Summary

  • Google wants to make apps scalable across form factors.
  • Android XR headsets will run the majority of Android apps by default.
  • Android 16 and 17 should go a long way toward making apps work better across display sizes.

Google’s “ultimate goal” for Android app development is to make it simple for devs to launch apps and games across multiple form factors, according to Google Play general manager Sam Bright. In an interview with Android Authority, Bright said that Google is “trying to make it easier for users when they switch devices not to feel like they’re completely switching context or no longer having access to their content,” a change facilitated in part by a new Android 16 feature.

Android XR is slated to arrive later this year on a headset created in partnership between Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm, currently known as Project Moohan. That new form factor is a consideration in Google’s push for more adaptable apps. Every app available on the Play Store will be compatible with Android XR by default. Developers will be able to opt out app by app, but if they don’t, you’ll be able to install their software on Android headsets, whether they’ve created a bespoke Android XR interface or not.

Between phones (normal and foldable), tablets, and Chromebooks, apps on the Play Store can already be installed on various form factors, and Android XR is going to add another layer of complexity. Apps not optimized for headsets will appear in floating windows. But one of Android 16‘s biggest new additions is that apps targeting that software version will be adaptable by default; users will be able to resize them freely. Developers will be able to opt out, but come Android 17, that won’t be an option anymore. “We are looking for ways to make it easier for a developer to build once and deploy everywhere,” Bright told AA.

Android XR will be here before we know it

Android XR

Jules Wang / AP

We don’t know exactly when Project Moohan will make its way to store shelves, but Google and Samsung have confirmed it’s coming this year. Given Android 16 should be rolling out in stable sometime this spring, we should start seeing Google’s initiative to make Android apps adaptable by default bearing some fruit by then.