What are the dex method and string limits in an Android app?

Question

After implementing jumbo dex, we dont get any further dex errors. The ~65K string limit is now exceeded, but not the method count. What is the limits we now face, if any, for strings and methods in an Android app?

Answer 1

After some exhaustive testing. The details can be found below:

• The upper limit on method references and string references without jumbo dex is 65536.
• A method reference is a unique name by which a method is defined and/or invoked, and is only counted once. That is to say:
  • if you call an externally defined method (e.g.. something in the core Java runtime) once, that’s one reference
  • if you call it again, it’s still only one reference
  • If you define a method, that’s one reference
  • If you call the same method, it’s still only one reference
• A string reference is any unique string literal. Note this includes strings defined in resources that become literals in R.
• Jumbo dex doesn’t seem to have an effect via project.properties (or perhaps both Jon and I are doing it wrong), but it does appear to work in both local and server builds
• With jumbo dex on, the string reference limit is somewhere between 110K and 120K.
• With jumbo dex on, the method reference limit is still 65536 (confirmed!!)