Android5 min read

Baseline Profiles in 2025: The Easy Speed Hack You're Ignoring ⚡

Oct 17, 2025By Divya

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.