All the way back in November of 2018, Google introduced something called “Project Marble” to the Android Studio. This isn’t another messaging app, though. Instead, Google did something unprecedented by improving the Android app development workflow.
In case you missed it, Project Marble isn’t really a single product or service. Rather, it’s an umbrella term referring to Google’s work on improving the stability of Android Studio, Google’s Android app development program of choice. During Project Marble’s lifetime, Google has been focusing more on fixing bugs and improving performance in Android Studio than introducing new features.
A few months after the beta update, Google has released the stable version of Android Studio 3.5, marking the end of Project Marble (but not the end of bug fixes). Here are some of the notable features and improvements that this version brings:
User Interface Freezes
If you use Android Studio regularly, you might have noticed this problem. At seemingly random times, Android Studio will simply freeze for anywhere from 1 second to 1 minute, or even until you force close it. Obviously, this is a pretty annoying thing to have to deal with when you’re trying to make an app.
With Android Studio 3.5, Google has worked hard to improve this situation. It’s not perfect, but what’s been done so far is definitely appreciated. Editing data binding expressions in XML is now faster de to latency improvements.
Build Speed
Another longtime problem with Android app development is the time it takes to build your app. Unless you have a very powerful computer, compilation can take upwards of 3 minutes. That’s a long time if you’re making small changes to debug an issue.
This new version of Android Studio brings two notable improvements to app compilation. The first is incremental compilation of annotation processors. If you use libraries such as Dagger and Realm in your app, you should notice shorter build times.
The second improvement relates to disk I/O on Windows. Windows Defender (now called Windows Security) has a feature that scans files in realtime (as they’re created or modified) to protect you from malware. However, this scanning can significantly slow down your app’s build. Android Studio 3.5 will now show a hint with steps you can take to exclude your project directories from this realtime protection to speed up builds.
Apply Changes
Another notable change in Android Studio 3.5 is the introduction of Apply Changes, which replaces the old Instant Run framework. Instant Run was meant to make it easier to make minor changes to your app and test them, but more often than not, it ended up causing problems.
To address this, Google has completely scrapped Instant Run and built Apply Changes from the ground up. It’s supposed to be both more reliable and faster than Instant Run.
If you’re an Android developer using Android Studio 3.4 or earlier, this update is definitely worth a try. You should notice a marked increase in general performance and stability. To get Android Studio 3.5, either download it from Google’s website or check for updates from your current version.
Source: Android Developers
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