14 DAY TRIAL // Mountain View-based Internet giant Google has just announced a new set of enhancements brought to the Android Market in the developer side, so as to enable them manage their applications easier than before.
The Android Market offers multiple APK support, a new option for application developers who publish their software in the company's portal.
Google announced back at the Google I/O conference that it was set to offer more capabilities for developers registered to the Android Market, and this is one of the first moves it makes in this direction.
“We’re pleased to let you know that the latest of those, multiple APK support, is now available. Multiple APK support is a new publishing option in Android Market for those developers who want extra control over distribution,” Eric Chu, Android Developer Ecosystem, notes in a blog post.
Previously, all products in the Android Market included in the listing a single APK file, meant to be fit for all devices out there, regardless the platform version, screen size, or chipset.
In Google's opinion, this recipe works very well for most of the applications in the portal, and also simplifies product maintenance considerably.
However, the newly introduced multiple APK support enabled developers to upload more versions of an APK, so as to target specific customer segments with them.
“These APKs are complete, independent APKs that share the same package name, but contain code and resources to target different Android platform versions, screen sizes, or GL texture-compression formats,” the said blog post continues.
When downloading or purchasing an application, users will be served with the right APK for their specific device, Google explains.
The Android Market will handle multiple APK files as they would be part of a single product listing, aggregating the app details, ratings, and comments across the APKs.
“All users who browse your app’s details page see the same product with the same description, branding assets, screenshots, video, ratings, and comments. Android Market also aggregates the app’s download statistics, reviews, and billing data across all of the APKs,” the blog post explains.
With the new feature, devs will also enjoy more ways to control app distribution, as they can choose to come up with different APKs for phones and tablets, or could add new capabilities in the app without affecting existing users.
“To support this new capability, we’ve updated the Developer Console to include controls for uploading and managing APKs in a product listing — we encourage you to take a look. If you’d like to learn more about how multiple APK support works, please read the developer documentation,” the blog post concludes.