TL;DR
Starting in August 2021, Google will require all new Android APKs to land on the Play Store as App Bundles instead.
This will invariably result in smaller file sizes and other boons for the end-user.
However, it will also require app developers to push out APK versions of their apps to other non-Play Store channels, as they won’t support App Bundles.
For as long as Android has been around, Android apps have been launched in the APK format (which stands for Android Package). However, in 2018, Google introduced a new format called Android App Bundles, or AAB (with the filename .aab). Google touted that this new format would result in smaller app file sizes and easier ways to control various aspects of apps. Of the millions of apps on the Google Play Store, thousands of them already use the AAB system.
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Poll: Do you activate developer options on your phone?
Do you use the popular hidden Android settings menu? Let us know!
Andy Walker / Android Authority
You’re likely familiar with the settings lists on your Android smartphone, but there are plenty of options hidden from view. Android’s developer options menu is a good example.
Enabling it takes just seven taps of the build number line in your phone’s “About” section, but this simple process opens up several additional settings menus.
For starters, the developer options menu offers tweaks to the display’s DPI. It also houses the toggle to switch ADB on or off. If animations feel too languid on your phone, there’s also an option to adjust animation speeds and duration, too. Of course, there are other developer-specific settings. It’s also a pretty dense and convoluted set of menus for the uninitiated. For most use cases, it’s unlikely any of these options are needed at all.