Only?
Sure about that?
https://fedia.io/m/android@lemdro.id/t/1119259/Tested-Google-s-Pixel-9-Pro-models-only-have-13GB-RAM/comment/6949769#entry-comment-6949769
They have 16GB of RAM physically, 3GB is reserved for AI. So yeah, only 13GB is usable by regular apps, even if you don’t care about any of the AI stuff.
It’s not about a single app, it’s about multitasking without having to reload apps.
At various times I’ve juggled between 4 apps at once on my phone. Say something like Messaging, Firefox, maybe a lemmy app, and Bitwarden for logging into something.
So then why does it have 16GB?
Have you noticed how expensive these things have gotten? Doesn’t it seems like charging you for more RAM than it necessary and then locking 20% of it away for “features” no one wants is a bad thing?
Adding to what others said it is beneficial to load an app from RAM.
- Loads faster for user convenience
- Lower power usage so you’ll have better battery life
- More RAM reduces disk writes for cache / temporary files / from cold started apps that could write to storage.
If this is enabled by default it’ll certainly be needed, especially in cases like multitasking.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2024/08/adding-16-kb-page-size-to-android.html?m=1
How did google manage to make a version of linux more bloated than windows? It’s almost impressive.
while modern standby still barely works in Linux: optimisations.
Steam Deck likes to have a word
Tbf the high ram usage wouldnt be a problem if it cached processes in it and used it to save battery but its just pure bloat. I think phones should have a coprocessor that handles notifications like what smartwatches do and that basically free battery. But android is also bloated because apps take a very long time to launch because of the jvm and java (thats what i heard at least, idk if this is actually why its slow) so everything is just left active. Also i think android strayed too far from linux, its basically just a worse version with a mobile ui and the support of a country sized company.
My gaming PC has 9
16GB of RAM sounded too good to be true. Granted 13GB is nothing for sneeze at still. Hopefully, they can provide an option to toggle it off. Sounds wasteful for people who would use it once a while.
Just getting the 3GB of RAM used is not the issue. There are apps which can use even more. The issue is its reserved meaning its not available to your other apps.
An option to remove the lock while still being able to utilize the RAM (should the need arise) and AI features should be provided for flexibility should one desire.
