Google announced today that it is increasing the size limit on its Android apps from 50MB to 4GB.
The company stressed that, in most cases, smaller is better - "every megabyte you add makes it harder for your users to download and get started," Google wrote on the Android developers blog. But advances in app development, like "high-quality 3D games," require more resources and Google has obliged.
As a result, app size can now top out at 4GB. "The size of your APK file will still be limited to 50MB to ensure secure on-device storage, but you can now attach expansion files to your APK," Google said.
Each app can have two expansion files, each with up to 2GB in whatever format you choose, Google said. Those files will be hosted by the Android Market, and users will be able to see the total size of your app before they install or purchase.
"On most newer devices, when users download your app from Android Market, the expansion files will be downloaded automatically, and the refund period won't start until the expansion files are downloaded," Google said. "On older devices, your app will download the expansion files the first time it runs, via a downloader library."
More information on that downloader library is available in the Google blog post.
Developers, meanwhile, are at liberty to use the expansion files in any way, but "we recommend that one serve as the initial download and be rarely if ever updated; the second can be smaller and serve as a 'patch carrier,' getting versioned with each major release," Google said.
In December, Android celebrated 10 billion downloads in its Android Market by offering 10-cent apps. The search giant has a ways to go to catch up to rival Apple, however, which recently hit the 25 billion app download mark.
For more, see PCMag's 75 Best Android apps slideshow below.
