Google Play 16 KB page size requirement

Who is concerned

Every app that targets Android 15 (API level 35) or higher on Google Play. The work lands on apps with native code: C or C++ through the Android NDK, third-party SDKs with native libraries, and apps built with a third-party app builder that uses native libraries on device.

Apps written only in Java or Kotlin, libraries and SDKs included, already support 16 KB devices, and Google still recommends testing them in a 16 KB environment.

What changes

• From February 1, 2027, updates that do not support 16 KB memory page sizes cannot be released.
• Android historically used 4 KB memory pages. Beginning with Android 15, AOSP supports devices configured with a 16 KB page size, and Google expects devices with more RAM to adopt 16 KB and larger pages.
• Google says that without recompiling, apps with native libraries will not work on 16 KB devices in future Android releases.

What to do

• Find out whether you ship native code: open the APK in Android Studio (Build, Analyze APK) and look in the lib folder for .so files. Google says an app without shared object files does not use native code.
• Check alignment: the Alignment column in APK Analyzer warns about issues, and the check_elf_alignment.sh script (Linux or macOS) prints ALIGNED or UNALIGNED for each arm64-v8a library.
• Upgrade to Android Gradle Plugin 8.5.1 or higher and NDK r28 or higher, and use 16 KB compatible prebuilt dependencies. Google says the app is then 16 KB compatible by default.
• On NDK r27 or lower, pass the linker flags -Wl,-z,max-page-size=16384 and -Wl,-z,common-page-size=16384, and recompile prebuilt libraries the same way.
• Check every SDK you include for 16 KB support, remove hard-coded dependencies on the PAGE_SIZE constant, and test on a 16 KB emulator or device.
• Verify the bundle: bundletool dump config --bundle=app.aab | grep alignment should show PAGE_ALIGNMENT_16K.

What happens after the date

After February 1, 2027, Google’s page says updates that do not support 16 KB page sizes cannot be released. The page speaks about updates, not about versions that are already published.