Google instant app feature lets Google Play users try out the app or games without the need to download the package completely. It’s a neat and intuitive feature and kudos to Google for bringing such features and capabilities that make Android better with its every release. Similarly, kinda extension of the Instant App feature, Google is seemingly working on a project called Incremental File System which enables the users to play heavy games while the rest of the portions are being actively downloaded from Google Play.
It will be a really brilliant effort to say the least, it’s great if the feature works out as you very well know how restless is most of the gamers. So, it’d be greatly appreciated if the game can be played without waiting for the download bar to hit the finishing point.
Courtesy to the XDA Devs, Google is working on a new file system for a future version of Android, plausibly Android 12 in 2021, which could make it extremely time effective to try out heavy games. The file system is called Incremental File System, and it’s designed to allow for applications to be executed while its binary and resource files are still being downloaded.
As per the documentation submitted by Google, Incremental FS is a “special-purpose Linux virtual file system that allows execution of a program while its binary and resource files are still being lazily downloaded over the network, USB, etc.” Sounds crazy and interesting, isn’t it?
Google says that Incremental FS can “frictionlessly wait for [temporarily] missing data,” which means that you’ll be able to launch the game as it continues to download more and more of the full game. Take the case of a hypothetical 4GB Android game and say that the game’s intro is 200MB in size located at around 1GB offset. With Incremental File System, the game’s first MB of data can be downloaded, and while it’s being executed, the process can call for the first MB of data at the 1GB offset to be downloaded next, allowing the intro to start. Then, the rest of the 200MB of intro data can be downloaded, which would hopefully happen faster than the intro is played back, and then the game’s main menu can be loaded. A slight hiccup should be expected in execution when the next set of data needs to be loaded. Nonetheless, all these would allow the user to get into the game faster than downloading the entire game and its installation.
Undoubtedly, all these developments give us a positive vibe as ardent Android enthusiasts. However, whether the implementation will make a cut to the final AOSP in the future isn’t something written in the stone at least as of now. What you guys have to say?