Android has a neat new trick to improve your phone's battery life and make your apps run faster

Google is taking a leaf out the console playbook with its approach to app installation, which optimises the installation based off crowdsourced data, letting users start using the app and download the boring bits later.

App install optimisation is an opt-in feature that's not live yet, and doesn't collect any personal data like you email, name, or look at anything outside of the app, or the contents of your device. It also ignores anything you're uploading and downloading in the app, so if you want to help out with optimising app installation for Android users, you can do so safe in the knowledge that all of the information used abides by Google's privacy policy. 

Once collected, Google says it'll use the data to speed up installation for Google Play apps, cut down the time it takes to open and run apps, and has the added bonus of reducing the burden on your smartphone's battery, storage, and CPU. Anyone who doesn't want to opt-in can still benefit from the results of the aggregated data, so you're either helping Android users everywhere, or reaping the benefits without handing over your data, depending on the route you choose to go down. 

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App install optimisation will look at which parts of apps users are heading to first when they open it, and the order you accessed them in. Combined with data from those participating, it'll "find trends and identify which parts of the app are most important to everyone." So if you want to be represented with your app usage, you should take a look at Google's privacy policy, and if you're happy, sign up when it's live.   

Meanwhile, you can check out other upcoming Android features in our roundup of top 12 Android features we're looking forward to.