The latest articles on DEV Community by Oshie Labs (@oshielabs). https://dev.to/oshielabs https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4192014%2Fe41ccb1e-39aa-44b7-8005-1dd85386e913.png https://dev.to/oshielabs en Oshie Labs Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:36:19 +0000 https://dev.to/oshielabs/i-got-tired-of-government-portals-rejecting-my-104kb-photos-so-i-built-an-offline-android-app-with-2gc1 https://dev.to/oshielabs/i-got-tired-of-government-portals-rejecting-my-104kb-photos-so-i-built-an-offline-android-app-with-2gc1 <p>Last month, a state portal rejected my application because my photo was 104 KB instead of the required 100 KB limit.</p> <p>My phone shoots photos at 12 MB. </p> <p>When I searched for a quick compressor, every top website asked me to upload my passport photo to their cloud servers. No clear privacy policy, no idea where the images go. </p> <p>I wasn't about to hand over my ID to random servers, but existing Play Store apps were either packed with intrusive full-screen ads or relied on vague "low/medium/high" sliders that leave you guessing the output size.</p> <p>So I spent the last few weeks building <strong><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oshielabs.compresse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Compress-E</a></strong> at <strong>Oshie Labs</strong>.</p> <h3> The problem with hitting exact KB in Android </h3> <p>In Android, <code>Bitmap.compress(JPEG, quality, stream)</code> takes a quality parameter from 0 to 100. But that's a quantization multiplier, not a file size target.</p> <p>Setting <code>quality = 75</code> on a plain wall might output 40 KB, while on a textured background it could stay at 1.5 MB. </p> <p>To hit an <strong>exact target</strong> like 95 KB without trial and error, Compress-E runs a quick adaptive binary search loop:</p> <ul> <li>First, it downscales unnecessarily massive canvas resolutions.</li> <li>Then, it binary-searches the quality table to converge on the target byte size in 3–4 quick passes.</li> <li>Everything runs on background coroutines so the Compose UI stays smooth at 120Hz.</li> </ul> <h3> 100% On-Device &amp; Private </h3> <p>Most tools process images in the cloud because server-side processing is easier than managing mobile memory. </p> <p>Compress-E does everything strictly in device RAM:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Zero cloud uploads</strong>: Works completely offline.</li> <li> <strong>Privacy cleanup</strong>: Automatically strips EXIF geolocation metadata so your personal coordinates aren't embedded in uploaded photos.</li> <li> <strong>Batch Mode</strong>: Shrink multiple photos simultaneously with one tap.</li> </ul> <h3> Tech Stack </h3> <ul> <li>Built 100% with <strong>Jetpack Compose</strong> &amp; Material 3.</li> <li> <strong>iTextG &amp; BouncyCastle</strong> for clean ID/document PDF exports.</li> <li> <strong>AndroidX ExifInterface</strong> for correct orientation handling.</li> </ul> <p>Check it out on Google Play:<br><br> 👉 <strong><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oshielabs.compresse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Download Compress-E on Google Play</a></strong></p> <p>Would love any feedback on the compression speed and UI!</p> android privacy showdev kotlin