News

MoPub's Modular SDK for Mobile Ads Reduces App Sizes

• By David Ramel
• September 20, 2016

Twitter's MoPub Inc. announced a new modular software development kit (SDK) that can reduce the size of mobile apps by letting developers embed code only for specific ad formats they want to use.

The company said that selectively embedding SDK code can result in up to 60 percent savings in disk space required by Android apps when compared to the company's full SDK, while iOS apps can see up to a 35 percent savings, along with reduced total app sizes. That functionality is especially valuable in view of the 100MB size limit for iOS and Android apps, said the company, acquired by Twitter in 2013.

"By introducing a modular architecture for both iOS and Android apps, we've minimized the space used by the MoPub SDK, which can lead to more app downloads at faster speeds and more room to build new features," the company said in a blog post last week.

The company explained more about how the modular SDK affects development for both mobile platforms.

"Many Android developers have become more sensitive to the size of the SDKs they're embedding in their apps due to technical constraints, including a 100MB app size limit and a 64Ki dex method limit," the company said. "With MoPub's modular SDK, Android publishers can save up to 60 percent disk space and method counts through the flexibility to select any combination of ad formats to use in their app.

"On iOS, there are no method limits or size limits, but an 'over-the-air' (OTA) limit still applies. The OTA limit requires a Wi-Fi connection for users to download and install apps over 100MB, so it's still important to reduce app size by trimming the code to only what's needed. The modular SDK initially allows iOS developers to integrate either the full SDK or everything except native formats, with more flexibility to come."