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> why is the Gmail app almost 80x the size of the native Mail app? Apple Mail leverages libraries and frameworks already present on the device. Google uses li

> why is the Gmail app almost 80x the size of the native Mail app? Apple Mail leverages libraries and frameworks already present on the device. Google uses libraries and frameworks very likely already present on say Android, but on iOS they have to ship a gigantic runtime that implements those things the app depends on; this way they only have to write the app once for several supported platforms. I’m just speculating by the way but it sounds like the likely reason. You’ll notice Google Docs or sheets are equally gigantic because each also ships a copy of those enormous runtimes.

Kwpolska 10mo ago
The Gmail app takes 175 MB on my Android phone. That’s better than iOS, but still a lot for an e-mail app.
- loloquwowndueo 10mo ago
  Probably bundles its own copy of Chrome just in case :)
  - MYEUHD 10mo ago
    No need to. Android does that already and allows apps to use it (the webview)
  - kccqzy 10mo ago
    I can totally imagine someone doing just that. > Product Requirement: Even if the user deletes the Chrome app, the Gmail app must work to display HTML emails, the authentication screen including 2FA options, etc. Can’t rely on WebViews for security reasons.
  - danpalmer 10mo ago
    It doesn't, that's Android Webview which is distributed separately. It may however bundle its own instance of the Chrome networking library which is a few MB itself. For apps like Gmail and a handful of others, they are big enough that they need multiple layers of fallback. e.g. they can't just use a networking layer, they need a fallback separate implementation in case that breaks, so that they can recover. They might have 2 or even 3 options for some of the critical parts, all so that if stuff goes wrong they can as close to guarantee recovery as they can get. Mobile is quite specific in this regard, because you don't have hardware access, network is heavily restricted, battery reduces the amount you can do, etc. Source: I work on mobile SRE things at Google.
- SapporoChris 10mo ago
  To add to the comparisons. Protonmail is showing as 180 MB on GrapheneOS. Add in user data and cache and it's 495 MB. I don't consider myself a big email user so I am a bit appalled.
  - ChoGGi 10mo ago
    Pixel OS16 with fastmail is 20MB for app, 60 for usercache and 7 for cache. I use it once or twice a week if that
- derkades 10mo ago
  K-9 mail (aka Thunderbird) is a nice 12MB, 70MB installed.
  - okanat 10mo ago
    The app size is 44 MiBs for me. With user data just above 70 though.
miki123211 10mo ago
There's actually a bit more to it than that. A lot of what Apple apps actually do is hidden in frameworks made for that one specific app, which, unlike with 3rd-party applications, are part of the system, not of the app itself. Compare the size of Safari.app versus Safari Technology Preview.app (which actually ships all the frameworks it needs).
- HPsquared 10mo ago
  Sounds like how Internet Explorer used to be integrated in Windows. That was quite contentious at the time!
  - toyg 10mo ago
    '90s Microsoft was like early christians: harshly persecuted, only for everyone else to eventually adopt their ways. In this metaphor, emperor Constantine is probably Steve Jobs.
    - kasabali 10mo ago
      Harshly persecuted how, exactly? They got a slap on the wrist, still continued to ship IE as the default browser and stayed dominant browser vendor until another monopoly started to abuse its position.
      - toyg 10mo ago
        The verdict significantly hamstrung their internal developer processes. Yes, IE didn't go anywhere, but the path of tight integration of web and OS was effectively abandoned for several years, and they generally toned down integration features between their products.
  - josephcsible 10mo ago
    Which brings up another point: the total used disk space of a Windows install with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express used to be way smaller than Gmail alone is now.
itopaloglu83 10mo ago
I’m sorry but ~700MB of compiled code, text, and vector graphics is a lot of assets, almost a truck load. It doesn’t look like they care about how much space they take in users’ devices at all.
josephcsible 10mo ago
Windows 98 and Office 97 in their entirety are less than 700MB combined. How have things gotten so out of hand that a single email client needs more than an entire OS and office suite used to?

Kwpolska 10mo ago

The Gmail app takes 175 MB on my Android phone. That’s better than iOS, but still a lot for an e-mail app.

loloquwowndueo 10mo ago
Probably bundles its own copy of Chrome just in case :)
- MYEUHD 10mo ago
  No need to. Android does that already and allows apps to use it (the webview)
- kccqzy 10mo ago
  I can totally imagine someone doing just that. > Product Requirement: Even if the user deletes the Chrome app, the Gmail app must work to display HTML emails, the authentication screen including 2FA options, etc. Can’t rely on WebViews for security reasons.
- danpalmer 10mo ago
  It doesn't, that's Android Webview which is distributed separately. It may however bundle its own instance of the Chrome networking library which is a few MB itself. For apps like Gmail and a handful of others, they are big enough that they need multiple layers of fallback. e.g. they can't just use a networking layer, they need a fallback separate implementation in case that breaks, so that they can recover. They might have 2 or even 3 options for some of the critical parts, all so that if stuff goes wrong they can as close to guarantee recovery as they can get. Mobile is quite specific in this regard, because you don't have hardware access, network is heavily restricted, battery reduces the amount you can do, etc. Source: I work on mobile SRE things at Google.
SapporoChris 10mo ago
To add to the comparisons. Protonmail is showing as 180 MB on GrapheneOS. Add in user data and cache and it's 495 MB. I don't consider myself a big email user so I am a bit appalled.
- ChoGGi 10mo ago
  Pixel OS16 with fastmail is 20MB for app, 60 for usercache and 7 for cache. I use it once or twice a week if that
derkades 10mo ago
K-9 mail (aka Thunderbird) is a nice 12MB, 70MB installed.
- okanat 10mo ago
  The app size is 44 MiBs for me. With user data just above 70 though.

miki123211 10mo ago

There's actually a bit more to it than that. A lot of what Apple apps actually do is hidden in frameworks made for that one specific app, which, unlike with 3rd-party applications, are part of the system, not of the app itself. Compare the size of Safari.app versus Safari Technology Preview.app (which actually ships all the frameworks it needs).

HPsquared 10mo ago
Sounds like how Internet Explorer used to be integrated in Windows. That was quite contentious at the time!
- toyg 10mo ago
  '90s Microsoft was like early christians: harshly persecuted, only for everyone else to eventually adopt their ways. In this metaphor, emperor Constantine is probably Steve Jobs.
  - kasabali 10mo ago
    Harshly persecuted how, exactly? They got a slap on the wrist, still continued to ship IE as the default browser and stayed dominant browser vendor until another monopoly started to abuse its position.
    - toyg 10mo ago
      The verdict significantly hamstrung their internal developer processes. Yes, IE didn't go anywhere, but the path of tight integration of web and OS was effectively abandoned for several years, and they generally toned down integration features between their products.
- josephcsible 10mo ago
  Which brings up another point: the total used disk space of a Windows install with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express used to be way smaller than Gmail alone is now.

itopaloglu83 10mo ago

I’m sorry but ~700MB of compiled code, text, and vector graphics is a lot of assets, almost a truck load. It doesn’t look like they care about how much space they take in users’ devices at all.

josephcsible 10mo ago

Windows 98 and Office 97 in their entirety are less than 700MB combined. How have things gotten so out of hand that a single email client needs more than an entire OS and office suite used to?