AAB format instead of APK

Google announces AAB format instead of APK

New apps will be required to publish with the Android App Bundle on Google Play instead of apk formats starting from August 2021.
The apk. format will be replaced with Google’s most recent AAB format (Android App Bundles). Google officially announced the decision to switch to AABs now. The AAB was first introduced in 2018. New apps larger than 150MB are now supported by either Play Features Delivery or Play Asset Delivery.

Google officials says “that When you use the android app bundle format to publish your app, you can also take advantage of Play Feature Delivery, which allows you to add feature modules to your app project.

And for Game developers who publish their apps with android app bundles can use Play Asset Delivery: Google Play’s solution for delivering large amounts of game assets that offers developers flexible delivery methods and high performance”.

The new change from APKs to AABs is a good news for users, as it is in small file sizes, specifically 15% smaller than APKs. It is also good news for developers, because they will now have more control and flexibility over their apps, resulting in faster and more efficient updates too.