Android developers should also offer 64bit versions of apps in 2019

Google has published new guidelines for Android developers, requiring from August 2019 to also offer a 64-bit version of an app in addition to a 32-bit version. In addition, Google is announcing changes to API levels and security.

Google announced in an announcement that it is taking the measure because it expects Android devices to come out in the future that only have 64-bit support. That’s why apps that have a 32-bit software library on board should also offer a 64-bit alternative from mid-2019. The same goes for updates. Since Android 5.0 there is 64-bit support and according to Google, more than 40 percent of all Android devices now support this architecture. Apple no longer supports 32bit apps since iOS 11.

In addition, from August of next year, developers must focus their new apps on the use of api level 26, which stands for Android 8. This concerns targetSdkVersion and developers are therefore free to also support older Android versions. Certain new features only work if apps are explicitly aimed at using a certain API level, according to Google. From November 2018, this requirement also applies to updates of existing apps and from 2019, within a year of each new Android version, such as Nougat and Oreo, the targetSdkVersion requirement will be raised to a new API level.

The latest change concerns adding “security metadata” to Android APKs. This serves to verify that it is actually an app that has been distributed via Google Play. Developers do not need to take any measures for this.