Google Play Requires New Apps to Use Android App Bundle (AAB) Format Starting August 2021

At Google I/O 2018, Google introduced the Android App Bundle (AAB) format as part of its modern development strategy; from August 2021, AAB will become the default packaging format for new apps uploaded to Google Play, with existing apps temporarily exempt.

Google announced that beginning in August 2021, new apps must be distributed via Android App Bundle, replacing APK as the standard publishing format.

Using AAB, Google Play can generate and optimize APKs based on each device’s configuration and language, resulting in an average size reduction of 15%, faster installation, and more available storage for end users.

Android App Bundle: Enables Google Play to create device‑specific APKs, reducing app size by roughly 15%.

Play App Signing: Secures the app‑signing key with Google’s infrastructure and offers an upgrade to a stronger, encrypted key.

Play Feature Delivery: Allows conditional, on‑demand, and time‑based delivery of feature modules to specific devices.

Play Asset Delivery: Dynamically delivers large assets, cutting user wait times and lowering delivery costs; games receive assets in appropriate texture formats without waste.

Future improvements: Play App Signing will roll out APK Signature Scheme v4 to selected apps, enabling selective access to upcoming Android performance features.

Google reports that over one million apps already use the AAB format, including most of the top‑1000 apps and games on the Play Store such as Twitter, Netflix, Gameloft titles, Adobe, and Duolingo.

In addition to replacing APKs, developers must replace large expansion files (OBB) with Play Asset or Feature Delivery, and Instant App ZIPs will also be phased out; currently published apps and enterprise‑specific apps are not affected.