Android’s next update will reportedly fix Lollipop’s memory leak

Android Lollipop may bring with it tons of neat new features and aesthetically pleasing visual changes, but its rollout has been bumpy. Google’s been working out the kinks, however, as evidenced by a recent thread in the AOSP bug tracker. One particular fix, for rampant use of RAM, is reportedly slated to show up in the next Android update.

The issue tracker mentions a memory leak that causes apps either to run slowly or to crash without any warning. Android 5.0.1 apparently takes up as much as 1.3GB of RAM, which is particularly detrimental to devices that top out at 2GB. There are even a few Reddit threads devoted to complaints about this particular issue.

A ticket for the RAM issue opened up on Google’s AOSP issue tracker about a month ago. This week Google marked the issue as “FutureRelease,” which means the next version update will include a fix for this annoyance.

Why this matters: Years of dealing with Apple, Microsoft, and Google’s software updates have taught us there's no such thing as a smooth rollout. Regardless, there’s a lot at stake when it comes to the Android operating system, especially considering that it already has a reputation of fragmentation and delayed software updates.

With Google’s new slogan being “Be together, not the same,” it needs to be more quick about fixing minor issues and ensuring OS stability across the board. At least the company is being somewhat transparent on what it’s working on for the next update.

:story: PCWorld