Pixel 7 could give you problems if you try to install any app, and you may not know what is causing it. If it is the mobile, if it is the app or why this happens.
The point is that there are not a few owners of a new Pixel 7 who are going to encounter this problem when installing an old app and the reason is much simpler than you can imagine. Do you want to know what happens?
Pixel 7 is not compatible with 32-bit apps
The Pixel 7 series could be the first 64-bit-only Android phones , so 32-bit apps will not be able to be installed on them. Google has been looking for a long time for Android to be a fully 64-bit platform and it may have achieved it with the new Pixel 7.
Esper editor Mishaal Rahman revealed on Reddit that the Google Pixel 7 series could be the first 64-bit-only Android smartphone after several users complained that they couldn’t download some apps on their new Pixels. His theory was very clear, and the proof of this is the images that we show below.
When trying to download a game only available as a 32-bit APK for testing, the result was a not compatible with phone message, also on the Pixel 7 Pro. This same game could be installed on a Samsung model without any problem , specifically the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, although any other than the Pixel 7 series would do.
The game, as you can see in the picture, is an old version of the 32-bit Flappy Bird game, though if tested it will work for all other 32-bit games. Rahman noted that Android 13 for the Pixel 7 still has 32-bit system libraries, but does not allow 32-bit apps to run.
In the same Reddit post they indicate that the Pixel 7 runs a Zygote (system process in which the app processes are forked) of only 64 bits. The output of ‘getprop ro.zygote’ returns ‘zygote64’ on Pixel 7 while on Pixel 6 it returns ‘zygote64_32’.
It’s a curious situation as the Pixel 7’s new Tensor G2 processor still offers CPU cores with 32-bit support , unlike Arm’s recently announced CPUs that will see next year without 32-bit support out of the box.
Find the 64-bit compatible version
Although it can be an inconvenience, especially if it happens to you on your new Pixel 7 and you don’t know what is causing it, it is not a big problem in many cases since all new apps and application updates since 2019 have to provide versions of 64 bits in addition to 32-bit.
Nor is it a great inconvenience because 32-bit apps are usually old and very outdated , so they are not used as much.
Since August of last year, apps without these versions have not been offered, so if you encounter such an error because the application or game you are trying to install is 32-bit, all you have to do is check that the problem don’t be this. You can easily check this with AppChecker, which tells you if the apps you have installed are 32-bit or 64-bit.
The solution is as simple as finding and using the 64-bit one.