Dynamic System Update (DSU) is an Android feature that allows users to install a Generic System Image (GSI) without having to unlock the bootloader or flash a system update. This feature was first introduced in Android 10 but is apparently still getting better with Android 13.
DSU will greatly improve in Android 13
Mishaal Rahman found evidence in AOSP Gerrit that suggests DSU will receive new features and enhancements in Android 13, including a significant performance boost, a weighted progress bar, and support for system_ext and product images.
The installation of a GSI via DSU will be much faster thanks to the increase in the default shared memory, which, however modest (from 8KiB to 64KiB), will significantly accelerate the installation times of the Dynamic System both on physical and virtual devices.
Dynamic System Updates (DSU) seemed like a dead feature, but it’s surprisingly getting some love from Google in Android 13.
Significant performance improvements are coming: https://t.co/vJRdhEq2XShttps://t.co/Fd32h2dxRB pic.twitter.com/iwgawM0XEn
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 29, 2022
In this regard, Google tests show that the installation time has been reduced from 2 minutes and 34 seconds to just 45 seconds for physical devices and from 46 seconds to 30 seconds for virtual ones.
Also, when a GSI is being installed, the progress bar in the notification area will show which partition is being installed and the total number of them, instead of the generic “Installation in progress”. The progress bar will also be weighted as read-only partitions take much longer than writable ones. Finally, DSU will add support for the system, system_ext and product images.
These features and improvements are not available in the Android 13 Developer Preview and will likely be introduced in the next beta or final release.