Google’s App Bundles Reduces Android App Sizes, Offers Faster Installation
One of the biggest problems with Android today is their size. Large sized apps tend to slow down phones, and therefore statistics too show a decline in the likelihood of a user to install heavier apps.
This is why Google has announced a new publishing format called Android App Bundle which will help developers to optimize the size of their apps according to Android devices.
What does Android App Bundle do?
Think of it as means of generating and managing multiple APKs for different devices; the only difference is that the weight of accomplishing this tedious task now rests on Google Play.
The app bundle will contain the app’s compiled code and resources, but it will hold off the APK generation. With this tool developers no longer have to build, sign and manage multiple APKs but they do have to outline which assets and languages they want to make available to their users.
Google’s new format does not replace the standard APK file format entirely. Instead, it enables developers to provide the best-suited APKs to Android users for their devices directly from Google Play.
Since Google will be the one generating the APK, it has gained the advantage of offering “Dynamic Deliver” while serving apps. It means the apps downloaded by users will be optimized and will not contain codes or resources irrelevant to their device.
What are the benefits?
App Bundles facilitate smaller downloads for users and makes it easy for developers to manage their apps. The new format also has Dynamic Feature Modules which allows users to download the core of the app and give an option to download additional features only when they need it.
Google has claimed that it can reduce app sizes up to 50 percent. The company has already tested Android App Bundles on its own apps like YouTube and other apps like LinkedIn which saw a 23% file reduction.
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