Rahul Ravikumar
@rahulrav.com
Software Engineer at Google working on the Android Toolkit team.
The new major version of androidx.tracing is now available on Google Maven. We’ve spent the last year optimizing it, so it's extremely low overhead.
The documentation is available at: developer.android.com/topic/perfor...
Happy Tracing!
The documentation is available at: developer.android.com/topic/perfor...
Happy Tracing!
January 28, 2026 at 9:25 PM
The new major version of androidx.tracing is now available on Google Maven. We’ve spent the last year optimizing it, so it's extremely low overhead.
The documentation is available at: developer.android.com/topic/perfor...
Happy Tracing!
The documentation is available at: developer.android.com/topic/perfor...
Happy Tracing!
Two blog posts back to back! ✍️
I just published a summary of my decade-long journey at Google. It covers the projects and the growth, but more importantly, a reflection on some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
You can read the full post here: rahulrav.com/blog/10_year...
I just published a summary of my decade-long journey at Google. It covers the projects and the growth, but more importantly, a reflection on some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
You can read the full post here: rahulrav.com/blog/10_year...
10 Years at Google
rahulrav.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Two blog posts back to back! ✍️
I just published a summary of my decade-long journey at Google. It covers the projects and the growth, but more importantly, a reflection on some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
You can read the full post here: rahulrav.com/blog/10_year...
I just published a summary of my decade-long journey at Google. It covers the projects and the growth, but more importantly, a reflection on some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
You can read the full post here: rahulrav.com/blog/10_year...
I broke down how R8 strips away Intrinsics overhead and leverages ART intrinsics to make your apps faster—without you changing a single line of code (starting with AGP 9.0).
rahulrav.com/blog/kotlin_...
rahulrav.com/blog/kotlin_...
Kotlin Intrinsics on Android
rahulrav.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:43 AM
I broke down how R8 strips away Intrinsics overhead and leverages ART intrinsics to make your apps faster—without you changing a single line of code (starting with AGP 9.0).
rahulrav.com/blog/kotlin_...
rahulrav.com/blog/kotlin_...
PSA: Starting Android Gradle Plugin 9.0 (or the latest stable version of R8): R8 will automatically optimize all Intrinsics.check* APIs in Kotlin automatically !
This should greatly help improve app performance (especially Compose given the large Kotlin library API surface).
This should greatly help improve app performance (especially Compose given the large Kotlin library API surface).
January 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM
PSA: Starting Android Gradle Plugin 9.0 (or the latest stable version of R8): R8 will automatically optimize all Intrinsics.check* APIs in Kotlin automatically !
This should greatly help improve app performance (especially Compose given the large Kotlin library API surface).
This should greatly help improve app performance (especially Compose given the large Kotlin library API surface).
Given the state of Windows 11 + Copilot 🤮; 2026 might actually be the year of Linux on the Desktop. Framework 16+ Ubuntu has been a breath of fresh air.
January 2, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Given the state of Windows 11 + Copilot 🤮; 2026 might actually be the year of Linux on the Desktop. Framework 16+ Ubuntu has been a breath of fresh air.
Happy UniFi Travel Router day to those who celebrate it 🎉
store.ui.com/us/en/catego...
store.ui.com/us/en/catego...
UniFi Travel Router - Ubiquiti Store
An ultra-slim travel router that instantly extends your UniFi Network wherever you are, bringing secure, familiar connectivity to remote locations.
store.ui.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Happy UniFi Travel Router day to those who celebrate it 🎉
store.ui.com/us/en/catego...
store.ui.com/us/en/catego...
I presented an updated version of "A Busy (Android) Developers guide to Perfetto" at Droidcon India this past week. The session was packed and was standing room only !
There were so many other wonderful Performance talks !
There were so many other wonderful Performance talks !
December 17, 2025 at 5:36 AM
I presented an updated version of "A Busy (Android) Developers guide to Perfetto" at Droidcon India this past week. The session was packed and was standing room only !
There were so many other wonderful Performance talks !
There were so many other wonderful Performance talks !
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
This release also adds support for Compose stack traces that work with minified apps! (requires R8 and Kotlin 2.3.0+)
Compose 1.10 was released yesterday! 🔟
It includes some nice new features:
🧞♀️ Support for dynamic shared elements
👰🏻♀️ New Enter/Exit Transitions: unveilIn / veilOut
⏭️ Modifier.skipToLookaheadPosition()
📦 New retain APIs influenced by Circuit
android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/12/what...
It includes some nice new features:
🧞♀️ Support for dynamic shared elements
👰🏻♀️ New Enter/Exit Transitions: unveilIn / veilOut
⏭️ Modifier.skipToLookaheadPosition()
📦 New retain APIs influenced by Circuit
android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/12/what...
