Add export setting to specify whether the native libraries should be compressed for the gradle build

platform/android/doc_classes/EditorExportPlatformAndroid.xml

@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@
 		<member name="custom_template/release" type="String" setter="" getter="">
 			Path to the custom export template. If left empty, default template is used.
 		</member>
+		<member name="gradle_build/compress_native_libraries" type="bool" setter="" getter="">
+			If [code]true[/code], native libraries are compressed when performing a Gradle build.
+			[b]Note:[/b] Although your binary may be smaller, your application may load slower because the native libraries are not loaded directly from the binary at runtime.
+		</member>
 		<member name="gradle_build/export_format" type="int" setter="" getter="">
 			Export format for Gradle build.
 		</member>

platform/android/export/export_plugin.cpp

@@ -1744,6 +1744,11 @@ String EditorExportPlatformAndroid::get_export_option_warning(const EditorExport
 			if (xr_mode_index == XR_MODE_OPENXR && !gradle_build_enabled) {
 				return TTR("OpenXR requires \"Use Gradle Build\" to be enabled");
 			}
+		} else if (p_name == "gradle_build/compress_native_libraries") {
+			bool gradle_build_enabled = p_preset->get("gradle_build/use_gradle_build");
+			if (bool(p_preset->get("gradle_build/compress_native_libraries")) && !gradle_build_enabled) {
+				return TTR("\"Compress Native Libraries\" is only valid when \"Use Gradle Build\" is enabled.");
+			}
 		} else if (p_name == "gradle_build/export_format") {
 			bool gradle_build_enabled = p_preset->get("gradle_build/use_gradle_build");
 			if (int(p_preset->get("gradle_build/export_format")) == EXPORT_FORMAT_AAB && !gradle_build_enabled) {
@@ -1799,6 +1804,7 @@ void EditorExportPlatformAndroid::get_export_options(List<ExportOption> *r_optio
 	r_options->push_back(ExportOption(PropertyInfo(Variant::STRING, "custom_template/release", PROPERTY_HINT_GLOBAL_FILE, "*.apk"), ""));
 
 	r_options->push_back(ExportOption(PropertyInfo(Variant::BOOL, "gradle_build/use_gradle_build"), false, false, true));
+	r_options->push_back(ExportOption(PropertyInfo(Variant::BOOL, "gradle_build/compress_native_libraries"), false, false, true));
 	r_options->push_back(ExportOption(PropertyInfo(Variant::INT, "gradle_build/export_format", PROPERTY_HINT_ENUM, "Export APK,Export AAB"), EXPORT_FORMAT_APK, false, true));
 	// Using String instead of int to default to an empty string (no override) with placeholder for instructions (see GH-62465).
 	// This implies doing validation that the string is a proper int.
@@ -3040,6 +3046,7 @@ Error EditorExportPlatformAndroid::export_project_helper(const Ref<EditorExportP
 		String enabled_abi_string = join_abis(enabled_abis, "|", false);
 		String sign_flag = should_sign ? "true" : "false";
 		String zipalign_flag = "true";
+		String compress_native_libraries_flag = bool(p_preset->get("gradle_build/compress_native_libraries")) ? "true" : "false";
 
 		Vector<String> android_libraries;
 		Vector<String> android_dependencies;
@@ -3104,6 +3111,7 @@ Error EditorExportPlatformAndroid::export_project_helper(const Ref<EditorExportP
 		cmdline.push_back("-Pplugins_maven_repos=" + combined_android_dependencies_maven_repos); // argument to specify the list of maven repos for android dependencies provided by plugins.
 		cmdline.push_back("-Pperform_zipalign=" + zipalign_flag); // argument to specify whether the build should be zipaligned.
 		cmdline.push_back("-Pperform_signing=" + sign_flag); // argument to specify whether the build should be signed.
+		cmdline.push_back("-Pcompress_native_libraries=" + compress_native_libraries_flag); // argument to specify whether the build should compress native libraries.
 		cmdline.push_back("-Pgodot_editor_version=" + String(VERSION_FULL_CONFIG));
 
 		// NOTE: The release keystore is not included in the verbose logging

platform/android/java/app/build.gradle

@@ -116,6 +116,14 @@ android {
         if (shouldNotStrip()) {
             doNotStrip '**/*.so'
         }
+
+        jniLibs {
+            // Setting this to true causes AGP to package compressed native libraries when building the app
+            // For more background, see:
+            // - https://developer.android.com/build/releases/past-releases/agp-3-6-0-release-notes#extractNativeLibs
+            // - https://stackoverflow.com/a/44704840
+            useLegacyPackaging shouldUseLegacyPackaging()
+        }
     }
 
     signingConfigs {

platform/android/java/app/config.gradle

@@ -361,3 +361,26 @@ ext.shouldSign = { ->
 ext.shouldNotStrip = { ->
     return isAndroidStudio() || project.hasProperty("doNotStrip")
 }
+
+/**
+ * Whether to use the legacy convention of compressing all .so files in the APK.
+ *
+ * For more background, see:
+ * - https://developer.android.com/build/releases/past-releases/agp-3-6-0-release-notes#extractNativeLibs
+ * - https://stackoverflow.com/a/44704840
+ */
+ext.shouldUseLegacyPackaging = { ->
+    int minSdk = getExportMinSdkVersion()
+    if (minSdk < 23) {
+        // Enforce the default behavior for compatibility with device running api < 23
+        return true
+    }
+
+    String legacyPackagingFlag = project.hasProperty("compress_native_libraries") ? project.property("compress_native_libraries") : ""
+    if (legacyPackagingFlag != null && !legacyPackagingFlag.isEmpty()) {
+        return Boolean.parseBoolean(legacyPackagingFlag)
+    }
+
+    // Default behavior for minSdk >= 23
+    return false
+}