TV services like Google TV and Android TV to help users with issue of small amount of storage are Switching to Space-Saving App Bundles.
Android App Bundles
According to an announcement made by Google, “Android App Bundles” (AABs) are the standard publishing format on Google Play (phones, tablets, TVs, etc) that have replaced “Android Package Kits” (APKs). App Bundles are smaller, faster, fresher, and better than its precursor. Key benefits include:
- Smaller Download/Storage Size – App Bundles create an average of 20% total size savings compared to its equivalent APK counterpart by optimizing for each device.
- Less Likely to Uninstall – Since App Bundles enables users with the option to archive (which reclaims ~60% of app storage), users can keep these and more apps on their TV despite limited storage. A quick archive/unarchive user interface is built-in to the TV. Developers can also maintain state for a frictionless later return.
- Applicable to All Android Surfaces – App Bundles are helpful for all Android surfaces using the Google Play store including TV, phone, tablet, watch, auto, & more.
- Streamlined Delivery & Security – For easier delivery, a single artifact with all of your app’s code & resources allows Play store to dynamically serve an optimized app for each device configuration. For greater security, developers can also reset the upload key if it’s lost or compromised.”
The Transition
According to Droid life, “The transition to Android App Bundles for Android TV and Google TV will start in May 2023. Google thinks this is plenty of time for app owners and developers to comply with the change, as they figure it should only take a single engineer about 3 days to migrate an existing TV app from an APK to an AAB. If companies don’t migrate their apps, Google may hide them from the TV surface.”
