Baseline Profiles in 2025: The Easy Speed Hack You're Ignoring ⚡
If your Android app still takes a few seconds to open, there's a good chance you're not using Baseline Profiles. One of the easiest and most effective speed hacks available today.
🚀 What Are Baseline Profiles?
A Baseline Profile tells Android which code paths to pre-compile so your app launches and runs faster right after install, no warm-up lag.
Instead of waiting for the JIT compiler to "learn" what users do, the profile gives it a head start.
Result:
- ✅ Faster cold starts ❄️
- ✅ Smoother scrolling
- ✅ Better battery efficiency
⚙️ How It Works (in 2025)
Since Android Studio Ladybug | 2024.2.1, generating profiles is built right into Gradle; no setup pain.
./gradlew generateBaselineProfile
The plugin records real user journeys (like opening your main screen or scrolling a list) and stores the optimized methods in:
app/src/main/baselineProfiles
At install time, ART uses this profile to pre-optimize those code paths.
🧩 Bonus: Profile Installation API
Android 14+ devices now let you update profiles dynamically from Play without a full app update.
That means your users benefit from faster performance automatically, as your usage evolves.
⚡ TL;DR
Baseline Profiles = free performance boost.
- ✅ Faster cold starts
- ✅ No code changes needed
- ✅ Built into modern Android Studio
- ✅ Now updatable via Play
Stop shipping slow startups - it's a 5-minute fix.