Have you ever tried to install an APK from an alternative Android application repository and found that there are several versions available depending on the CPU of the phone? When we download an application, we must not only take into account that the Android version is compatible, we must also consider the architecture of the processor if we want the app to work correctly.
And I won’t tell you anything if we want to install a custom ROM : in situations like this, knowing the type of processor in our device is essential information to avoid falling into a fail of epic proportions… For this reason, in today’s post we are going to try to explain which are the most common CPU types, how they differ from each other, and how to correctly identify them. Let’s go there!
Android uses 3 basic CPU architectures: ARM, ARM64 and X86
The chips that are currently used in the development of Android phones and tablets usually use one of these 3 types of processor:
- ARM: The most common type of architecture, aimed at lower battery consumption. It is the architecture used in most “old” devices.
- ARM64: This is an evolution of the ARM architecture, supporting 64-bit data processing. It grants greater computational power, and today it has become the standard for most modern mobiles.
- X86: This CPU architecture is more powerful than either of the two ARMs mentioned, but it also has higher battery drain, making it the least popular of the three. The architecture can be 32-bit or 64-bit.
It should also be noted that the architecture of the CPU is independent of the brand of the SoC or chip that our phone mounts (Mediatek, Snapdragon, etc.). If we are not clear about the type of CPU that our device uses, we can obtain this information by installing a utility called Droid Hardware Info .
How to identify the type of processor in Android
Droid Hardware Info is a tool for Android whose main objective is to provide the user with all the information related to the hardware components present in the device, including CPU data. The application is free and can be perfectly downloaded from the Google Play Store.
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Android Hardware Info
Developer: InkWired
Price: Free
Once we have the app installed we just have to open it. Here we will see several tabs, such as ” Device “, where we are shown interesting data such as the pixel density of the screen (DPI) or its refresh rate. In this case, the tab that interests us is the one called ” System ” where the information related to the processor is found.
Here we will see quite significant data, such as the chipset used, the number of cores that the processor has, the speed at which each of them runs and so on. The data we are looking for is the one that says “ CPU Architecture ”. Depending on what you put in this field we will be able to know the type of processor that our terminal mounts.
- ARM: ARMv7 or armeabi CPU architecture
- ARM64: Aarch64 or arm64 CPU architecture
- x86: x86 or x86abi CPU architecture
To give us an idea, the steps to carry out the verification would be the following:
- Look at the “CPU Architecture” field. If it has the number 64 that means that it uses a 64-bit architecture.
- To find out if it is ARM or x86 we will have to look at the ” Instruction set” field. Here we can check if it is ARM or x86. Ready!
Other apps to get technical hardware information on Android
In addition to Droid Hardware Info, there are other alternative applications that show us details of the hardware of our terminal.
- Device Info: Device Info includes information about CPU, RAM, OS, sensors, storage, battery, SIM, Bluetooth, installed apps, system apps, display, camera, thermal sensor, etc.
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Device Information
Developer: Yasiru Nayanajith
Price: Free
- DevCheck Hardware & System info: This utility offers complete and detailed information about the SoC, CPU, GPU, sensors, memory and other hardware elements of the terminal.
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DevCheck Device & System Info
Developer: flar2
Price: Free
- Device Info Hw: Tool to detect hardware components in Android. Identify types of screen, sensors, NFC, camera, audio, battery and many other data of interest.
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Device Info HW
Developer: Andrey Efremov
Price: Free
How can I know which APK I have to download?
Following the same example that we have seen so far in the screenshots, suppose we have a Pixel 3A that mounts a processor with ARM64 architecture. When analyzing the processor with an app like Droid Hardware Info, also take a look at the DPI of the device’s screen , since this data is also relevant when finding an APK compatible with our mobile.
Once we have the architecture, the DPI and the Android version of our device, we will go to a trusted repository such as APK Mirror. There, for each available application, we will find a bunch of different installation APK packages. Simply choose the one that fits the architecture, DPI, and minimum Android version characteristics.
Many apps also have universal APKs that we can download without worrying about the hardware of our device, so these are the best APK packages to avoid compatibility issues. If you find a universal APK, take the opportunity to download it since you can use it on different devices.
As you can see the process does not have much mystery. And what do you say, what is the architecture of your CPU?
