Google chooses app bundles over APKs in the Play Store, that has consequences

New apps that appear in the Play Store must be submitted as an app bundle, and not as an apk. It’s an added value for Google and the security on Android, but at the same time it hurts third-party application stores.

App bundles and APKs

This week, Google announced that new apps that will appear in the Play Store from August 2021, must come as an Android App Bundle (AAP). Previously, developers had the choice between an apk file or AAP, but now the monkey is coming out of the sleeve, because Google now clearly prefers app bundles.

AAP was introduced in 2018, and according to this concept of packaging apps, you will only receive updates if they are compatible with your specific phone and the language you use on your smartphone. That brings benefits to both Google and the app developers. First, it helps developers release more stable updates, which means their app is less likely to be uninstalled. On the other hand, malicious parties cannot tamper with app bundles as they can with an apk file, and in this way Google makes Android a safer place. With an apk file you can modify the code and then spread the malware like wildfire.

The other side of the Medaille

However, not everyone will be enthusiastic about Google’s clear choice for app bundles. Third-party application stores often use apk’s, and it remains to be seen whether developers will make the effort to release an apk each time in addition to the AAP release for other app stores than the Play Store. In many cases, they still have to release a release for Harmony OS or for the Amazon App Store, and soon also for the Windows 11 apps that are coming.

We expect that in due course Google will also require all current apps to be mandatory as AAP, because of the following sentence in Google’s blog post: “Existing apps are currently an exception (…)”. See that word “currently”? Earlier this year, Google brought good news for third-party application stores, because in Android 12, the company allowed stores other than the Play Store to automatically update their apps for the user.

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