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The limit is 16 MB on very old devices, 24 MB or 32 MB on newer ones.
Memory ConsumptionThe iOS virtual memory model does not include swap memory, which means that, unlike with desktop apps, the disk cannot be used to page memory.
Many Android devices come with tons of apps preinstalled that run in the background and take up system resources. Since these apps cannot be uninstalled without rooting your device, you can disable them instead. You won't get the storage space back, but they won't run anymore.
Both OS X and iOS include a fully-integrated virtual memory system that you cannot turn off; it is always on. Both systems also provide up to 4 gigabytes of addressable space per 32-bit process. In addition, OS X provides approximately 18 exabytes of addressable space for 64-bit processes.
Results of testing with the utility Split wrote (link is in his answer):
device: (crash amount/total amount/percentage of total)
I created small utility which tries to allocate as much memory as possible to crash and it records when memory warnings and crash happened. This helps to find out what's the memory budget for any iOS device.
https://github.com/Split82/iOSMemoryBudgetTest
I think you've answered your own question: try not to go beyond the 70 Mb limit, however it really depends on many things: what iOS version you're using (not SDK), how many applications running in background, what exact memory you're using etc.
Just avoid the instant memory splashes (e.g. you're using 40 Mb of RAM, and then allocating 80 Mb's more for some short computation). In this case iOS would kill your application immediately.
You should also consider lazy loading of assets (load them only when you really need and not beforehand).
In my app, user experience is better if more memory is used, so I have to decide if I really should free all the memory I can in didReceiveMemoryWarning. Based on Split's and Jasper Pol's answer, using a maximum of 45% of the total device memory appears to be a safe threshold (thanks guys).
In case someone wants to look at my actual implementation:
#import "mach/mach.h"
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
// Remember to call super
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// If we are using more than 45% of the memory, free even important resources,
// because the app might be killed by the OS if we don't
if ([self __getMemoryUsedPer1] > 0.45)
{
// Free important resources here
}
// Free regular unimportant resources always here
}
- (float)__getMemoryUsedPer1
{
struct mach_task_basic_info info;
mach_msg_type_number_t size = sizeof(info);
kern_return_t kerr = task_info(mach_task_self(), MACH_TASK_BASIC_INFO, (task_info_t)&info, &size);
if (kerr == KERN_SUCCESS)
{
float used_bytes = info.resident_size;
float total_bytes = [NSProcessInfo processInfo].physicalMemory;
//NSLog(@"Used: %f MB out of %f MB (%f%%)", used_bytes / 1024.0f / 1024.0f, total_bytes / 1024.0f / 1024.0f, used_bytes * 100.0f / total_bytes);
return used_bytes / total_bytes;
}
return 1;
}
Swift (based on this answer):
func __getMemoryUsedPer1() -> Float
{
let MACH_TASK_BASIC_INFO_COUNT = (sizeof(mach_task_basic_info_data_t) / sizeof(natural_t))
let name = mach_task_self_
let flavor = task_flavor_t(MACH_TASK_BASIC_INFO)
var size = mach_msg_type_number_t(MACH_TASK_BASIC_INFO_COUNT)
var infoPointer = UnsafeMutablePointer<mach_task_basic_info>.alloc(1)
let kerr = task_info(name, flavor, UnsafeMutablePointer(infoPointer), &size)
let info = infoPointer.move()
infoPointer.dealloc(1)
if kerr == KERN_SUCCESS
{
var used_bytes: Float = Float(info.resident_size)
var total_bytes: Float = Float(NSProcessInfo.processInfo().physicalMemory)
println("Used: \(used_bytes / 1024.0 / 1024.0) MB out of \(total_bytes / 1024.0 / 1024.0) MB (\(used_bytes * 100.0 / total_bytes)%%)")
return used_bytes / total_bytes
}
return 1
}
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