China's five major mobile app stores jointly launch 64-bit Android ecosystem migration

(April 19, 2021) In order to assist Chinese Android developers to seamlessly connect to the global 64-bit development environment and further provide the best experience to end users, China's five major mobile app stores (in no particular order) - Xiaomi App Store, OPPO Software Store, vivo App Store, Tencent App Store, and Baidu Mobile Assistant, today jointly announced that all applications released on each app store in the future must support the 64-bit Arm architecture in an orderly manner. By the end of this year, all applications and games must upload APKs containing 64-bit builds as planned (covering existing application updates and new version releases), so that all mobile Android applications in the Chinese market can be prepared for the full popularization of 64-bit architecture by the end of August 2022, thereby keeping up with the development trend of the global mobile technology field and providing a better and faster immersive user experience for hundreds of millions of mobile phone users in China. Previously, Arm first announced in October 2020 that all Arm® Cortex®-A CPU large cores will only support the execution of 64-bit code from 2022. Now it has further announced that from 2023, all Cortex-A series mobile CPU cores (large and small cores) will only support 64-bit.

These top mobile app stores hereby promise that all the necessary preparations for developers to submit 64-bit applications are ready, and will push the Android ecosystem into a new era of 64-bit, paving the way for the launch of pure 64-bit devices in two years. Today's top priority is that developers must add 64-bit support to these mobile applications in a timely manner.

Since the first 64-bit mobile device was launched in June 2014, the number of 32-bit mobile phones has been on a downward trend. According to domestic data, the proportion of mobile phones that only support 32-bit applications is far less than 1%. As the development focus of Android mobile applications shifts to 64-bit, the upstream and downstream ecosystems will be able to focus on supporting new features and technologies that were previously unavailable based on the 32-bit architecture.

The migration of the mobile ecosystem to 64-bit means best-in-class security and up to 20% performance improvements, providing end users with faster application loading, higher frame rates and more complex immersive experiences, which is of great benefit to high-quality mobile games.

Xiaomi App Store: "On future 64-bit CPU smartphones, only applications built for 64-bit devices will be able to provide a faster and richer user experience beyond our expectations."

OPPO Software Store: "App developers cannot miss the opportunity to check, update, and build their projects before pure 64-bit Android devices appear. The sooner you make the switch, the greater the benefits."

vivo App Store: "Supporting 64-bit devices is the only way for Android apps to take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM address space, utilize wider registers and higher precision in data processing, and gain access to enhanced security features."

Tencent App Store: "Change is inevitable and exciting - especially when we talk about the transition to the 64-bit Android ecosystem, the sooner you build your apps for the 64-bit architecture, the better."

Baidu Mobile Assistant: "Never underestimate the value of porting your 32-bit Android app to 64-bit. There is no doubt that the investment will pay off. We encourage you to start the 64-bit migration as soon as possible."

Tencent Xianyou Cloud Gaming Platform: "With the advancement of the 64-bit ecosystem migration, an epoch-making turning point is just around the corner. Our services built on the Arm architecture will completely break the barriers of the platform and fundamentally change the way people connect with each other and enjoy high-quality mobile games."

At the upstream of the industry chain, Arm has also joined hands with many industry-leading chip manufacturers to provide support in the process of mobile app stores switching to support only 64-bit application development, and has made a commitment to focus on providing services for pure 64-bit devices in response to the market scenarios of pure 64-bit devices expected to arrive in 2023. At the same time, it provides resources such as developer documentation and best code practices to help the ecosystem complete the transition.

Paul Williamson, vice president and general manager of the Terminal Business Unit at Arm, said: "We believe that migrating to 64-bit is an important action for the Android ecosystem to maintain competitiveness and future growth. Existing and future applications will benefit from the performance and computing power improvements brought by the 64-bit architecture. We will continue to support Chinese mobile application developers to ensure a smooth transition of their applications to 64-bit."

The additional migration work required for 64-bit only applies to apps that use native code or libraries. Apps written in the Java or Kotlin programming languages ​​and any libraries or SDKs are already ready for 64-bit devices. For most developers, the transition to 64-bit is not complex, and focusing only on 64-bit compatible apps can save costs and speed up time to market.

Liang Quan, vice president of market and ecology at ARM China, said: "In order to help Chinese developers gain a deeper understanding of the advantages of the 64-bit architecture and successfully complete the upgrade transition, ARM China is also actively promoting the industry, including publishing a variety of technical articles and downloadable white papers through channels such as the Jishu Community, systematically and in-depth demonstrating the performance and security advantages of the 64-bit architecture, as well as key information such as application upgrade methods."