What's new in the Jetpack Compose December '25 release
News and insights on the Android platform, developer tools, and events.
android-developers.googleblog.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:05 PM
This release also adds support for Compose stack traces that work with minified apps! (requires R8 and Kotlin 2.3.0+)
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
New blog post on how to render beautiful soft shadows projected by the user's finger with Jetpack Compose.
www.romainguy.dev/posts/2025/f...
www.romainguy.dev/posts/2025/f...
November 29, 2025 at 11:15 PM
New blog post on how to render beautiful soft shadows projected by the user's finger with Jetpack Compose.
www.romainguy.dev/posts/2025/f...
www.romainguy.dev/posts/2025/f...
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
In case you want to become a benevolent Gradle overlord, I've got you some tips
Recording:
youtu.be/o99f54pYGgc?...
Slides:
speakerdeck.com/aurimas/the-...
#gradle
Recording:
youtu.be/o99f54pYGgc?...
Slides:
speakerdeck.com/aurimas/the-...
#gradle
The Benevolent Gradle Overlord: Keeping Order - Aurimas Liutikas | droidcon London 2025
YouTube video by droidcon & fluttercon
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 8:20 PM
In case you want to become a benevolent Gradle overlord, I've got you some tips
Recording:
youtu.be/o99f54pYGgc?...
Slides:
speakerdeck.com/aurimas/the-...
#gradle
Recording:
youtu.be/o99f54pYGgc?...
Slides:
speakerdeck.com/aurimas/the-...
#gradle
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
Compose Hot Reload is now stable. 🔥
Release v1.0.0 · JetBrains/compose-hot-reload
Release Summary
Compose Hot Reload 1.0.0 is here 🎉. The core technology provides a stable experience, allowing you to quickly iterate on your UIs in Compose Multiplatform apps. We have worked hard ...
github.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Compose Hot Reload is now stable. 🔥
My talk: The Busy Android Developers Guide to Perfetto is now up on YouTube !
Root-causing problems is a lot of fun. Once you start you can't stop 😜
Happy Tracing !!
Root-causing problems is a lot of fun. Once you start you can't stop 😜
Happy Tracing !!
Perfetto performance traces can be very intimidating. A talk by perf wizard @rahulrav.com makes it a tiny bit less scary.
youtu.be/WJHNBN_19F8?...
#performance #android
youtu.be/WJHNBN_19F8?...
#performance #android
A Busy Android App Developers' Guide to Perfetto - Rahul Ravikumar | droidcon London 2025
YouTube video by droidcon & fluttercon
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
My talk: The Busy Android Developers Guide to Perfetto is now up on YouTube !
Root-causing problems is a lot of fun. Once you start you can't stop 😜
Happy Tracing !!
Root-causing problems is a lot of fun. Once you start you can't stop 😜
Happy Tracing !!
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
Obligatory example: www.romainguy.dev/posts/2024/r...
Readability of Optimized Kotlin Code
Leland and I were recently discussing how to best implement a new data structure to speed up a specific aspect of Jetpack Compose. He came up with a great idea, and nerd sniped me in the process. The ...
www.romainguy.dev
November 20, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Obligatory example: www.romainguy.dev/posts/2024/r...
R8 is effectively free performance optimizations. A little work for an incredibly high ROI.
Don't ignore this tip! We've switched to using the optimized proguard file & shrinking resources in our latest release and have seen a massive drop in all performance related metrics, with slow app launch metrics dropping >30%. All from a 5 minute code change!
Run this and let me know the output:
`grep "dontoptimize" app/build/outputs/mapping/release/configuration.txt`
In case it's not empty, you definitely should watch this youtu.be/QqO2jZ-NZko?...
`grep "dontoptimize" app/build/outputs/mapping/release/configuration.txt`
In case it's not empty, you definitely should watch this youtu.be/QqO2jZ-NZko?...
November 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
R8 is effectively free performance optimizations. A little work for an incredibly high ROI.
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
We're just starting a Spotlight Week on Performance. So get yourselves ready for some g-R8 content.
Get your app on the fast track with Android Performance Spotlight Week!
News and insights on the Android platform, developer tools, and events.
android-developers.googleblog.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
We're just starting a Spotlight Week on Performance. So get yourselves ready for some g-R8 content.
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
Navigation3 reaches API stability this week with the 1.0.0-beta01 release! There's a few important bug fixes in this release as well, but this beta means we're only a few weeks away from rc01 and then stable!
