Google has rolled out an update to the Android Market which allows developers to upload multiple APK files for a single app listing. That means instead of creating separate listings for multiple versions of an app designed to run on different devices, developers can create a single listing.
In other words, when you go to download the latest version of Dungeon Defenders, Fruit Ninja, or any other app, the Market will be able to determine what kind of phone or tablet you’re using and send you the correct version.
Up until now, if you wanted to download a game, for instance, that was optimized for devices with NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processors you had to download the THD version of the app. Then if you went to get the same game for another device you’d have to search the Android Market for the non-Tegra version of the app.
For free apps, that’s not a big problem. But if it’s a paid app that could mean you would have to pay for the same app twice if you wanted to use it on your phone and tablet. Support for multiple APK files could eliminate that problem… once developers start to make use of the new Market feature.
This also means developers that had been trying to code a single app that would work across a wide range of devices an instead create multiple versions and upload them all to the Android Market. In some cases that might be easier than writing an app that’s designed to work on devices with a wide range of screen sizes or processor types.
