Realm adding extra size to my apk

Question

The initial size of my apk was 2.3 MB before adding Realm library, after adding the same, the apk size increased to 10.61 MB, is it possible to reduce the size, if yes how? if not then please recommend an alternate to Realm

Answer 1

You can use abi splits to reduce size of APK.

Normally (without splits) it includes files to support almost all architectures (ARM7, ARMv7, ARM64, x86, MIPS) This is why it's too big.

With abi splits, android studio will generate APK for each architecture, and each APK will not include files for any other architecture

Just add below section in gradle file. Also check this realm documentation

splits {
    abi {
        enable true
        reset()
        include 'armeabi', 'armeabi-v7a', 'arm64-v8a', 'mips', 'x86', 'x86_64'
    }
}

Important

Each distrubtion(APK) will only work on appropriate device. So we can say, app-x86_64-release.apk will not work on armeabi-v7a architectured device. If you try, you'll face Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS] error.

You can also check these documentations.

• Multiple APK Support
• Configure APK Splits

Answer 2

It is possible to reduce the Apk size, but first the quickest most immediate way to do this is to remove the packages in realm API that your application is not using or targeting. This way your apk size will decline significantly, also try compressing any resources and multimedia your app is using.
A more extreme solution is to integrate with firebase and let some of your content load into the app in real time and not on deployment.