Google makes the Play Store more secure – with a big catch

Google is forever changing the Play Store. The most important apps and games have already been converted to the new technology, others will soon have to follow. But there is a big catch that only becomes apparent on closer inspection.

Android: Google says goodbye to APKs in the Play Store

Google has in Developer blog announced that APKs are about to end. New Apps only in the “Android App Bundle” format, or .aab for short. According to Google, that’s already the case for the 1,000 most popular apps and games. The big advantage of the new format is the significantly higher security. In addition, they are Apps are smaller, can be installed more quickly and therefore take up less space. Developers also have more options available. So it sounds like a great change. But what does that do with the APKs and the freedom of Android?

The .aab files cannot simply be installed on an Android smartphoneas known from APKs. Only the Google Play Store can use this format. In future, developers would have to make their apps available as .abb files for the Google Play Store and as APK files for the free market so that they can be installed on Android devices. Some will surely do it, but many will certainly not. This could also affect free markets like the Amazon App Store. The selection there could then be significantly smaller.

Google could also be targeting Windows 11

With Windows 11, Microsoft is introducing the option of installing Android apps on the PC, laptop or tablet. This is done via the Amazon App Store, but APKs can also be installed manually. So while Microsoft is opening up to allow more users access to various apps, Google could completely destroy the plan. Windows 11 may be able to process APKs, but not .abb files because there is no Google Play Store. It will be exciting to see how this story unfolds.

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