Android App Memory Analysis

中文版本 | English Version

A comprehensive toolkit for Android application memory analysis, featuring one-click live dump from connected devices and multi-source correlation analysis for deep memory insights.

Features

Core Capabilities

Feature	Description	Root Required
Live Dump	One-click dump all memory data from connected device	Partial (see below)
Panorama Analysis	Multi-source correlation (meminfo + gfxinfo + hprof + smaps)	No
HPROF Analysis	Java heap analysis, leak detection, large object tracking	No
SMAPS Analysis	Native memory mapping, detailed memory classification	Yes
Meminfo Analysis	Parse dumpsys meminfo including Native Allocations	No
Gfxinfo Analysis	Parse dumpsys gfxinfo for GPU/Graphics stats	No

Root Permission Requirements

Data Source	Without Root	With Root
dumpsys meminfo	✅ Full data	✅ Full data
dumpsys gfxinfo	✅ Full data	✅ Full data
hprof dump	⚠️ Debuggable apps only	✅ All apps
smaps	❌ Permission denied	✅ Full data

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• ADB (Android Debug Bridge) in your PATH or in tools/ folder
• Connected Android device with USB debugging enabled

Android 16 / API 36 Compatibility Notes

• The toolkit supports Android 4.0 through Android 16+ input formats; parsing logic includes newer allocator and mapping names.
• For smaps collection, use fallback order for better device compatibility:
  1. adb shell cat /proc/<pid>/smaps
  2. adb shell su -c "cat /proc/<pid>/smaps"
  3. adb shell su 0 cat /proc/<pid>/smaps
• pidof is preferred for PID lookup, and ps -A parsing is used as fallback.
• If your app ships native .so binaries, validate 16 KB page-size compatibility for Android 15+/16 devices.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/aspect-apps/Android-App-Memory-Analysis.git
cd Android-App-Memory-Analysis

Usage

One-Click Live Dump & Analysis (Recommended)

# List running apps on connected device
python3 analyze.py live --list

# Dump and analyze a specific app
python3 analyze.py live --package com.example.app

# Quick mode (skip hprof for faster results)
python3 analyze.py live --package com.example.app --skip-hprof

# Dump only (no analysis)
python3 analyze.py live --package com.example.app --dump-only -o ./dumps

Panorama Analysis (Multi-Source Correlation)

# Analyze existing dump directory
python3 analyze.py panorama -d ./dumps/com.example.app_20231225_120000

# Analyze individual files
python3 analyze.py panorama -m meminfo.txt -g gfxinfo.txt -H app.hprof -S smaps.txt

Individual File Analysis

# Analyze Java heap (HPROF)
python3 analyze.py hprof demo/hprof_sample/heapdump_latest.hprof

# Analyze native memory (smaps)
python3 analyze.py smaps demo/smaps_sample/smaps

# Analyze meminfo
python3 analyze.py meminfo dump/meminfo.txt

# Analyze gfxinfo
python3 analyze.py gfxinfo dump/gfxinfo.txt

# Traditional combined analysis (HPROF + smaps)
python3 analyze.py combined -H demo/hprof_sample/heapdump_latest.hprof -S demo/smaps_sample/smaps

# Enhanced combined analysis (meminfo-aware, mtrack included)
python3 analyze.py combined --modern --hprof demo/hprof_sample/heapdump_latest.hprof --smaps demo/smaps_sample/smaps --meminfo demo/smaps_sample/meminfo.txt --json-output report.json

# One-command demo shortcut (built-in hprof+smaps+meminfo)
python3 analyze.py combined --demo --json-output demo_report.json

Notes:

• combined defaults to legacy mode (combined_analyzer.py) unless --modern, --meminfo, --pid, --json-output, or --demo is provided.
• In modern mode with -p/--pid, the tool auto-collects smaps and tries to collect dumpsys meminfo -d.
• The bundled demo HPROF is committed as heapdump_latest.hprof.gz to avoid large-file push limits. Extract once before running .hprof sample commands: gzip -dk demo/hprof_sample/heapdump_latest.hprof.gz.

