Automatic Play Store updates will consume less data

Question

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Automatic Play Store updates will consume less data

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Answer 1

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It is true that updating the applications installed on our device using the mobile data rate is not the best idea, since we are sacrificing part of our data in a task that we could do through a WiFi connection at any time. Even so, Google has some concern about data consumption of application updates and has launched a new feature that allows automatic Play Store updates to consume up to 90% less data traffic .

But beware, this will only be applicable when we have the "Automatic Updates" box activated in the Play Store settings. In case the updates are done manually (something I recommend) , there will be no reduction of data traffic.

Automatic Play Store updates will consume less data when introducing a new mechanism called "File-by-file patching".

This new method "File-by-file patching" to update applications has a fairly simple operation. Instead of downloading the complete APK file and then replacing the files, only the parts of the application that have been modified will be downloaded with the new system . This means a saving of data traffic of 65% on average, even reaching 90% in some cases.

But not everything is advantageous with "File-by-file patching" , since as its name indicates, it is necessary to update each file packaged in the APK individually. During the whole process, the following operations would be carried out:

• Download of the update
• Unpacking the APK file.
• Apply the update to each of the modified files.
• Repackage the APK file.

This new update process needs more resources and more time, so it will take longer to install the update of each app. In a way, this update makes sense, since I think it's worth sacrificing a little time during the update process, instead of sacrificing megabytes of such limited data traffic rates.

Source (in English): Google Android Developers

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