No more will Android apps be confined to a mere 50MB as Google allows developers to produce applications up to 4GB in size.
The news broke on the Android Developers blog, which highlighted that the smaller app size "is usually better - every megabyte you add makes it harder for your users to download and get started", but notes that a size increase is necessary for "some types of apps, like high-quality 3D interactive games".
The APK file for an app still has to meet the 50MB limit, but developers can now use 4GB of online storage, hosted by Google, to support the more complex of applications without having to shell out for their own servers.
Rise of the quad-core and console quality gaming
The move reflects the advance in mobile technology, after we saw a number of quad-core devices announced at MWC 2012 capable of delivering console-quality gaming.
With the additional storage now on offer for developers we expect to see more games take advantage of 3D graphics and become more demanding in terms of processor power and memory.
It's not all good news though, as developers still have to worry about the plethora of phones and tablets running Android and the widely varying capabilities of each. Sure detailed 3D games for the quad-core phones will be fun, but it will cut out the majority of the market whose lesser devices will be unable to cope.
The increase in app size support is certainly a step in the right direction, but more structure is required to assist developers make the most of their applications across the whole range of Android devices.
From Android Developers
