Google is giving app developers a heads up about several new changes to the Google Play Store

Google announced today that it is giving Android app developers a heads up about three changes that the search giant is making to the Google Play Store. The goal is to keep Android users happy and excited about the process of discovering useful and fun apps, and installing them on their phones. Some of these changes will improve both the speed and security of Android apps.

Android starting supporting 64-bit architectures with Android 5.0. Currently, more than 40% of Android handsets online support 64-bit code, and are still compatible with 32-bit apps. But the day will come when Android won't support 32-bit apps at all. Google is telling developers to be ready for three changes:

• New apps will need to be made using a recent version of Android for performance and security purposes. This will be required for new apps launching in August 2018 and later. For updates of current apps, this will be a requirement starting in November 2018.
• By August 2019, Google is asking developers to make sure that new apps and app updates with native libraries support both 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
• Early next year, Play will sprinkle a little security metadata on top of each APK to help verify the authenticity of each app.

source: DevelopersBlog via CNET