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So what's this mean, effectively, to other app stores on Android? I'm pretty sure most developers won't bother making APK's for third party app stores with very

So what's this mean, effectively, to other app stores on Android? I'm pretty sure most developers won't bother making APK's for third party app stores with very small user bases. And what's this mean to Microsoft who is bringing APK's to Windows? Existing APK apps sure, but can Microsoft use the new format as well or no?

notatoad 5y ago
From my reading of the windows 11 coverage, they're relying on APK sideloading or the Amazon app store for distribution. So no, Microsoft will likely not be able to use the new AAB format (although I'm sure there's some ongoing negotiations around this. Never say never...)
- tadfisher 5y ago
  AABs are built, and APKs extracted, with bundletool, part of the open-source Android SDK. There is nothing technical preventing Amazon or F-Droid from accepting AABs and providing APKs on-demand.
sxp 5y ago
If the dev wants to release their app on another app store, they would just export the apk. Pirate app stores that share apks without the dev's permission would probably need to write their own aab to apk converter and sign the apks with a key owned by the pirate app store. So this probably isn't a big deal for regular devs, but will reduce the security of apks downloaded from pirate app stores since it would be harder to verify the code integrity of the derived apps.
jayd16 5y ago
Seems like devices still deal with apks. Apks remain a core part of development. The biggest hurdle to 3rd party app stores is the API, not making an apk.
pjmlp 5y ago
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/06/the-future-of-android-app-bundles-is.html https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/06/the-future... > If I use app bundles, can I still publish through multiple distribution channels/app stores? > Yes, there are multiple ways to achieve this. You can either use the same app signing key everywhere or use unique app signing keys for different channels, including a unique app signing key for Google Play. You can either build and sign artifacts for all distribution channels locally or you can download distribution APKs from Google Play for use on other channels. Distribution APKs downloaded from Google Play, either via the app bundle explorer in Play Console or via the Play Developer API, are signed with the same key used by Play App Signing.

notatoad 5y ago

From my reading of the windows 11 coverage, they're relying on APK sideloading or the Amazon app store for distribution. So no, Microsoft will likely not be able to use the new AAB format (although I'm sure there's some ongoing negotiations around this. Never say never...)

tadfisher 5y ago
AABs are built, and APKs extracted, with bundletool, part of the open-source Android SDK. There is nothing technical preventing Amazon or F-Droid from accepting AABs and providing APKs on-demand.

sxp 5y ago

If the dev wants to release their app on another app store, they would just export the apk. Pirate app stores that share apks without the dev's permission would probably need to write their own aab to apk converter and sign the apks with a key owned by the pirate app store. So this probably isn't a big deal for regular devs, but will reduce the security of apks downloaded from pirate app stores since it would be harder to verify the code integrity of the derived apps.

jayd16 5y ago

Seems like devices still deal with apks. Apks remain a core part of development. The biggest hurdle to 3rd party app stores is the API, not making an apk.

pjmlp 5y ago

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/06/the-future-of-android-app-bundles-is.html https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/06/the-future... > If I use app bundles, can I still publish through multiple distribution channels/app stores? > Yes, there are multiple ways to achieve this. You can either use the same app signing key everywhere or use unique app signing keys for different channels, including a unique app signing key for Google Play. You can either build and sign artifacts for all distribution channels locally or you can download distribution APKs from Google Play for use on other channels. Distribution APKs downloaded from Google Play, either via the app bundle explorer in Play Console or via the Play Developer API, are signed with the same key used by Play App Signing.