One of Android's lesser-known features is Dynamic System Update (DSU), which allows users to install a Generic System Image (GSI) without unlocking the bootloader or flashing a system update. The capability was initially introduced in Android 10 and is one of the most convenient ways for developers to test the most recent Android versions. And it's only getting better with Android 13.
According to Mishaal Rahman, DSU will receive numerous new features and enhancements in Android 13, including a significant speed gain, a weighted progress indicator, and support for system ext and product pictures.
New changes on AOSP Gerrit indicate that Google is making considerable efficiency improvements to DSU. Because of the increase in the default shared memory, installing a GSI through DSU will be substantially faster. Google claims that the little increase in RAM (from 8KiB to 64KiB) would significantly shorten the time it takes to install the Dynamic System on both real and virtual devices. According to Google's testing, installation time on physical devices is lowered to 45 seconds, down from 2 minutes and 2 seconds.
The progress metre is also getting some updates. When a GSI installation is in progress, the progress bar in the notification section indicates which partition is being installed. At the moment, it merely says "Installation in progress." Furthermore, the progress metre will be weighted since read-only partitions take significantly longer than writable partitions. Finally, DSU will include system, system ext, and product image support. These enhancements and improvements are not yet available in the Android 13 Developer Preview. They are most likely to appear in forthcoming beta versions or the final version of Android 13.
