Which of the following accurately describes the purpose of a ViewModel in Android architecture?

The purpose of a ViewModel in Android architecture is primarily to store and manage UI-related data in a lifecycle-conscious way. This means that it acts as a bridge between the UI and the data, holding the data that is relevant to the UI while also being aware of the lifecycle of the activities or fragments that are using it.

One of the key features of a ViewModel is that it outlives the lifecycle of the activity or fragment, allowing data to survive configuration changes, such as screen rotations. This helps to ensure that UI components can always access the necessary data without needing to reload it unnecessarily, leading to a smoother user experience.

In contrast, handling UI rendering tasks primarily falls to the activity or fragment itself, which is responsible for displaying views based on the data it retrieves. Creating user interface layouts is part of the XML resource files or composables in Jetpack Compose, rather than the ViewModel's responsibilities. Managing database transactions is typically handled by repositories or data access layers, not the ViewModel, which instead focuses on providing the data in a format suitable for the UI.