How to reduce Android APK size

One important developer topic that comes up frequently is how to reduce the APK file size of an app. Developers who are submitting apps to Android Market™ sometimes discover that their APK file exceeds 50 MB, the current upload size limit. But you don’t have to accept the APK file size as is. There are ways you can reduce your APK file size.

Why we should consider keeping files as small as possible

Memory space on smartphones is often a competitive area, now that most users are storing music, video, messages are more, in addition to downloading apps. The smaller you make your APK, the better it is for the user, and that may be a deciding factor on whether to download your app, versus a similar app that takes up more phone memory.

How we can reduce our APK file size

The best and most preferable way to reduce APK size is to try to compress the images using some tool like imageoptim.

Here I am sharing the great tools which will help you to reduce the build specially by using Images. These will reduce the Image size for PNGs, JPG and many other file type images we are using without degrading quality (Resolution and color) of the image

There are some tools listed with their specific platform.

ImageOptim :-

ImageOptim is a free tool that makes images take up less disk space and load faster, without sacrificing quality. It optimizes compression parameters, removes junk metadata and unnecessary color profiles.

Why ImageOptim :

1. ImageOptim seamlessly integrates the best optimization tools: PNGOUT, Zopfli, Pngcrush, AdvPNG, extended OptiPNG, JpegOptim, jpegrescan, jpegtran, and Gifsicle.

2. It's excellent for publishing images on the Web (easily shrinks images "Saved for Web" in Photoshop) and also useful for making Android , Mac and iPhone/iPad applications smaller

3. ImageOptim is free, open-source software under terms of the GPL v2 or later.

How to use it

Simply drag'n'drop images or folders into the window! They'll be optimized in-place.

You can also drop files on ImageOptim's Dock icon, or 'Services' menu in Finder.