Google is bringing a huge change to the Play Store

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From August, the Google Play Store applies a major change

Since this month, Google has completely changed the game when it comes to the development and functionality of applications published on the Google Play Store.

So far, most Android apps have been submitted to the Play Store in the traditional APK format, or Android Package Kit. In this form, an app is bundled into a single pack that mounts to the Play Store, and then gets downloaded in that same compact form for keen Android customers, with all the odds and ends included.

As simple as it sounds, this is not the optimal delivery standard, mainly because it can charge the user a lot more than they will need or use on their particular device.

However, from August 1, Google is requiring Android software developers to deliver all of their apps through the new AAB (Android App Bundle) framework. The good news is that the switch won’t be a big deal for developers, as they don’t have to switch too much between the two standards on their own.

Now, you might be thinking that this is probably just for developers and won’t affect the day-to-day end user, but that would be far from the truth. The new app delivery format allows for much greater compartmentalization of components within the app, prioritization and optimization to deliver the smoothest experience to the Android device you are using.

Here’s what it all means:

1. No unnecessary clutter of applications

In the old APK format, if a developer wanted their Android app to be usable on multiple types of Android devices (smartphones and tablets, for example), they would go one of two ways. In the first scenario, they would create all the necessary peculiarities and different graphics for each device that will use the app, and bundle them into one app on the Play Store.

When a user downloads the APK app to their phone, they often end up with unnecessary junk unique to other devices that they will never use or need on their own. telephone.

Alternatively, developers can also create and publish separate APKs for each Android device the app will run on, but that’s obviously annoying and a general issue.

But with the apps grouped together under the AAB framework, the Play Store is able to intelligently break the set up into separate APKs, recognizing which one is best for your device, and therefore only downloading what’s needed. These optimized APKs are 15% more compact than their old counterparts, according to Google (as reported by wired).

2. Efficient compartmentalisation

The AAB framework allows applications to be divided into components with different targets and priorities, which can be downloaded one by one for the end user, as needed. The Play Store will then automatically know which version or components to deliver to a user’s specific device, without cluttering them with unnecessary packages.

Games or other heavier layered applications can also be downloaded to your phone part by part, as needed. If you start a new, graphics-rich game, the Play Store might download it to your device level by level (or a few levels at a time), for example, so you don’t have to worry about insane load times every time. as you open the app.

Developers also have the freedom to play around with optional add-ons, such as augmented reality, which may work on some devices but not others, which are provided separately and are only downloaded to the appropriate device, in case of need.

3. Reduced load on cheaper phones

While the changes to the Google Play Store will certainly streamline the average user experience of the app, even on the newer flagships, those with older or slower phones should see a significant difference in load times and a reduction in the voltage of the device.

Since older or lower-tier phones typically have weaker processors and less storage space, they’ll see the biggest improvement in the behavior of newer AAB apps.

Google created AAB in 2018

The new AAB format was released with Android 9 in 2018 and has been free for developers to use at their own discretion during that time. It is also fully open source and available for other application libraries to adopt if they wish.

Google reports that already a thousand of the most popular apps are based on AABs, and that there are already more than a million live apps using the new format.

While AAB is not a new framework per se, with the new requirement that all Google Play apps must be submitted in AABs, Google is simply applying the already trending and more efficient format on Android platforms to benefit of the end user, and without serious cost on the development side.

Traditional APKs that are already on the Play Store will stay and work fine, as only future apps will be impacted.

The only downside, as noted Wired, is it because AAB is the work of Google and Google controls the entire packaging and verification process, the tech giant is tightening the rains on the Play Store ecosystem, exercising full control over distribution of applications for the foreseeable future.

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