To Bundle or .apk? Android app

Question

To Bundle or .apk? Android app

LMiles 21

Hello,

I'm going through the throws of releasing first build to the Google Play Store.

Up to now I've always built to .apk and deployed to test devices. The .apk is signed with my own .snk and .keystore
The app is also obfuscated. All runs on multiple android devices, no issues.

Google also have the "Bundle" option where they handle .apk signing etc. They also claim it is the better option.

QUESTION: Is it better to use the Bundle option and leave signing to the Google Play or to submit an .apk with the relevant .snk and keystore files?
I've not tried, so I assume that is what will be needed, albeit the apk is already signed in local build.

QUESTION: If I chose to submit a "Bundle", does anyone know how that may be affected by the prior obfuscation of the assemblies?

What else is there to consider in relation to this?

Thanks

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Emil Alipiev 306 Reputation points

2020-12-03T16:38:09.127+00:00

stupid website. sorry i wrote you an entire article as answer and page returned error and now my whole answer is gone. i cant believe such waste of time. we should continue using Xamarin forum. there is at least a draft option there.
Summary what i wrote,

Use aab with your own keystore signing then switch to google signing.
LMiles 21 Reputation points

2020-12-03T17:51:44.233+00:00

Thanks, that's unfortunate re website crashing :(

The issue I'm having with aab is I have to flip back to deploy to a test device.
Unless of course I'm doing something wrong but I have to build and package to .apk to test on any hard device.

Will continue to consider options while I have time.

Thx
JessieZhang-MSFT 7,716 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2020-12-04T06:01:58.4+00:00

Hi @LMiles for this problem, you can get better help in google play forum : https://support.google.com/googleplay/community?hl=en
Dave Murray 1 Reputation point

2020-12-04T12:23:15.947+00:00

You can extract the APKs from the App Bundle just be aware you will need a lot of drive space. See: https://www.geekdashboard.com/extract-apk-files-from-aab/

Alternatively connect the device to your dev PC and hit Run in Visual Studio.

Use App Bundles because they will greatly reduce the download size of your app for users. I've seen over 50% reduction with my apps. Also Google will remove the option to use APKs at some point.
LMiles 21 Reputation points

2020-12-17T13:24:02.907+00:00

Hi Dave, thanks for posting that.

I'd like to use the Bundle approach but am concerned about my obfuscated APKs.
It all works perfectly right now with signed, obfuscated APKs.

If I submit obfuscated code in a bundle and allow Google to package and sign, I'd not want that process to break because of obfuscation OR the app to break because of the way they might package the app, it being obfuscated.

IF any break happens I'd need to revert to apk, which would mean new package identifier across ALL my project and environments, iOS included (as this is a Xamarin Forms solution), as well as App Store, provisioning keys etc etc etc. and my Auth0 implementation too.

Any other suggestions?

IF I can use AOT when building, is it necessary to add obfuscation?

Problem is there's not trial/error. Once one commits to the Bundle option, there's no turning back.
Turning back is a BIG redo.

Anyone?
JarvanZhang 23,971 Reputation points

2020-12-18T03:43:30.937+00:00

Hi,LMiles-1467. I suggest to use the app bundle format for release. App bundle could help you to generate and serve optimized APKs for each device configuration. And in the second half of 2021, new apps will be required to publish with the Android App Bundle on Google Play.

Check the tutorial: https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle

2 answers

Emil Alipiev 306 Reputation points

2020-12-03T16:38:09.127+00:00

stupid website. sorry i wrote you an entire article as answer and page returned error and now my whole answer is gone. i cant believe such waste of time. we should continue using Xamarin forum. there is at least a draft option there.
Summary what i wrote,

Use aab with your own keystore signing then switch to google signing.
LMiles 21 Reputation points

2020-12-03T17:51:44.233+00:00

Thanks, that's unfortunate re website crashing :(

The issue I'm having with aab is I have to flip back to deploy to a test device.
Unless of course I'm doing something wrong but I have to build and package to .apk to test on any hard device.

Will continue to consider options while I have time.

Thx
JessieZhang-MSFT 7,716 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2020-12-04T06:01:58.4+00:00

Hi @LMiles for this problem, you can get better help in google play forum : https://support.google.com/googleplay/community?hl=en
Dave Murray 1 Reputation point

2020-12-04T12:23:15.947+00:00

You can extract the APKs from the App Bundle just be aware you will need a lot of drive space. See: https://www.geekdashboard.com/extract-apk-files-from-aab/

Alternatively connect the device to your dev PC and hit Run in Visual Studio.

Use App Bundles because they will greatly reduce the download size of your app for users. I've seen over 50% reduction with my apps. Also Google will remove the option to use APKs at some point.
LMiles 21 Reputation points

2020-12-17T13:24:02.907+00:00

Hi Dave, thanks for posting that.

I'd like to use the Bundle approach but am concerned about my obfuscated APKs.
It all works perfectly right now with signed, obfuscated APKs.

If I submit obfuscated code in a bundle and allow Google to package and sign, I'd not want that process to break because of obfuscation OR the app to break because of the way they might package the app, it being obfuscated.

IF any break happens I'd need to revert to apk, which would mean new package identifier across ALL my project and environments, iOS included (as this is a Xamarin Forms solution), as well as App Store, provisioning keys etc etc etc. and my Auth0 implementation too.

Any other suggestions?

IF I can use AOT when building, is it necessary to add obfuscation?

Problem is there's not trial/error. Once one commits to the Bundle option, there's no turning back.
Turning back is a BIG redo.

Anyone?
JarvanZhang 23,971 Reputation points

2020-12-18T03:43:30.937+00:00

Hi,LMiles-1467. I suggest to use the app bundle format for release. App bundle could help you to generate and serve optimized APKs for each device configuration. And in the second half of 2021, new apps will be required to publish with the Android App Bundle on Google Play.

Check the tutorial: https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle

Answer 1

You don't have a choice on Google Play, you must upload a bundle i.e. an aab, as they will not accept an apk. I can't remember when they outed apks, but it is probably at least a couple of years ago.

When you deploy a release build to your device for testing, the deploy process creates an aab signed with your signing key and then deploys the correct apk for the device you are deploying to. Turn on Xamarin Diagnostics and you will see the log in the output window of the build process.

If you have an obfuscated release build, then if it runs on your device, then obviously it is ok.

If you are building a net7-android release, then you will see in your projects bin/release/net7.0-android folder both the Signed.aab and the Signed.apk which was deployed to your device.

If you are building a Xamarin.Android release build then you will only see a Signed.aab. To see the size of the apk which was deployed to your device you would need to use Android Studio's Analyse APK tool to load your aab which will then display the size of your apk, or alternatively, Google Play will display its size after it is unloaded.

When you upload to Google Play, it will accept your signing key, but will then issue a new upload key for you to use on subsequent uploads.

If you want to check the obfuscation, you can use a tool like dotPeek from JetBrians.

Answer 2

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To Bundle or .apk? Android app

2 answers