In a move that's seemingly most beneficial to mobile game developers, Google has doubled its maximum APK size from 50MB to 100MB.

This is intended "to support the growing number of developers who are building richer apps and games on Google Play," according to a blog post.

As such, the new limit only comes into effect for those targeting Android 4.0 and higher, with APKs targeting Android 3.2 or lower still restricted to 50MB or less.

Less is more

For developers unable to support all devices with a single APK, publishing multiple APKs under the same app listing is an option.

However, keen to emphasise the reason it enforced restrictions in the first place, Google's blog post comments that "even though you can make your app bigger, it doesn’t always mean you should," and lays out the following points for consideration:

• Mobile data connectivity: Users around the world have varying mobile data connectivity speeds. Particularly in developing countries, many people are coming online with connections slower than those of users in countries like the U.S. and Japan. Users on a slow connection are less likely to install an app or game that is going to take a long time to download.

• Mobile data caps: Many mobile networks around the world give users a limited number of MB that they can download each month without incurring additional charges. Users are often wary of downloading large files for fear of exceeding their limits.

• App performance: Mobile devices have limited RAM and storage space. The larger your app or game, the slower it may run, particularly on older devices.

• Install time: People want to start using your app or game as quickly as possible after tapping the install button. Longer wait times increase the risk they’ll give up.

You can read Google's full announcement post here.