Android 17 would rather slow down one bad app than your entire phone
Android 17 introduces stricter per-app memory limits that can slow or terminate runaway apps, giving Google a new way to protect overall phone performance before one memory hog causes wider problems.
Android 17 is introducing stricter memory limits for apps based on a device's total RAM. The feature is designed to catch extreme memory usage before it impacts the phone's performance. Apps that exceed their RAM budget could be terminated to prevent problems. Google has set conservative thresholds, so most apps should not run into them.
When an app crosses its limit, the system can reclaim memory instead of immediately affecting other processes. The allowance varies depending on the device and whether the process is visible. For an 8GB device, an 8GB visible process gets a 5GB limit, while a non-visible process gets 3GB. The system may first try to reclaim memory, pushing inactive data into zRAM, before considering termination.
This way, Android can handle the memory issue without affecting the rest of the phone. Preinstalled apps are included in this, and developers do not have an allowlist to avoid the system. If an app slows down or closes due to heavy memory pressure, it's likely due to Android 17's memory management. The rules apply broadly to all apps, not just preinstalled ones.
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