Size can be a meaningful metric. Would you prefer to download a 1Mb BMP or a 12Kb JPG? Why are all the JS minify tools so popular? Just some examples.
I'm actually surprised that no one else is curious about why some apps take 1Mb and others 10Mb and so on, or their contents in general. Sometimes it's because they have a ton of images, a little 3D engine or whatever. The replies about filters in this specific case make sense.
You seem to be using size as a proxy for speed: how long until I can use this tool? A slow website (e.g. one that loads 1MB BMPs or un-minified JS) makes you wait every time you access it; a large app download only makes you wait the first time you initially download it.
If I'm going to be using an app on a daily basis for an extended period of time, the speed concerns I care about are how long it takes the app to start up once launched, and how long it takes me to accomplish tasks. Over the lifetime of using an app, I'd argue that an extra two or three minutes in the app's initial download is little more than a rounding error.
Those were just examples. And I'm not at all concerned about the download time, having wi-fi and all. My concern is the space that takes on my phone (and why).
But if we're talking about speed specifically, do you think a 10Mb app would be or load faster than a 1Mb one? This makes me wonder by the way... Does a non-optimized image (part of an app UI, not a photo) take longer to display in a mobile?
I'm actually surprised that no one else is curious about why some apps take 1Mb and others 10Mb and so on, or their contents in general. Sometimes it's because they have a ton of images, a little 3D engine or whatever. The replies about filters in this specific case make sense.