Google Play Sets Memory Limits for Android Apps as RAM Supply Tightens

Google Play is adding memory limits for Android apps, citing a hardware squeeze that is cutting how much RAM ends up in phones. In a developer blog post, Google said the mobile industry is facing “significant hardware supply constraints that are altering device memory availability,” and it is setting new performance thresholds so apps don’t cause slowdowns, throttling or terminations. As TechCrunch noted, the shortage is being driven by memory demand from AI data centers.

Developers have until February 2027 to meet the thresholds.

The three thresholds

• Dynamic memory: Anonymous RSS plus swap, meaning an app’s private data in both active and compressed memory, measured across app states such as foreground and background and across device performance categories.
• Bitmap memory: Bitmaps can occupy memory while an app is visible but shouldn’t be held for long when it’s in the background or cached.
• Optimized DEX code: Apps on Google Play must have at least 25% coverage across optimization, shrinking and obfuscation using R8 or a similar tool. Google says a well-optimized app bundle uses less memory, starts faster and has fewer ANRs.

The specific limits vary for apps and games, by device RAM bucket and by process state, and are documented on the Android developer site.

Tools to get there

Play Console is already rolling out new Android vitals metrics for dynamic and bitmap memory, broken down by percentile and RAM bucket, plus a crash and ANR filter that shows when the OS killed an app for running out of memory. More diagnostics are due later in the year, including insights from a Memory Limiter feature that keeps apps from using too much device memory.

Google also announced a second requirement. By April 2027, Play Store apps with sign-in must support Zero Tap Sign-In during device migration, automatically restoring a user’s signed-in state on a new Android phone through the Restore Credentials API.

For most teams, the practical work is familiar: turn on R8 if it isn’t already, release large bitmaps when the app leaves the screen, and use the new vitals data to find the screens and states where memory spikes. Apps aimed at low-end devices, where RAM is most limited, have the most to gain.