RAM usage always at 80% - normal?

axl

Using one of those device info widgets and my RAM is consistently around 80% despite no active apps (that I know of). I have disabled background activity for almost all apps save for a few like telegram or Tubular (YouTube).

Is this normal for Android phones and GOS, or is something going ham on the RAM (no rhyme intended)?

DeletedUser87

I just did a free on my Pixel 9 Pro XL. Here are the results: (upper row is RAM, lower is SWAP)

           total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
           14Gi        11Gi       469Mi       173Mi       3.1Gi       2.9Gi`
           7.4Gi       5.4Gi       1.9Gi

NetRunner88

The behaviour of the RAM on Smartphones is the opposite of what we can found on a PC.

There is no need to absolutely free the RAM at all cost, it is counterproductive.

Same for killing apps in the "Recent Apps" screen continuously.

When you kill the app then restart it, it will consume CPU cycles, load RAM again and mathematically consume battery.

Most of the RAM usage is a sort of cache.

When an app or a game need to allocate memory the OS free the oldest stuff to make room.

I voluntary speak without technical jargon so non tech people can understand better.

Feel free to correct me or add something.

missing-root

NetRunner88

How is any of this the opposite of how it is on a "PC"?

RAM is used for stuff, clearing it while not removing the cause will mean unnecessary CPU, storage and RAM load.

I wonder though how you can get such crazy amounts. I dont even know how to see the used RAM, but on my Pixel 6a (6GB RAM or so?) I am certain I dont use all.

The biggest factor that increases RAM will be secure app spawning not deduplicating memory.

nei

missing-root
On PCs, generally speaking, you close applications when done with them and that includes memory clearing. The concept of closing applications on phones doesn't exist that much.

missing-root

nei

You close apps differently and some run in the background. There is a ton of shared resources, reducing RAM usage.

And the zygote memory deduplication makes it save a ton more RAM, GrapheneOS disables that by default though, to prevent attacks from one app to another, as it knows the exact memory layout of all others.