How do you detect memory leaks in Android apps?

2 How to use Android Studio tools to detect memory leaks?

Android Studio provides several beneficial tools to detect memory leaks in your app, such as the Memory Profiler which enables you to monitor memory usage, track allocations and deallocations, capture heap dumps, and analyze object references and instances. Additionally, LeakCanary is a third-party library that can be integrated into your app by adding the dependency in your build.gradle file and initializing it in your Application class. This library will detect memory leaks automatically and notify you with a notification and stack trace. Finally, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a command-line tool that allows you to communicate with your device or emulator. This tool can be used to dump memory information of your app such as heap size, allocated memory, free memory, and garbage collection events; as well as force a garbage collection, capture a heap dump, or analyze memory allocation tracking data.

3 How to use code analysis tools to detect memory leaks?

Code analysis tools, such as Lint and SonarQube, are a great way to detect memory leaks in your app. Lint is a static code analysis tool that checks for errors, warnings, performance, usability, accessibility, and security issues. It can be run from Android Studio or the command line using the Gradle task lint. You can also customize the Lint rules and severity levels to suit your needs. SonarQube is a third-party tool that performs a comprehensive code analysis and provides you with a dashboard of metrics, issues, code smells, vulnerabilities, and technical debt. You can integrate SonarQube with your app by adding the SonarQube plugin in your build.gradle file and configuring the properties and parameters. This tool can also be used to track the code quality over time and set quality gates and alerts.

5 How to fix memory leaks in Android apps?

Once you have detected memory leaks in your app, you must fix them by removing unnecessary or dangling references, recycling large objects, unregistering system callbacks, and optimizing memory usage and performance. To do this effectively, use weak references or view models for objects that can outlive the activity or fragment lifecycle. Additionally, use static inner classes or lambda expressions for background tasks, and pass the activity or context as a weak reference or parameter. AndroidX lifecycle components such as LiveData, LifecycleObserver, and ViewModel can be used to manage the lifecycle of your objects and avoid memory leaks. Furthermore, Bitmap.recycle() method or the Glide library can be used to recycle or cache bitmaps or other large images. Context.getApplicationContext() method or the Dagger library can be used to inject context or other dependencies into your objects and avoid leaking activity or fragment context. Additionally, unregisterReceiver(), unregisterContentObserver(), or removeCallbacks() methods should be used to unregister broadcast receivers, content observers, or handlers registered in the app. Finally, NDK Analyzer tool or LeakSanitizer library can be used to detect and fix memory leaks in native code or libraries.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?