Android File Formats
Looking for a file format for Android? Depending on what you need, this page will provide you knowledge of what file formats are supported by Android!
Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on a modified version of Linux kernel. Today it’s the most popular operating system for smartphones with more than two billion devices powered by Android worldwide. To compare, there are around 1.4 billion devices that use iOS.
In addition, there are Android TV, Android Auto and Wear OS for smartwatches. Android OS is used on digital cameras, personal computers, game consoles, etc. Android powered devices are very common and there are still huge arguments which mobile OS is better: Android or iOS.
In favor of Android there are points like:
- Android is open source software that everyone can modify
- Android devices vary in weight, size, features and quality
- Android has integrated Google Assistant, recognizing human voice well
- Android optimizes battery work, what makes battery lives longer
- Android provides customization possibilities and more
Text Formats Supported by Android
By default, Android devices support TXT. To open DOCX, ODT, FB2, MOBI, EPUB and other mobile text formats you will need to install third-party software like Office Mobile for text files that you want to edit (this suite is free to download) or FBReader if you just want to read some Ebooks.
To open PDFs you would need a special reader, too. There are a lot of those in Play Market.
Audio and Video Formats Supported by Android
If you like your audio in MP3, Android is a choice for you! Android supports MP3, FLAC, MPEG-4, 3GPP, GSM, MIDI, WAV, MKV and OGG. This covers both lossy and lossless music formats, so with Android you can decide what type of quality you need without a tedious task of converting favorite tracks to some whimsical new format.
As for video, Android supports MP4, 3GP, WebM and AAC, which is perfectly fine to watch videos online and those that you’ve downloaded or transferred. Video player is built-in, but you can change it to a different one if you want to.
Graphic Formats Supported by Android
With its built in viewer Android supports raster graphics. Pictures in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIF can be read without installing third-party solutions. For vector graphic files like EPS you will need a specialized viewer. Such readers can be found in Play Market.
Other Formats Supported by Android
The executive file for android is APK. This is the format in which apps are encoded and allowed to install them. Those files are read automatically or you can trigger the process by tapping on them.
ZIP and RAR files are easily unpacked by Android. Android file unzipper is built into the system. To unzip a file, you need to find your ZIP file using Android File Manager (try searching for My Files folder). Tap on the file you need to unzip. There will be an “Unzip” option in the upper-right corner of the screen. Tap it and the file will be automatically unzipped in the folder ZIP file was in.
Miscellaneous Android Tips
The last thing that we want to discuss is Android file transfer. To transfer files from Android to Windows (your PC) you will need to acquire a USB cable. Connect your PC and mobile device using this cable. Then the PC will install drivers so the system will be able to manage files from your Android device. You can choose how to connect your device: as a file storage (like USB drive), modem or as a camera. It’s best to pick the first option if you want to transfer Android files between PC and mobile.
When connection is finished, there would be a dialog window suggesting opening a folder with your files. As this folder is opened, you can start transferring files. Don’t forget to extract your Android device safely – it prevents data corruption and losses.