Data compression techniques are increasingly employed in mobile databases to optimize storage usage and improve performance. Compressing data reduces the amount of space required on devices, which is crucial given limited storage capacity.
Compression also decreases the amount of data transmitted mobile database during synchronization, saving bandwidth and speeding up data transfer. Common compression algorithms include gzip, LZ4, and Snappy, selected based on their balance between compression ratio and processing speed.
Mobile databases may implement compression at various levels — individual records, entire tables, or data streams during sync. However, compression introduces some CPU overhead, so developers must balance space savings against processing costs.
Effective data compression contributes to better app responsiveness and longer battery life.