What Gets Analyzed?

Panorama Analysis Output

The panorama analysis provides a comprehensive view of memory usage:

================================================================================
                     Android 内存全景分析报告
================================================================================

📊 Memory Overview:
------------------------------
  Total PSS:        245.67 MB
  Java Heap:        89.34 MB
  Native Heap:      34.21 MB
  Graphics:         45.67 MB
  Code:             23.78 MB
  Stack:            1.23 MB

🖼️ Bitmap Deep Analysis:
------------------------------
  Bitmap (malloced):     27 objects    6.78 MB
  Bitmap (nonmalloced):   8 objects   11.59 MB
  GPU Cache:             15.34 MB
  GraphicBuffer:         12.45 MB

📈 Native Memory Tracking:
------------------------------
  Tracked Native:        28.45 MB (83.2%)
  Untracked Native:       5.76 MB (16.8%)

  ⚠️ Warning: Significant untracked Native memory detected

🎨 UI Resources:
------------------------------
  Views: 1,234
  ViewRootImpl: 3
  Activities: 5
  WebViews: 0

Key Analysis Features

1. Bitmap Correlation: Links Java Bitmap objects to Native pixel memory
2. Native Memory Tracking: Identifies tracked vs untracked Native allocations
3. GPU Memory Analysis: GraphicBuffer and GPU cache usage
4. UI Resource Counting: View hierarchy and Activity leak detection
5. Anomaly Detection: Automatic warnings for potential issues

Project Structure

Android-App-Memory-Analysis/
├── analyze.py              # Main entry point
├── tools/
│   ├── hprof_parser.py     # HPROF file parser
│   ├── smaps_parser.py     # smaps file parser
│   ├── meminfo_parser.py   # dumpsys meminfo parser
│   ├── gfxinfo_parser.py   # dumpsys gfxinfo parser
│   ├── panorama_analyzer.py # Multi-source correlation analyzer
│   ├── combined_analyzer.py # HPROF + smaps combined analyzer
│   ├── memory_analyzer.py  # Enhanced combined analyzer with meminfo/mtrack correlation
│   ├── live_dumper.py      # Live dump from device
│   ├── hprof_dumper.py     # HPROF dump utility
│   └── adb                 # ADB binary (optional)
├── demo/
│   ├── hprof_sample/       # Latest sample HPROF + analysis output
│   ├── smaps_sample/       # Latest sample smaps/meminfo/showmap/gfxinfo + reports
│   └── memory-lab/         # Demo APK project used to regenerate sample datasets
├── docs/
│   ├── en/                 # English documentation
│   └── zh/                 # Chinese documentation
└── pic/                    # Images for documentation

Documentation

For detailed guides on interpreting analysis results:

• English Learning Path

  • Analysis Results Guide
  • Meminfo Interpretation
  • SMAPS Interpretation
  • Teaching Playbook

• Chinese Learning Path

  • 分析结果解读指南
  • meminfo 解读
  • smaps 解读
  • 教学实践手册
  • Demo APK case study (Chinese)

Data Sources

Data Source	Command	Information Provided
smaps	cat /proc/<pid>/smaps	Detailed memory mapping
hprof	am dumpheap <pkg> <path>	Java heap objects and references
meminfo	dumpsys meminfo <pkg>	Summary + Native Allocations (Bitmap stats)
gfxinfo	dumpsys gfxinfo <pkg>	GPU cache, GraphicBuffer, frame stats

Related Tools

This toolkit complements these Android memory analysis tools:

• Android Studio Profiler: Real-time memory monitoring
• LeakCanary: Automatic memory leak detection
• MAT (Memory Analyzer Tool): Deep HPROF analysis
• Perfetto: System-wide tracing

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues.

License

This project is open source. See LICENSE file for details.