"universal" ABI flavor produces identical APK to "arm64" — misleading name and wasted build time

[lampte]

"universal" ABI flavor produces identical APK to "arm64" — misleading name and wasted build time

Severity: Medium
File: app/build.gradle.kts:265-270

Both the arm64 and universal ABI flavors specify the exact same abiFilters — only arm64-v8a. The "universal" name conventionally implies a multi-architecture APK (e.g. arm64-v8a + armeabi-v7a + x86_64), but here it is a carbon copy:

create("arm64") {
    dimension = "abi"
    ndk {
        abiFilters.clear()
        abiFilters.add("arm64-v8a")
    }
}
create("universal") {
    dimension = "abi"
    ndk {
        abiFilters.clear()
        abiFilters.add("arm64-v8a")
    }
}

The same duplication exists in build-logic/convention/src/main/kotlin/com/t8rin/imagetoolbox/ConfigureKotlinAndroid.kt for library modules and in ImageToolboxLibraryPlugin.kt.

Why it matters

Every CI run and local ./build_release.sh builds both variants, doubling the matrix (7 app flavors × 2 ABI = 14 APKs) while producing byte-identical native libraries. Users who see "universal" in the download list expect broader device compatibility. If 32-bit ARM or x86_64 support is intentionally dropped, the flavor should be renamed (e.g. arm64only) or removed entirely to cut build time in half.

[wangzhishou]

Confirmed — this is a real duplicate, not a false positive. Thanks for reading the build scripts that closely.

arm64 (line 258) and universal (line 267) do set identical abiFilters, and the same duplication is in build-logic/convention/.../ConfigureKotlinAndroid.kt and ImageToolboxLibraryPlugin.kt for library modules. So build_release.sh emits 7 pairs of identical APKs and the "universal" label promises more than it delivers.

Two ways out, and I want to pick one deliberately rather than by accident:

1. Make universal honest — add x86_64 next to arm64-v8a so it really is multi-ABI. Costs a second native build per flavor (OpenCV + our NDK sources) and grows the release matrix.
2. Drop the pretense — keep one arm64 ABI flavor, delete universal, and cut the matrix from 14 APKs to 7.

I'm leaning toward (2), since 64-bit ARM covers effectively every device that can run the AI features, but (1) is the only option if emulator/x86 users matter.

Either way it is a contained but multi-file rename: app/build.gradle.kts, the two convention plugins, .github/workflows/android.yml, build_release.sh, plus the fastlane docs.

Labelling this bug + help wanted. Happy to merge a PR if anyone wants to take it, otherwise it is queued behind the current release.