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Warning: Google Play Instant will no longer be available. Starting December 2025,
Instant Apps cannot be published through Google Play, and all
Google Play services Instant APIs
will no longer work. Users will no longer be served Instant Apps by Play using any
mechanism.
We're making this change based on developer feedback and our continuous investments
to improve the ecosystem since the introduction of Google Play Instant.
To continue optimizing for user growth, we encourage developers to refer users to
their regular app or game, using deeplinks
to redirect them to specific journeys or features when relevant.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.9.0 (2019-09-05)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following
changes.
Changes
- The instant apps CLI will now run properly when invoked through a symbolic
link.
- In the previous version of the SDK, launching an app with minSdkVersion < 24
and signed only with the v2 signature scheme would always cause an error. This
change fixes both
ia run and Android Studio's run command so that an error
will only occur if the connected device's API version is too old to support
v2 signatures.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.8.0 (2019-08-05)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following
changes.
Changes
- The instant apps CLI
ia run command can deploy instant apps that are only
signed using a v2 signature scheme.
- The instant apps CLI
ia run -u [url] command now works without deploying
an artifact.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.7.0 (2019-03-29)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following
new features and changes.
New features
- The instant apps CLI can now collect usage metrics with your consent, allowing
Google's developer team to better understand what features you find useful and
improve shortcomings in our tooling.
- The
ia check command now supports checking against an installable build of
the same app for common upgrade path incompatibilities. You can provide the
installable app APK using the -i option.
Changes
- The instant apps CLI
ia run command no longer requires an active Google
account on the device to launch instant apps in development mode.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.6.0 (2018-11-05)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following
new features and changes.
New features
- The instant apps CLI
ia check command now supports size checking on APK set
files (.apks) generated from
bundletool.
Changes
- On devices running Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher, running an instant
app whose signing key doesn't match the key from any previously-launched app on
the device no longer causes a crash in Android Studio or the CLI.
- Changed the size limitation of instant apps from 4 MB to 10 MB.
An app larger than 4 MB now receives a
WARNING instead of an ERROR. An
app larger than 10 MB continues to receive an ERROR.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.5.0 (2018-09-27)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following
new features and changes.
New features
- The instant apps CLI
ia run and ia check commands now support operating on
APK set (.apks) files generated by
bundletool.
- The instant apps CLI
ia check command now works with a list of APKs.
- The instant apps CLI
ia check command ensures that names of split APKs are
unique within a given ZIP file.
Changes
- When provisioning a device running Android 7.1.1 (API level 25) or lower, the
CLI issues a warning only if it fails to detect a successful Google Play
services check-in. When encountering this situation previously, the CLI would
throw an error and not attempt to launch the instant app.
- The instant apps CLI
ia run can now successfully launch APKs generated by
bundletool or APKs built using aapt2. Previously, the run operation
might have appeared to time out when launching some of these APKs.
- The
--no-setup flag has been deprecated for ia run and now has no effect.
- Properly updates older versions of Google Play services for Instant Apps,
which need to be uninstalled first before installing a new version.
Google Play Instant Development SDK v1.4.0 (2018-08-28)
This release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK (formerly Instant Apps
Development SDK) contains the following new features and changes.
New features
- The instant apps CLI
ia check command now supports size validation on
instant apps using configuration APKs.
- The CLI now supports running instant apps on test-keys emulator images with a
recent version of Google Play services installed.
- Improved support for command-specific help with
ia help <command>.
- Added size breakdown to
ia check size errors.
Changes
- The SDK has been renamed from "Android Instant Apps Development SDK" to
"Google Play Instant Development SDK".
- The CLI no longer throws a
NullPointerException when trying to check an app
with no launcher activity.
- The CLI and Android Studio now detect unsupported devices running Android 8.0
(API level 26). Previously, these devices wouldn't launch the app.
- The
ia Bash wrapper script now works correctly when invoked in a pipeline
where $TERM isn't set. The script assumes a width of 80 columns.
- The
ia check command now warns about instant apps whose minSdkVersion
version is set to 20 or lower. By supporting these older SDK versions in
your build, your binary's size might increase with no benefit for your instant
apps.
- The CLI now detects when your version of Google Play services is too old to
run instant apps and prompts for an update on the device.
- Instant apps launched on Android 8.0 (API level 26) and higher through the CLI
or Android Studio now automatically have the
android.permission.INSTANT_APP_FOREGROUND_SERVICE permission granted.
Android Instant Apps Development SDK v1.3.0 (2018-06-04)
This release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK
contains the following new features and changes.
