This article, Android App Bundle, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
The Android App Bundle is the Android application submission format which will be required from August 2021 for new Google Play apps.[1] The bundle must include the app's compiled code and resources, which will allow Split APK generation and signing to be deferred to Google Play on demand.[2]
Split APKs
Prior to using Android App Bundles, an APK could potentially include multiple languages, up to four different CPU architectures, and several screen resolution buckets. The practice of doing this means each device gets a significant amount of bloat which is irrelevant for its specific combination of CPU, locale, and screen size.[3]
Split APKs, which are generated by Google Play, contain only the code and resources that are needed for the specific device downloading the app.[4] If the user then later changes their device language, Google Play will deliver additional split APKs on demand to meet the changed requirements.[5]
References
- ^ Peters, Jay (2021-06-30). "Google is moving away from APKs on the Play Store". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ "About Android App Bundles". Android Developers. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ Amadeo, Ron (2021-07-01). "Google Play dumps APKs for the more Google-controlled "Android App Bundle"". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ Tim Anderson. "Android devs prepare to hand over app-signing keys to Google from August". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ Elliott, Dom (2020-11-23). "A new publishing format for the future of Android". Medium. Retrieved 2021-08-15.