How to Adapt Your Android App for the New 16KB Page Size Requirement

1. Background

Android hardware is moving to a 16KB memory page size, replacing the traditional 4KB pages. Google has announced that from November 1, 2025, all apps submitted to Google Play must fully support the 16KB page size, otherwise they will be rejected.

2. Impact Scope Assessment

If your app is distributed via Google Play and has any of the following characteristics, you must adapt to the 16KB page size:

Native layer code dependency : the app includes C/C++ .so libraries that are not 16KB aligned, which may cause runtime crashes.

Third‑party native libraries : when using libraries such as FFmpeg or OpenSSL, verify their 16KB compatibility.

Low‑level memory management : direct calls to mmap, munmap, mprotect, etc., with hard‑coded 4096‑byte page assumptions.

3. Technical Adaptation Plan

The 16KB page size adaptation involves two key steps:

Ensure all .so files have segments aligned to 16KB.

Replace hard‑coded page size assumptions in native code with dynamic queries using getpagesize() or sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE).

SO file alignment verification : Google recommends using the check_elf_alignment.sh script.

1. Download check_elf_alignment.sh to your local development environment from the official Android source.

2. Run the script to check alignment for arm64-v8a and x86_64 architectures: sh check_elf_alignment.sh your_app.apk 3. Interpretation of results:

ALIGNED : 16KB alignment is correct.

UNALIGNED : Recompile and adjust alignment parameters.

4. For dynamically delivered .so files, perform the same verification.

Refer to the official Google documentation for detailed compiler flag settings: https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/page-sizes

4. Bugly Version Selection Strategy

Bugly version 4.4.6.2 and later fully support the 16KB page size. To pass Google Play review, upgrade to the compatible version.

From version 4.4.6.2, Bugly provides two variants. Add the appropriate dependency in build.gradle:

implementation "com.tencent.bugly:bugly-pro:4.4.6.2" // standard version for domestic stores

implementation "com.tencent.bugly_16kb:bugly-pro:4.4.6.2" // 16KB‑adapted version for Google Play

See the Bugly documentation for integration details: https://bugly.tds.qq.com/docs/sdk/android/

5. FAQ

1. What errors occur when a non‑aligned app runs on a device that supports 16KB pages? The app may crash during native code loading, typically showing errors while loading .so files.

2. What are the differences between the two Bugly 4.4.6.2 versions? Apart from 16KB page size support, the code logic is identical. The standard version uses AGP 3.3.1 and Kotlin 1.3.41, while the 16KB‑adapted version uses AGP 8.1.0 and Kotlin 1.6.21. The standard version may crash on devices with 16KB pages, whereas the adapted version runs on any device.