If you run into any issues, please let us know ASAP
developer.android.com/jetpack/andr...
If you run into any issues, please let us know ASAP
developer.android.com/jetpack/andr...
navigation3 | Jetpack | Android Developers
developer.android.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Navigation3 reaches API stability this week with the 1.0.0-beta01 release! There's a few important bug fixes in this release as well, but this beta means we're only a few weeks away from rc01 and then stable!
If you run into any issues, please let us know ASAP
developer.android.com/jetpack/andr...
If you run into any issues, please let us know ASAP
developer.android.com/jetpack/andr...
I made plot-benchmarks (a tool to view and compare AndroidX Benchmark Results) public.
androidx.dev/benchmarks/p...
Simply drag and drop the benchmark JSON to the page, and you can start plotting and comparing !
The souce code for the app is here: cs.android.com/androidx/pla...
androidx.dev/benchmarks/p...
Simply drag and drop the benchmark JSON to the page, and you can start plotting and comparing !
The souce code for the app is here: cs.android.com/androidx/pla...
Plot Benchmarks
androidx.dev
October 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I made plot-benchmarks (a tool to view and compare AndroidX Benchmark Results) public.
androidx.dev/benchmarks/p...
Simply drag and drop the benchmark JSON to the page, and you can start plotting and comparing !
The souce code for the app is here: cs.android.com/androidx/pla...
androidx.dev/benchmarks/p...
Simply drag and drop the benchmark JSON to the page, and you can start plotting and comparing !
The souce code for the app is here: cs.android.com/androidx/pla...
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
Since we're doing this... I'll be giving a quick introduction to shaders and how they work. It's a topic that really excites (and scares, a bit) me, lately. I hope it'll get y'all excited too :) But not scared. Even though it's halloween.
October 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Since we're doing this... I'll be giving a quick introduction to shaders and how they work. It's a topic that really excites (and scares, a bit) me, lately. I hope it'll get y'all excited too :) But not scared. Even though it's halloween.
I will be presenting at Droidcon London this year to talk about Tracing, and Perfetto ! If you are interested in Perfetto, or App performance in general - this talk is for you. If you would like me to cover something specific, please let me know and I promise to try.
October 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I will be presenting at Droidcon London this year to talk about Tracing, and Perfetto ! If you are interested in Perfetto, or App performance in general - this talk is for you. If you would like me to cover something specific, please let me know and I promise to try.
My ex-Apple colleague used Nano Banana with the prompt:
"Restore the person in the photo into the Apple Ecosystem".
"Restore the person in the photo into the Apple Ecosystem".
September 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
My ex-Apple colleague used Nano Banana with the prompt:
"Restore the person in the photo into the Apple Ecosystem".
"Restore the person in the photo into the Apple Ecosystem".
Happy 79th Birthday 🇮🇳 🎈
August 15, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Happy 79th Birthday 🇮🇳 🎈
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
We have a new episode of the Android Developers Backstage podcast up -- this time @chethaase.com and I are talking to Melba Nuzen and Ralston Da Silva from the Compose team about Autofill!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6b...
Autofill in Compose
YouTube video by Android Developers
www.youtube.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
We have a new episode of the Android Developers Backstage podcast up -- this time @chethaase.com and I are talking to Melba Nuzen and Ralston Da Silva from the Compose team about Autofill!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6b...
I finally get to delete the AlarmManager based implementation for work scheduling in WorkManager (after the minSdkVersion update to 23).
This was the first _big_ task when I joined the UI Toolkit team in 2018, so it feels like end of an era.
android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/f...
This was the first _big_ task when I joined the UI Toolkit team in 2018, so it feels like end of an era.
android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/f...
Gerrit Code Review
android-review.googlesource.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I finally get to delete the AlarmManager based implementation for work scheduling in WorkManager (after the minSdkVersion update to 23).
This was the first _big_ task when I joined the UI Toolkit team in 2018, so it feels like end of an era.
android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/f...
This was the first _big_ task when I joined the UI Toolkit team in 2018, so it feels like end of an era.
android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/f...
Reposted by Rahul Ravikumar
Been working on a new experimental Kotlin Multiplatform Tracing library capable of emitting Perfetto compatible traces. Currently supporting Android and JVM with the goal of eventually supporting other platforms. Here is the README if you want to try it out.
github.com/androidx/and...
github.com/androidx/and...
github.com
February 4, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Been working on a new experimental Kotlin Multiplatform Tracing library capable of emitting Perfetto compatible traces. Currently supporting Android and JVM with the goal of eventually supporting other platforms. Here is the README if you want to try it out.
github.com/androidx/and...
github.com/androidx/and...