How Baseline Profiles Improve Skeelo Android App Performance
Article Summary
Skeelo's Android app had a problem: too many users were experiencing painfully slow startup times. They needed a solution that didn't require rewriting their entire codebase.
The Skeelo engineering team noticed alarming startup metrics in Google Play Console, with significant percentages of sessions hitting slow thresholds (5+ seconds for cold starts, 2+ for warm, 1+ for hot). They turned to Baseline Profiles and Startup Profiles to optimize performance.
Key Takeaways
- Baseline Profiles precompile critical code paths to skip interpretation overhead
- Startup Profiles optimize DEX file layout to reduce page faults
- Implementation achieved 58% reduction in slow startup sessions
- Benchmarked performance against Kindle, Audible, Goodreads, and other competitors
- Solution required minimal code changes with straightforward implementation
Critical Insight
By implementing Baseline and Startup Profiles, Skeelo reduced slow startup sessions by approximately 58% and earned praise across teams for noticeably faster app performance.