New features
- Android Studio 3.2 now uses a library added in SDK 1.3 to run instant apps.
This unifies the logic between
ia and Studio and allows you to run instant
apps without URLs from Android Studio.
Android Instant Apps Development SDK v1.2.0 (2018-05-07)
This release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK
contains the following new features and changes.
New features
- The new Instant Apps Command Line Interface,
ia, allows you to launch
instant apps on your development device and check them locally for common
errors.
- You can now build and launch instant apps without a URL entry
point.
Changes
- The version of Google Play Services for Instant Apps that's bundled with the
SDK can now auto-update itself using the Play Store. In previous releases, that
package was locked to the version bundled with the SDK.
- Hostnames containing wildcard characters, such as
"*.example.com", are now
fully supported in development mode.
- Developers can now simulate throttled app downloads in Android Lollipop,
Marshmallow, and Nougat by setting the
debug.aia.throttle_download_ms system
property, as shown in the following example:
$ adb shell setprop debug.aia.throttle_download_ms 5000
Android Instant Apps Development SDK v1.1.0
This release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK contains the following
new features and changes.
New features
- Transfer of data from Instant App to installed app.
- On devices running Android 8.0 (API level 26) and above, the system
automatically performs this transfer on app installation. On devices running
Android 7.1 (API level 25) and lower, you can transfer your Instant App's
storage data to your installed app by calling
getInstantAppData() in your installed app.
- You can decrease the size of your APK by using the new support for
device-specific APKs. For information on setting up your build for
configuration APKs, see
Set up your build for configuration APKs.
Changes
- Emulator.
- Emulators running Play Store and the latest Google Play Services are required
to test Instant Apps moving forward. For information about how to set up your
emulator, see Run your instant
app.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-07-21 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-07-21 UTC."],[],[],null,["# SDK release notes\n\n**Warning:** Google Play Instant will no longer be available. Starting December 2025,\nInstant Apps cannot be published through Google Play, and all\n[Google Play services Instant APIs](https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/instantapps/package-summary)\nwill no longer work. Users will no longer be served Instant Apps by Play using any\nmechanism.\n\nWe're making this change based on developer feedback and our continuous investments\nto improve the ecosystem since the introduction of Google Play Instant.\n\nTo continue optimizing for user growth, we encourage developers to refer users to\ntheir regular app or game, using [deeplinks](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/12463044)\nto redirect them to specific journeys or features when relevant.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.9.0 (2019-09-05)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following\nchanges.\n\n### Changes\n\n- The instant apps CLI will now run properly when invoked through a symbolic link.\n- In the previous version of the SDK, launching an app with minSdkVersion \\\u003c 24 and signed only with the v2 signature scheme would always cause an error. This change fixes both `ia run` and Android Studio's run command so that an error will only occur if the connected device's API version is too old to support v2 signatures.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.8.0 (2019-08-05)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following\nchanges.\n\n### Changes\n\n- The instant apps CLI `ia run` command can deploy instant apps that are only signed using a v2 signature scheme.\n- The instant apps CLI `ia run -u [url]` command now works without deploying an artifact.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.7.0 (2019-03-29)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following\nnew features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- The instant apps CLI can now collect usage metrics with your consent, allowing Google's developer team to better understand what features you find useful and improve shortcomings in our tooling.\n- The `ia check` command now supports checking against an installable build of the same app for common upgrade path incompatibilities. You can provide the installable app APK using the `-i` option.\n\n### Changes\n\n- The instant apps CLI `ia run` command no longer requires an active Google account on the device to launch instant apps in development mode.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.6.0 (2018-11-05)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following\nnew features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- The instant apps CLI `ia check` command now supports size checking on APK set files (`.apks`) generated from [`bundletool`](/studio/command-line/bundletool#generate_apks).\n\n### Changes\n\n- On devices running Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher, running an instant app whose signing key doesn't match the key from any previously-launched app on the device no longer causes a crash in Android Studio or the CLI.\n- Changed the size limitation of instant apps from 4 MB to 10 MB. An app larger than 4 MB now receives a `WARNING` instead of an `ERROR`. An app larger than 10 MB continues to receive an `ERROR`.