Android doesn't run apps in a Java VM. At build time, the Java bytecode is translated to DEX bytecode, which is designed specifically for Android. Today, at ins

Android doesn't run apps in a Java VM. At build time, the Java bytecode is translated to DEX bytecode, which is designed specifically for Android. Today, at install time, the Android runtime compiles DEX bytecode to native code. You're probably right about this being true in the early days, but not so much anymore. I think the power usage difference between Android and plain Linux on the same hardware is mainly due to the way Android aggressively puts the CPU into sleep states and uses timers (etc) to wake it up as needed.