Android 10 introduced native support for the AV1 video codec.
AV1 is an open, royalty-free video-compression standard developed by the Alliance for Open Media. It was designed to deliver high-quality video at lower bitrates than older codecs such as H.264 and, in many situations, VP9. That efficiency makes AV1 attractive for streaming services, especially where bandwidth is limited.
Android 10, released in September 2019, added AV1 support to Android’s media platform. “Native support” means the operating system and its media framework recognized the codec; it does not mean every Android 10 phone included dedicated AV1 hardware decoding. Actual playback performance depended on the device’s processor, graphics hardware, and manufacturer implementation.
A common mix-up is confusing AV1 with AVIF, an image format based on AV1 technology. Android 10 also added support for other media features, including the Opus audio codec and HDR10+. Later Android releases expanded codec requirements, but Android 10 is the canonical answer for the original native AV1-support milestone.