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.5.0 (2018-09-27)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK contains the following\nnew features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- The instant apps CLI `ia run` and `ia check` commands now support operating on APK set (.apks) files generated by [`bundletool`](/studio/command-line/bundletool#generate_apks).\n- The instant apps CLI `ia check` command now works with a list of APKs.\n- The instant apps CLI `ia check` command ensures that names of split APKs are unique within a given ZIP file.\n\n### Changes\n\n- When provisioning a device running Android 7.1.1 (API level 25) or lower, the CLI issues a warning only if it fails to detect a successful Google Play services check-in. When encountering this situation previously, the CLI would throw an error and not attempt to launch the instant app.\n- The instant apps CLI `ia run` can now successfully launch APKs generated by `bundletool` or APKs built using `aapt2`. Previously, the `run` operation might have appeared to time out when launching some of these APKs.\n- The `--no-setup` flag has been deprecated for `ia run` and now has no effect.\n- Properly updates older versions of Google Play services for Instant Apps, which need to be uninstalled first before installing a new version.\n\nGoogle Play Instant Development SDK v1.4.0 (2018-08-28)\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Google Play Instant Development SDK (formerly Instant Apps\nDevelopment SDK) contains the following new features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- The instant apps CLI `ia check` command now supports size validation on instant apps using configuration APKs.\n- The CLI now supports running instant apps on test-keys emulator images with a recent version of Google Play services installed.\n- Improved support for command-specific help with `ia help \u003ccommand\u003e`.\n- Added size breakdown to `ia check` size errors.\n\n### Changes\n\n- The SDK has been renamed from \"Android Instant Apps Development SDK\" to \"Google Play Instant Development SDK\".\n- The CLI no longer throws a `NullPointerException` when trying to check an app with no launcher activity.\n- The CLI and Android Studio now detect unsupported devices running Android 8.0 (API level 26). Previously, these devices wouldn't launch the app.\n- The `ia` Bash wrapper script now works correctly when invoked in a pipeline where `$TERM` isn't set. The script assumes a width of 80 columns.\n- The `ia check` command now warns about instant apps whose `minSdkVersion` version is set to `20` or lower. By supporting these older SDK versions in your build, your binary's size might increase with no benefit for your instant apps.\n- The CLI now detects when your version of Google Play services is too old to run instant apps and prompts for an update on the device.\n- Instant apps launched on Android 8.0 (API level 26) and higher through the CLI or Android Studio now automatically have the `android.permission.INSTANT_APP_FOREGROUND_SERVICE` permission granted.\n\nAndroid Instant Apps Development SDK v1.3.0 (2018-06-04)\n--------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK\ncontains the following new features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- Android Studio 3.2 now uses a library added in SDK 1.3 to run instant apps. This unifies the logic between `ia` and Studio and allows you to run instant apps without URLs from Android Studio.\n\nAndroid Instant Apps Development SDK v1.2.0 (2018-05-07)\n--------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK\ncontains the following new features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- The new Instant Apps Command Line Interface, `ia`, allows you to launch instant apps on your development device and check them locally for common errors.\n- You can now build and launch instant apps [without a URL entry\n point](/topic/google-play-instant/getting-started/convert-to-instant-app#enable-try-now).\n\n### Changes\n\n- The version of Google Play Services for Instant Apps that's bundled with the SDK can now auto-update itself using the Play Store. In previous releases, that package was locked to the version bundled with the SDK.\n- Hostnames containing wildcard characters, such as `\"*.example.com\"`, are now fully supported in development mode.\n- Developers can now simulate throttled app downloads in Android Lollipop, Marshmallow, and Nougat by setting the `debug.aia.throttle_download_ms` system property, as shown in the following example: \n\n ```\n $ adb shell setprop debug.aia.throttle_download_ms 5000\n ```\n\nAndroid Instant Apps Development SDK v1.1.0\n-------------------------------------------\n\nThis release of the Android Instant Apps Development SDK contains the following\nnew features and changes.\n\n### New features\n\n- Transfer of data from Instant App to installed app.\n - On devices running Android 8.0 (API level 26) and above, the system automatically performs this transfer on app installation. On devices running Android 7.1 (API level 25) and lower, you can transfer your Instant App's storage data to your installed app by calling [`getInstantAppData()`](https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/instantapps/InstantAppsClient.html#getInstantAppData()) in your installed app.\n- You can decrease the size of your APK by using the new support for device-specific APKs. For information on setting up your build for configuration APKs, see [Set up your build for configuration APKs](/topic/google-play-instant/guides/config-splits).\n\n### Changes\n\n- Emulator.\n - Emulators running Play Store and the latest Google Play Services are required to test Instant Apps moving forward. For information about how to set up your emulator, see [Run your instant\n app](/topic/google-play-instant/getting-started/first-instant-app#run)."]]
