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What Android 16 KB Page Size Requirement Means for .NET Developers

While frameworks and tooling have come a long way, cross-platform native app development is still complex, especially with fast-moving mobile platforms. Starting November 1, 2025, all new apps and updates published to Google Play and targeting Android 15+ must support 16 KB memory pages on 64-bit devices.

For .NET developers, this requirement only applies if your app or one of its dependencies includes native code (for example, P/Invoke, .so libraries in NuGet packages, or third-party SDKs). Apps written entirely in managed code (C#/XAML with no native interop) are already compatible.

This post explains what the change means, why Google is introducing it, and how you can check, update, and test your Uno Platform apps.

What Is the 16 KB Page Size Requirement?

Google’s documentation makes the policy clear:

Starting November 1, 2025, all new apps and updates to existing apps submitted to Google Play and targeting Android 15+ devices must support 16 KB page sizes on 64-bit devices.”

Android Developers Documentation

For years, Android has relied on 4 KB memory pages to optimize footprint on mobile devices. Beginning with Android 15, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) adds support for devices configured with 16 KB pages

What it means:

Apps with native code must be rebuilt to work properly on devices using 16 KB pages.
Apps written entirely in managed code (.NET, Java, Kotlin with no native libraries) already run correctly.

This means most .NET apps that stay in the managed world are safe, but those that include or depend on native code will need attention.

Why is Google Making This Change

Mobile hardware has changed dramatically. Devices now ship with much larger amounts of physical RAM, which makes it possible to use larger memory pages without creating problems for footprint. The upside is better efficiency and performance.
Google’s internal benchmarks confirm the benefits:

App launches: 3.16% faster on average, with some apps up to 30% faster
Camera startup: 4.48–6.60% faster
Power draw: 4.56% lower during startup
System boot: roughly 0.8 seconds faster

📖 Source: Android Developers Blog

So while supporting 16 KB pages is a compliance requirement for Google Play, it also means real performance gains for end users. Faster startup, smoother camera use, and lower battery drain at launch are tangible improvements

How to Check and Comply

So, how do developers building for Android comply? Quite simply 3 steps as per Android documentation:

Check if your app is impacted

✅ Pure .NET managed code → already compatible
❌ Native code via P/Invoke, NuGet with .so files, or third-party SDKs → must be rebuilt

Rebuild for 16 KB

Update workloads and SDKs
Recompile; the .NET Android toolchain handles alignment and packaging

Test

Use Android Analyzer to scan APKs for native code
Run on an Android 15 emulator with 16 KB ARM64 system image
Validate on real hardware if possible

Thankfully, developers building for Android have access to polished tooling that can help in the process of compliance. The Android Analyzer can look inside any app APK package – this is a nice way to sniff out any native code, like C/C++ or Android NDK libraries. 16 KB devices require apps that ship with uncompressed shared libraries, and the updated Android Gradle Plugin (AGP) will do that easily. Once the Android app is rebuilt, all of the app pages need to be tested on 16 KB devices – Android Emulators are easy to set up with 16 KB Android 15 system images for testing apps thoroughly.

Impact on Uno Platform Developers

Now, this brings up the pivotal question: If you are building Android apps with Uno Platform, how does this affect you and how can your apps be compliant?

Uno Platform is the most flexible open-source platform for cross-platform .NET development, complete with enterprise-grade tools. Uno Platform, paired with Uno Platform Studio, enables .NET developers to leverage modern runtimes, rich tooling and flexibility in technology stack, towards build modern cross-platform .NET apps that empower enterprise workflows - with unprecedented .NET developer productivity

Uno Platform

Well, it depends on a few things. Uno Platform apps are flexible, and that flexibility determines whether this requirement applies.

If your app is pure managed code, nothing changes.
If your app uses the Skia renderer, native bits are included, so you need to rebuild.
If you integrate native SDKs or NuGet packages with .so libraries, you need to rebuild.

Uno Platform provides two rendering options:

Native rendering: uses Android’s native UI stack.
Skia rendering: draws the UI on a hardware-accelerated canvas, with Metal, OpenGL, or WebGL depending on the platform.

Developers can choose their rendering method for Android apps in the Uno Platform Live Wizard or Visual Studio templates with Uno Platform. Skia is popular for its performance and consistency across platforms, but because it involves native layers, these apps fall under the 16 KB requirement.

How can Uno Platform Android apps comply?

So, if you’re Uno Platform app is targeting Android, what would you have to do to comply with the 16 KB page size Google Play requirement? The good news is, almost nothing.

Every Uno Platform template includes a global.json file. This file pins the Uno.Sdk version, which defines the runtime and related dependencies for your project. (see the Uno upgrade guide).
Here’s one you would get right now:

				
					
{
        "msbuild-sdks": {
            "Uno.Sdk": "6.2.29"
        },
        "sdk": {
            "allowPrerelease": false
        }
    }

As long as your Uno app is targeting the .NET 9 runtime with net9.0-android and uses a current Uno.Sdk (6.0.0 or newer), you are aligned with the latest .NET workloads and Android build tooling. This ensures your app can be rebuilt for devices with 16 KB page sizes, as required by Google Play.

Essentially, your Uno Platform app needs to be using Uno.SDK version 6.0.00 or forward – this includes the runtime dependencies of .NET 9 and latest Skia bits. Developers would simply need to update the SDK on older Uno Platform Android apps and recompile – and just like that, there will be compliance with the 16 KB page size Google Play requirement.

How can Uno Platform Android apps be tested?

Once your Android apps with Uno Platform are using the latest SDKs, you would want to do a sanity check and test your app on 16 KB Android devices.

The easiest way to do this is with an Android emulator with a runtime that supports16 KB devices – developers can get into Android Studio > SDK Manager.

16-KB-based Android 15 emulator system images are compatible with latest Android runtimes – I chose the latest Android 16 SDK with Pre-Release 16 KB ARM 64 system image.

Next step would be creating an Android emulator using the freshly downloaded system image

Back in the Uno Platform project targeting Android, developers can pick the net9.0-android TFM for a targeted build/deploy – this is powered by configuration options in launch.json.

When it comes to deployment, any of the IDEs like Visual Studio/VS Code/Rider should see the newly created Android Emulator with 16 KB page size support.

Uno Platform provides a lot of nice sample apps that have polished UI and run seamlessly across every target platform – here is the simple Counter app running inside the latest Android 16 Emulator with 16 KB ARM 64 system image. Developers can simply rebuild their Android apps with the latest Uno SDK and deploy/test to modern Android Emulator/devices to be compliant with the 16 KB page size Google Play requirement.

Future with Android

There are some built-in complexities with cross-platform .NET development – a well-engineered modern development stack like Uno Platform does the heavy lifting for developers. Mobile platforms and their corresponding SDKs will evolve constantly, and sometimes there may be breaking changes or extra requirements to move the platform/user experience forward.

For Android, the 16 KB page size Google Play requirement is something for developers to comply with by November 2025. Thankfully, Uno Platform has you covered – just breathe, compile with latest SDKs, and test your app.

Have additional questions? You’re welcome to join the conversation with our community and core developers over at Uno Platform Discord.

Cheers developers!

Next Steps

Ready to boost your productivity and simplify cross-platform .NET development? Try Uno Platform today by downloading our extension for your preferred IDE and join our developer community.