Amazon Appstore will support the Android App Bundles format
Google recently asked developers to use the Android App Bundles (AAB) format when submitting new applications. This format can save users’ download traffic and time and maintain compatibility.
For developers, there may not be much difference between the AAB format and the APK format. After all, the developers can continue to generate the APK installation package if they wish.
However, Google Play Store occupies more than 90% of the market share, and some users worry that there may not be a developer to generate an APK separately for users to download.
And Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 has a built-in Android subsystem and can side-load APK installation packages. What about Microsoft when developers only use the AAB format?
As far as known news is concerned, the Microsoft Store provides downloads of Android applications, but behind this is actually the use of the Amazon App Store in cooperation with Amazon.
The Amazon App Store has millions of Android apps, but some of the approved apps will land on the Microsoft Store for Windows 11 users to download.
In the future, Microsoft may expand its own Microsoft Store to allow developers to submit applications. Of course, if the store does not provide them, users can also side-load Android applications.
As for the AAB format issue, it should not be a problem at all, because Amazon has stated that it will support AAB format applications before the official version of Windows 11 is released.
An Amazon spokesperson said that Amazon’s app store team is actively working to support the new format, helping users download on demand and shorten installation time.
Another question is whether Windows 11 can directly load the AAB format. The answer may be no because the AAB format is mainly provided for application stores.
The essential purpose of this format is to allow the app store to only need the files required by a specific device, and the downloads that the user installs are still in the APK format.
Therefore, some users worry that when the AAB format becomes popular, developers will no longer provide the APK format, which may make it more difficult for users who cannot use the store to install apps.
Therefore, it is up to the application developer to solve this kind of problem. As long as the developer is willing to generate APK format and provide download, it will not become a problem.
