Google being Goolag - Android App Bundles

Last updated : 6/12/2023 (Stub - expect rewrites, additions, & stuff)

What is Android App Bundles?

Android App Bundles (AAB) is a publishing format that includes an app's compiled code & resources, & defers APK generation & signing to Google, which then uses the bundle to generate & serve optimized(?) APKs for each device configuration, so only the code & resources required for a specific device are downloaded to run the app.

Benefits of AAB

While Android App Bundles can be a problem (discussed further), there's actual (debatable) benefit(s) to this "feature".

• Less download size for an app, allowing you to save download time & storage space.

Inherent issues with AAB

• Split APKs cannot be installed regularly like most APKs would (by opening the APK in a file manager), instead requiring another app (such as SAI) to install it. App stores such as Aurora may install them without much trouble, but it has to download them in the first place.
Of course, this doesn't apply when the split APKs are provided as one full APK for an architecture.


• Most Android devices use arm64-v8a (or armeabi-v7a for some older devices) architecture. While there are Android-running devices with x86_64, they're probably Chromebooks (unless there's native Android for computers).
• Since APK generation & signature controls are left to Google, they could make the app backdoored for some users downloading them from Play Store. This also breaks Android's security model, since a 3rd-party distributor (Google) signs the app. This only applies if the apps are released exclusively in Play Store though.

A fix / workaround to AAB

• For app developers : simply provide one universal APK (or APK + OBB (XAPK in APKPure for example) if ≥150MB). Sure, it will make the download size outright bigger, but at least the app will work regardless of what device you're running. If this means having to provide a direct download (or mirrored downloads), it is fine as long as there is a way to verify its authenticity (preferably without Goolag dependencies).
• SAI mitigates this issue as a band-aid.
• And, as an Android user, I sincerely hope ≥A12 doesn't remove OBB compatibility (although this is going to be a fleeting one since Goolag has full control over Android development).
25/12/2021 update : For now, OBB compatibility is still intact in A12, though putting it to /Android/obb requires USB debugging and/or rooted file manager, just like A11.

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