Native code compatibility is challenging. For this reason, device implementers are:
Managed Dalvik bytecode can call into native code provided in the application .apk file as an ELF .so file compiled for the appropriate device hardware architecture. As native code is highly dependent on the underlying processor technology, Android defines a number of Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs) in the Android NDK.
Device implementations:
[C-0-1] MUST be compatible with one or more defined Android NDK ABIs.
[C-0-2] MUST include support for code running in the managed environment to call into native code, using the standard Java Native Interface (JNI) semantics.
[C-0-3] MUST be source-compatible (i.e. header-compatible) and binary-compatible (for the ABI) with each required library in the list below.
[C-0-5] MUST accurately report the native Application Binary Interface (ABI) supported by the device, via the android.os.Build.SUPPORTED_ABIS, android.os.Build.SUPPORTED_32_BIT_ABIS, and android.os.Build.SUPPORTED_64_BIT_ABIS parameters, each a comma separated list of ABIs ordered from the most to the least preferred one.
[C-0-6] MUST report, via the above parameters, a subset of the following list of ABIs and MUST NOT report any ABI not on the list.
armeabi (no longer supported as a target by the NDK)armeabi-v7aarm64-v8ax86x86-64[C-0-7] MUST make all the following libraries, providing native APIs, available to apps that include native code:
android.software.midi is claimed as described in Section 5.9)[C-0-8] MUST NOT add or remove the public functions for the native libraries listed above.
[C-0-9] MUST list additional non-AOSP libraries exposed directly to third-party apps in /vendor/etc/public.libraries.txt.
[C-0-10] MUST NOT expose any other native libraries, implemented and provided in AOSP as system libraries, to third-party apps targeting API level 24 or higher as they are reserved.
[C-0-11] MUST export all the OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android Extension Pack function symbols, as defined in the NDK, through the libGLESv3.so library. Note that while all the symbols MUST be present, section 7.1.4.1 describes in more detail the requirements for when the full implementation of each corresponding functions are expected.
[C-0-12] MUST export function symbols for the core Vulkan 1.0 function symbols, as well as the VK_KHR_surface, VK_KHR_android_surface, VK_KHR_swapchain, VK_KHR_maintenance1, and VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2 extensions through the libvulkan.so library. Note that while all the symbols MUST be present, section 7.1.4.2 describes in more detail the requirements for when the full implementation of each corresponding functions are expected.
SHOULD be built using the source code and header files available in the upstream Android Open Source Project
Note that future releases of Android may introduce support for additional ABIs.
If device implementations report the support of the armeabi ABI, they:
armeabi-v7a and report its support, as armeabi is only for backwards compatibility with older apps.If device implementations report the support of the armeabi-v7a ABI, for apps using this ABI, they:
[C-2-1] MUST include the following lines in /proc/cpuinfo, and SHOULD NOT alter the values on the same device, even when they are read by other ABIs.
Features: , followed by a list of any optional ARMv7 CPU features supported by the device.CPU architecture: , followed by an integer describing the device's highest supported ARM architecture (e.g., “8” for ARMv8 devices).[C-2-2] MUST always keep the following operations available, even in the case where the ABI is implemented on an ARMv8 architecture, either through native CPU support or through software emulation:
[C-2-3] MUST include support for the Advanced SIMD (a.k.a. NEON) extension.