What if all resources are placed in one resolution for android app bundle

Question

As we all know that Google launch new feature of distributing android apk using android-app-bundle that has so many advantages.

So my question is, how my app will behave if I place all the images/resources in single folder like drawable-xxxhdpi. e.g. Lets say I have one application that uses 5 images. Instead of taking different sizes for different resolutions, I place all the images in single folder (drawable-xxxhdpi) assuming lets android handle it based on device resolution.

As we know that android-app-bundle generates different different apks based on resolutions, languages and so on.

So in that case what will happen to my app ? How APKs will be generated for different resolutions (Android itself re-scales images and generates bundle ?) What will happen to app, will it crash or working properly for smaller resolution devices ?

I know this is non- coding question but its technical question. I tried to search for this but not able to find exact answer of it.

I may help to others as well.

Answer 1

Your app will work the same as before: Play serves to a given device the files that the Android platform would have loaded if it had served the APK with all the files.

In other words, if an mdpi device would have loaded the resource res/drawable-xxxhdpi/icon.png, then that's what Play will serve to that device.

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Also, slightly unrelated to your question, but note that there are some downsides to providing resources only in xxxhdpi (regardless of whether you publish an APK or an Android AppBundle):

1. The Android platform will have to rescale these images at runtime on lower resolution devices, thus taking some CPU time and making your app slightly slower.

2. Your app is bigger than it could be on lower resolution devices. If you provided also the same resource in mdpi, it would obviously be smaller, and that's what Play would serve to an mdpi device, thus making your app smaller for those devices.