Is Android OS only used for ARM CPUs?

Question

If not, can APK files for Android run on either ARM CPUs or non-ARM CPUs?

Sorry for my poor English.

Solution 1

Android runs on other CPU's as well. Such as Intel Atom.

If your app uses only Java then it doesn't matter. It can run on any CPU and you won't care. You don't have to program specifically per CPU when working with Java.

If your app uses native code (NDK), then you'll have to prepare your APK to run on all CPU's you want to support. Instructions such as these explain how to do so.

If you're not sure if you need NDK or not, then you probably don't. NDK is needed in very specific cases such as high performance games. If you're just making a regular app, you will probably use Java only.

Regarding the APK issue - if you need to support multiple architectures you can do this using both a single APK or multiple APK's. Read this for more info.

Solution 2

Essentially, for APK's to run, they will need to be installed on the Android OS. And the Android OS should support the architecture concerned.

Now, I am not sure if this is an exception, nor do I know if the software employs some trickry to function like an Android emulator. But BlueStacks allows Android apps to install and run on the Windows, Mac and Chrome OS platforms(ARM and x86 only). Or it could merely be the fact that the Android OS now works / is supported by 3 other platform besides the ARM platform. Namely:

1. MIPS
2. x86: Unsure if this is a relevant link
3. i.MX

Besides, in the AVD, you will see that you have the option of choosing between ARM, Intel x86 and MIPS architecture when creating a new / or editing an existing Virtual Device (provided you have installed them from the SDK Manager).

So, bottom line: If the Architecture is capable of running the Android OS, your app is capable of running on it too.

Solution 3

Android supports, ARM, MIPS, Power Architecture, x86 prosessors..X86 cpu's are like Intel Atom and other cpu's that are single core like the Pentium M. Android needs atleast a 480MHZ Cpu to run smooth anything below will be slow. and as talkol mentioned if you're programming in java (most likely) the architecture doesn't matter.