Universal, ARM64 or ARMv7: Which APK Should You Download?

Some app pages here have one big download button. Others give you a choice between Universal, ARM64 and ARM (v7a). If you just want the short answer: take Universal when it's offered, otherwise ARM64. The rest of this page explains why, and what to do when that doesn't work.

What the labels mean

Many Android apps ship native code, compiled for a specific type of processor. An APK can carry that code for several processor types at once, or for just one.

• Universal includes native code for every supported processor type. It's the biggest file, but it runs on anything the app supports.
• ARM64 (arm64-v8a) only has 64-bit ARM code. Almost every phone sold in the last several years is 64-bit ARM, so this is the right pick for most people. The file is noticeably smaller.
• ARM (v7a) (armeabi-v7a) only has 32-bit ARM code. It's for old phones and for some budget phones that run a 32-bit version of Android even though the chip itself could do 64-bit.

You'll occasionally see x86 or x86_64 too. Those are for emulators and a handful of old Intel-based phones. None of the pre-patched apps here ship x86-only builds.

How to check what your phone needs

The quickest way without installing anything is to look up your exact phone model online together with "64-bit". If you'd rather check the phone itself:

1. Install a hardware info app such as CPU-Z or Droid Hardware Info, and look for a line called "Supported ABIs" or "Instruction sets". If arm64-v8a is in the list, ARM64 builds will work.
2. If you use a computer with ADB, adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abilist prints the same list.

The list matters more than the processor name. A phone with a 64-bit chip that only reports armeabi-v7a is running 32-bit Android, and it needs the ARMv7 build.

What happens if you pick the wrong one

Nothing breaks. Android refuses to install an APK that doesn't have code for your processor, usually with a plain "App not installed" message. Download the other variant and try again. (There's a longer list of causes for that error if switching variants doesn't fix it.)

The opposite case is also worth knowing about: newer Pixel phones, starting with the Pixel 7, can't run 32-bit apps at all. On those, an ARMv7-only build will never install.

Things that look like a mismatch but aren't

• Some apps are only offered as ARM64 on this site, Instagram for example. That's a limit of the build, not of your phone, and there's simply no 32-bit version to fall back on.
• A file labelled Universal can still be ARM64-only inside if the original app was. When that's the case, the app's page says so.
• Morphe Manager itself, and MicroG RE, also come in per-architecture variants. The same rule applies: Universal if unsure, ARM64 for most phones.