Mono for Android - Supported Architecture - Drop x86?

Question

We have an almost complete application, and we are trying to compress according to the download limit of 50 MB for Google Play.

When checking our APK to try and find a way to reset our file size, I noticed the lib\x86 , lib\armeabi and lib\armeabi-v7a that are described. They correspond to the "Supported architecture" option in the project options of the Mono project for Android.

If I remove x86, I saved about 1.1 MB on our APK size. (This is almost enough to get less than 50 MB)

• What are the disadvantages of x86 removal?
• Will my APK work on x86 devices?
• Is there a significant market share on Google Play for x86 devices?
• If it doesn’t work on x86, will Google Play prohibit installing APK on x86 devices?

Answer 1

Please note that the following answers are for general Android development and do not reflect anything special for Mono:

What are the disadvantages of x86 removal?

Your application will not work on x86 devices. Intel may cry.

Will my APK work on x86 devices?

Not.

Is there a significant market share on Google Play for x86 devices?

IMHO, not now. In 2012, several mobile phones with Intel processors (for example, Motorola RAZR i) were released, and the first generation of Google TV devices was powered by Intel processors. But Google TV switched to ARM, and for a while before Intel processors make up a significant part of the ecosystem of Android devices (again IMHO).

If it doesn’t work on x86, can Google Play not install the APK on x86 devices?

Must. If not, there are serious issues in the Play Store. While I have RAZR, I'm sitting here, I don’t know what an application that uses native code that does not come with x86 to check if this application is really filtered from the Play Store.

trying to compress under a download limit of 50 MB for Google Play

If you save 1.1 MB "is almost enough to get [less than 50 MB", you already have problems. Applications grow over time, not shrink. If you expect that eventually you will be able to switch to some other distribution architecture (for example, use the APK extension files), and you just need a short-term solution to the stop gap, cutting x86 might be ok. But you really need to have a plan to combat the growing size of the application, which returns you beyond the 50 MB barrier, and you might be better off if you look at this rather than sending something and find out that as a result you painted it in a corner .