Ask HN: Why is FB app for Android so big?

6 pointsbikamonki5 comments

140MB on Lollipop running on Nexus 5 after deleting data/cache.

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FB is known for shipping code to enable multiple versions of their app inside a single APK for A/B testing purposes.

Unzip the APK and find out.

I'm curious as well, although I don't own a smart phone and can't find out for myself.

I got the API from this site: http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/ (app path is com.facebook.katana)

The extracted APK only totaled 51.6 MB. A lot of it was from the assets and libraries, as you might imagine.

It doesn't explain why the size on OP's device was so large.

The installation process on Lollipop includes the compilation of the apk dex files to the native oat format. I don't know if it is enough to account for such a difference though, but I am not an ART expert.

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