no longer enough to just launch an app—you need to optimise Android apps from the inside out. 

From leveraging smart architecture and UI practices to embracing tools like Firebase and WorkManager, the steps you take to optimise Android apps will define your success in today’s market. 

Need help with optimisation, troubleshooting, or rebuilding your Android app from scratch? Contact Jhavtech Studios today! Our Android app development experts are ready to turn your vision into a high-performing, energy-efficient solution that users will love.