Google May Only Provide 64-bit Android to Pixel Tablet

Android 13 hit AOSP the other day and the source code dump includes an interesting commit discovered by Esper’s Mishaal Rahman. It appears that Google is planning – or at least experimenting – to migrate the upcoming Pixel tablet to 64-bit Android. The commit doesn’t beat around the bush saying “port tangor to 64-bit only”. Tangor is the code name for the already announced Pixel tablet.

iOS, with its sole hardware manufacturer, has only gone 64-bit since 2017. Android has a million moving parts, split between a bunch of different companies, so switching to 64-bit only is going to be a long time. However, achieving this is worth the effort as it promises increased performance and additional security features.

The Google Play app ecosystem is probably the furthest thing from supporting 64-bit. Any applications written entirely in Java or Kotlin already automatically receive 64-bit compatibility from the system. Back in 2019, Google required Google Play apps that use native code (usually games) to provide 64-bit versions. There were exceptions for several popular SDKs such as Adobe Air and Unity, but those exceptions were lifted in August 2021 when all applications were required to be 64-bit.

In terms of hardware, by now every SoC should support 64-bit, and some flagship Android SoCs are actually reducing their ability to run 32-bit code. Any flagship chip that follows the recommended ARM design only supports 32-bit processing on three of the eight cores, the other five are 64-bit only. ARM wants to drop 32-bit support entirely in its 2023 flagship SoC design, but there are already rumors that Qualcomm doesn’t want to follow this recommended design. Most likely the reason is in China.

Google’s requirements for 64-bit apps only apply to apps on Google Play that are not available in China. China has a large collection of competing app stores with more lenient policies, so 32-bit apps are not being discontinued as aggressively. However, China is working on the problem: China’s top five app stores – from Alibaba, Baidu, OPPO, Tencent and Xiaomi – have agreed to ban only 32-bit apps by the end of this month. There is also a 64-bit compatibility issue between packaged apps from OEM skins that are not subject to app store rules.

Rahman found another commit that suggests that 64-bit-only support might be a common feature of Android 14 2023, so the Pixel tablet, already officially confirmed for early next year, looks like a test run to see how things go.