Tag: improvements

Android Apps

Dave Burke explains Android 14’s big battery and performance improvements

Summary

  • Android 14 brings significant performance gains, with 30% less cold starts and a reduction in background activity by 50%.
  • Major improvements include changes in the system’s handling of RAM and processor workloads, resulting in noticeable improvements for users.
  • Android 14 also includes optimizations in ART (Android Runtime), reducing storage usage by 9% and freeing up 50MB to 100MB of data on optimized apps.


We’ve talked about it before, but Android 14 really seems to make a difference when it comes to performance. With the advent of Feature Drops, major OS version bumps aren’t as packed to the brim with user-facing changes as they once were. But Android 14 has several major improvements that users will surely notice even if they’re not visual upgrades or new functionality: Google has changed the way the system handles RAM and processor workloads, and the end result should be significant performance gains.

Dave Burke, Google’s Vice President of Engineering overseeing Android development, shared some insight into many of these changes in an interview on the company’s podcast, The Android Show (via 9to5Google). “We’ve done a ton of work to reduce CPU activity of background apps and the result is that there’s 30% less cold starts now on Android 14,” said Burke. “Cold starts are when you have to read the code pages off the flash and read them into memory before you execute them, right, and so a 30% reduction is pretty dramatic, and you feel that as a user.”

Google had mentioned some of this work as far back as the first developer preview build of Android 14 in February 2023. The company explained that the new version would be limiting broadcasts, which are the system’s way of communicating to apps when a critical change occurs, such as the phone’s battery level

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Android Firmware

Surface Laptop Go gets graphics performance improvements and more in latest firmware update

Microsoft has a new firmware update for those owning the original Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft’s entry-level laptop, released in October 2020. The latest release improves graphics performance improvements, security patches, and general stability enhancements.

What is new in the Surface Laptop Go April 2023 firmware update?

  • Improves system graphics performance.

  • Addresses critical security vulnerability.

  • Improves device stability and reliability.

Here is the list of new drivers:

Windows Update Name Windows Device Manager
Intel(R) ICLS Client – Software devices Intel – Software Component – 1.63.1155.2
Intel(R) Management Engine Interface – System Devices Intel – System – 2145.1.42.0
Intel(R) UHD Graphics – Display Intel Corporation – Display – 30.0.101.3118
Intel(R) UHD Graphics – Extension Intel Corporation Ext – 30.0.101.3118

Surface Integration Service Device – System devices

 Surface -System – 6.201.139.0
Surface ME – Firmware Surface – Firmware – 13.0.2101.2
Surface SMF – Surface System Management

Surface – Surface System Management – 57.0.1.43
Surface UEFI – Firmware Surface – Firmware – 15.11.140.0

Here is extra information about the release:

Supported Configurations All Surface Laptop Go variants
Supported Windows Versions Windows 10 version 20H1 and newer
Windows 11 version 21H2 and newer
How to get the update Windows Update
Surface Support website
Additional Steps The update does not require additional steps
Known Issues No known issues in this update
Device Supported Until October 13, 2024

The original Surface Laptop Go is no longer Microsoft’s latest and greatest entry-level laptop. However, you can still buy it for much less than its original price. The 128GB SSD variant is available on Amazon for as little as $299, making the first-gen Surface Laptop Go a much better alternative to similarly priced laptops. The 256GB config will set you back $329, and 512GB only $369.

Here are other Surface devices Microsoft updated with new firmware

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