High Memory Usage (~400 MB) and Frequent GC in Minimal .NET 9 MAUI Android App (Debug Mode with Hot Reload)

[dharamhbtik]

I created a new .NET 9 MAUI project in Visual Studio (selected Include sample content) and ran it on a physical device with Android 13. Without interacting with the app at all, I observed the following behavior:

• Memory usage quickly rises to around 400 MB, which seems quite high for a minimal app.
• The Garbage Collector (GC) runs very frequently, even when the app is idle.
• I recorded a video showing Visual Studio output, Android Studio profiler, and the device screen all together for reference.

This makes me wonder:

• Is the high memory usage expected because I am running in Debug mode with Hot Reload enabled?
• Or is this an indication of a memory management issue in MAUI/.NET 9 Android?
• Why is the GC being triggered so frequently in an idle minimal app?

Environment:

• .NET 9
• Visual Studio (latest)
• Android 13 device
• Debug build with Hot Reload enabled

Video Recording (Click to Play):

Would appreciate guidance on whether this behavior is expected in Debug mode or if it’s something that should be investigated further.