Want to optimize your Android device? Performance benchmarking is a good place to start.

Today, I’m going to tell you about TinyCore, a performance benchmarking app that lets you monitor system, CPU, and memory usage directly from your notifications bar.

When this app called itself ‘Tiny’Core, it really means it. Here’s what this app adds to your Android notification bar:

As you can see, TinyCore is simply a small bar which changes its size depending on your Android’s resource usage.

It’s lightweight, fashionable, and also customizable. Fans of the Holo theme will appreciate two different Holo theme options, including light and dark.

Here are all of the features included within the TinyCore app:

-Display RAM usage or CPU usage from your notification shade

-Automatically starts on boot

-Customize the location of the TinyCore and drag it around the screen

-Customize its colors

The app itself is actually a floating window – it’s placed in your notification bar by default, although you can drag it anywhere around the screen. There are also plenty of different styles and color options available.

The Pro version, which costs a couple dollars, comes with additional features that you may or may not use. Those features include CPU frequency meters and customized widget placing.

TinyCore is a great way to see what your Android’s up to. You might be surprised to find certain apps spike CPU and RAM usage, for example, in which case you can limit your use of these apps or uninstall them to preserve battery life.

The main restriction of this app is the fact that you can only display one value at all times: RAM or CPU. You can’t display both at the same time. Switch back in forth to see which one changes more throughout the day. In general, RAM is constantly being accessed by your system for background apps and widgets, while CPU usage will only spike for certain apps.

No matter what you choose to do with it, TinyCore is a valuable little tool for all different types of Android users.  You can download it for free from the Google Play Store here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.neotech.app.tinycore