Android users can grant permission to their device to install unknown apps if they wish to access APK files from another source and install them directly. Android users may wish to install an APK directly if they are beta testing an unreleased version of an application, or due to a device restriction, are unable to download an app from Google Play. An APK expansion file is used for storing media files, high-fidelity graphics, or other large assets that would cause an APK to exceed the size limitation.ĪPK files can also be distributed directly to other Android users for installation on their devices.

This first checks if any property called ' appName ' is supplied from the gradle.properties of the Android project (like: appNamemyApp ), if not it just picks up the root directory name. To help developers with this limitation, Google Play will host up to two APK expansion files for any additional content required for their application. This code basically loops through all the build variants of the Android application and gives a custom name to the output file, which in our case is an apk file. Google Play requires APK files be less than 100 MB in size. Developers who create applications for use on Android devices must compile their application into the APK format prior to uploading to Google Play, the official marketplace for Android applications. APK files are compiled with Android Studio, which is the official integrated development environment ( IDE) for building Android software.Īn APK file includes all of the software program’s code and assets. An APK (Android Package Kit) is the file format for applications used on the Android operating system.

Android studio apk build