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Google's Transition To 64-Bit Apps Begins in August, 32-Bit Support To End in 2021 (ndtv.com)
In a bid to deliver better software experience on devices powered by 64-bit processors in the coming years, Google aims to shift Android towards a 64-bit app ecosystem. From a report: The company has now shed more light on the transition and has announced that developers will have to submit a 64-bit version of their Android apps starting August this year. This move will eventually culminate in a universal implementation of the 64-bit app policy that will be enforced in 2021, after which, Google will no longer host 32-bit apps on the Play Store accessed on a device based on 64-bit hardware. Google announced the move towards 64-bit apps in 2017, claiming that apps with 64-bit code offer significantly better performance. However, the search giant did not provide any details regarding the exceptions to the new rule or when the Play Store will cease to serve 32-bit apps. Google has now revealed that starting August 1 this year, developers must submit 64-bit versions of all new apps and app updates, alongside the old 32-bit versions prior to their publishing from the Play Store.
I thought Android apps are supposed to be written in Java, ergo they are compiled to machine code at run time. So now you're saying there is 32-bit code in them?
If there was ever a case for actual use of the x32 ABI, performance and memory restricted devices with 64bit processors in a controlled ecosystem would definitely be it.
Most people aren't going to be needing 64bits for memory on an Android device any time soon -- rather than letting it be pulled from the kernel, the why not push for performance and efficiency in the areas where it still actually counts?
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
Get off my lawn you dirty hippies
Every time there is a massive transition like this, it exposes the fact that most programs are written by hacks who have no idea what they're doing; there are no portability abstractions in a large swath of software, not only throughout the ecosystem, but also at fundamental levels.
Android's build-process is a clusterfuck of centrally managed binaries that require a 64-bit machine, because it's just too hard for those fancy Googlers to write intelligent code that can span 32-bit architectures at the same time.
Folks, it's shit all the way down. Don't even look at the hardware.
For desktops and servers: AMD64, AArch64 and RISC-V 64-bit.
For mobiles and embedded systems: AArch64, ARM, RISC-V 32-bit and RISC-V 64-bit.
The architecture i386 is dead, nobody wants it.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a 32-bit processor. In fact, the first 64-bit CPU in the series was with the S6. The S5 is still a very nice phone. It would be a shame if something happened to it's apps. It's particularly annoying if I want to install something that I know I had on it once, but it says it's no longer compatible, and the older compatible version is long gone.
I fully understand wanting to have everything work in a 64-bit only world, but at the same time, they should strive to avoid obsoleting older equipment without good reason.
We have to get rid of 32 bit support to prepare for the future 128 bit systems.
Like it or not, there will be systems using 32 bit by then. Being embedded systems and legacy apps. It's time to fix the problem now instead of just "dropping support" but making 32 bits work in the future.
Since 2013, I've owned and loved my Note 3, now running LineageOS 14.1. Needless to say, it's a 32bit machine.
While I'd love to upgrade it, there currently aren't any phones for sale that I'd consider a legitimate flagship. Virtually all of them have wear items, such as batteries, glued into cases that are also glued together. When these wear items wear out, as they do every couple years, you're looking at an expensive repair (which may or may not even be possible in, say, 5 years). 18-24 months after the first repair, you need another expensive repair. And then, 18-24 months later - you guessed it - another expensive repair. Each time you repair the device, prying it open with heat guns, you risk subtly damaging the device - delaminating PCBs, antennas, etc. Forget the fact you can't carry a spare battery in your backpack for a 30 second swap.
Even if we overlook the new defective-by-design trend, most "flagship" phones are also missing key features like headphone jacks, SD card slots, IR blaster, advanced sensors (ie. thermometer), and some have anti-owner provisions baked in, like bootloader locks. Most are made of metal and glass, which are terrible materials for portable devices.
I'm on my 3rd 10,000mAh battery with a TPU case. LineageOS support is official, and rock solid. The only thing I'd really like is a faster CPU, more RAM and a better camera... but really I'm perfectly happy with my Note 3, and until something better shows up on the market, I'm not really interested in side/downgrading.
I'm sure I'm not alone here. Is Google ultimately going to end support for 32bit machines entirely, and force our hands on the matter?
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Like it or not, there will be systems using 32 bit by then. Being embedded systems and legacy apps. It's time to fix the problem now instead of just "dropping support" but making 32 bits work in the future.
yes because every programmer made all the same dumb mistakes that you did
Android is spyware.
about you and your obsession with antique junk
For desktop PCs, support for 32-bit has been winding down for some time now, so it's no surprise that mobile computing would do the same. It has taken me a couple years, but I've completely transitioned all of our home desktop and laptop PCs to 64-bit hardware and operating systems. The only 32-bit desktop PC I have is an old 80486-based system that runs Windows 3.1 just for nostalgia (my first PC). 32-bit has had a good long run, but everybody knew the age of 32-bit computing would eventually come to an end, just as the ages of 16- and 8-bit computing declined and ended. Someday, 64-bit will be obsolete as well.
I'm good in bed,
here is the clue
>_ Google announced the move towards 64-bit apps in 2017, claiming that apps with 64-bit code offer significantly better performance.
It's funny how hard it is to do a benchmark that shows things that way.
It's okay if you're doing anything numerical (e.g. climate modelling etc.), but for most desktop use -- and mobile -- I wonder what would require 64-bit... Virtual reality, perhaps? If we think about the need for more than 4G RAM -- for a single task -- please do tell me what really needs that? Plants vs Zombies?
We have specialized instructions that do slow software things in a fast hardware way, but this has got nothing to do with bit-width. It's reasonable maybe to use 64-bit for 4K screens, but 4K on 6 inches? -- Buy your "smartphone + microscope bundle"!
See this: https://www.raymond.cc/blog/mozilla-firefox-64bit-build-performance-compared-to-32bit/
Every time people talk about Chrome being 64-bit and faster, I scratch my head. It's not so on my 1GB and 2GB RAM computers. It might happen with 8GB RAM, but then again is it the word-width or the code+protocols+Google niceties?
To this day, I haven't been able to run Linux on any mobile equipment. I'm paranoid but I'm starting to believe that won't happen. Because they got to have the control that Linux doesn't allow, because they need to make hardware obsolete in a way the Linux prevents from happening, because they need info on the user actions which Linux would never tell them.
If you want to make a serious impact, forget the 32 vs 64 BS, go for faster I/O -- that's where greater achievements can be made.
Man, this is so dumb! Why aren't we using 128- or 256-bit then?
Only 19 years to go until Y2038 hits on 19th January 2038.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Note 64-bit systems greatly help to avoid Y2038 failures but anything using 32-bit time may fail or may have limitations.
Ever noticed that you can't set Android's date past 2036 ? I guess this is to ensure that Y2038 issues are not hit. I wonder whether 64-bit Android removes this limitation ?
So has Android, since v5.0. This is about ending backwards compatibility with 32 bit apps.
Basically there seems no other way to stop people from continuing to sell Android 4.x-based phones.
Claiming 64 bit code is faster than 32 bit? False, it is slower for many common operations.
iOS is kommunism