 |
| Important changes coming to Android apps and Google Play Store |
Google is preparing to radically change the way apps work on Android. Although these new changes will not be obvious to everyone. However, it is important to understand these changes, if you are an Android user, why these changes were made, and how these changes affect the Google Play Store.
It started in August of this year. Developers looking to publish new apps or games on the Google Play Store must now use the new AAB app format instead of APK files that have been in use for over a decade.
AAB is the framework and method for compiling today's core application files. There are many differences between AAB and APK. But no background.
New Features of AAB Files
The main advantage of this new file type is the small size. You can only get the files that belong to your phone. Thus, you do not have to download all the code for each application.
For example, if the user has a regular mobile phone, then there is no need to download graphics designed specifically for tablets.
Instead, the APK file collects all the components of the application, whether they are useful to you or not during the installation process.
The same function is useful for sending updates to the application. App developers can no longer send updates to certain parts of the app without having to update the entire app.
The game takes full advantage of this feature. A place where users can download games normally. But the first time you download it, the advanced levels will not load either, but when you access them.
Role in Google Play Store
Google Play Store goes through the process of splitting APK files and optimizing their performance, and makes the files available to the device during the download process.
AAB files aren't as new as some think, but Google introduced them with Android 9 in 2018, but the company didn't insist on letting developers use them at the time.
According to Google, the top 1,000 apps in the App Store are already using the AAB format in app development. There is no doubt that the new technology will benefit the old phones as they usually have the characteristics of low storage space and low processing power. Therefore, AAB applications with less space and small size are the ideal choice.
Currently, the Google Play Store only uses the AAB format. This means that even after using them, developers will still need to share traditional APK versions with other stores like the Amazon Store, which is important because Microsoft will build on this in Windows 11.
And this update can cause app developers to ignore other stores that Google doesn't hate.
Like all Google products, the new AAB standard is open source. So other stores can also rely on it, but there is one big problem, part of the mechanism of this formula is based on Google Cloud Services, so that Google can control this process instead of APK files.
If you are currently a regular user and only rely on the Google Play Store, this will not affect you. On the contrary, the effect will be positive.
If you are a developer or use a third-party app store, this will have a huge impact on you. Android will of course continue to support the APK format. However, we don't know if Google will be restricted or not. Of course, we don't know the fate of the Android app launch feature on Windows 11.