Android has a radical change imposed by the Google company that will have an impact on all mobile phones that will run the operating system, and this is because the decision was made to offer more security. Google forces all Android application developers to no longer compile their applications in the apk format, but in the Android App Bundle, AAB, which is much safer and easier to control by Google.
Android has had problems with malware for years because of the way phone apps were compiled, but this radical change is meant to solve the problem completely. Thanks to the new format, Android applications will be installed in phones only with the files necessary to function on that phone model, without including those that offer support for various other types of processors, resolutions, or even spoken languages.
Android: Radical Change with Impact on All Phones
However, Android does not only have this major change brought by the AAB format, and this is because an extremely important part is the process of signing applications for installation in phones. As part of the new format, Google will take care of signing the applications installed in users' phones, so that signed applications from the Google Play store should arrive in Android, which would also be safe for use, without containing malware.
Android still has a vulnerability here because in the case of third-party application stores, they will be able to sign the applications installed on people's phones, but they will also decide which files end up in the applications. This is where the mass compromises of Android phones can come from third-party stores that distribute compromised applications, but that deals with malware anyway, so in the end it's the users who choose how well they protect themselves.
Android will have imposed the new type of applications in AAB format since August, so users will soon benefit from more security for using their own applications.
