If you're trying to minimize your load times by lowering I/O time, optimizing your applications' resources may be worth looking into. Naturally, loading smaller APKs leads to less time spent reading the application data. With any form of compressed data, there eventually becomes a tradeoff in compute versus read time in higher levels of compression, but for the most part application loads and general device performance seems to be limited by I/O rather than compute performance.

For this reason, XDA Senior Member gu5t3r created a simple BASH script to help you quickly optimize your applications. It mainly works by compressing your PNGs more efficiently. However, it skips the pesky NinePatch files in order to prevent potential force closes. For PNG compression, the tool uses a combination of TruePNG, pngout, and DeflOpt, and gu5t3r claims that it will result in a net halving of storage space compared to the more standard OptiPNG compression.

The script comes in the form of a Cygwin-based BASH script, and it comes with all of the executables you need to get started easily. Users in the thread have reported significant decreases in file size with no loss in functionality. Will it make any actual noticeable difference in performance? That depends on a number of variable such as your device's I/O speed, CPU power, and application size. That said, it can't hurt to try.

Make your way over to the utility thread to get in on the action.

[Thanks to Senior Member ct_moi for the tip!]