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In Google play (app market), if an application is not compatible to your device (for some reason, say small screen size, etc). Then it is not even shown in the list.

Now, as an app developer I never want to unintentionally add a limitation in my app that forbids it from a range of devices.

So, while developing how can I make sure that the application will be able to run on atleast the type of devices that I intend.

Also, right now I'm developing an app & testing it in on my phone with version 2.3.5. And every now & then Google changes some method names & flags.

For newer android releases, I CAN test it on emulator, but testing it on phone/tabs/etc. is a different thing.

Please suggest.

reiley
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3 Answers3

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By default apps will be available to as wide a range of users as possible.

There are certain limitations you can define in your manifest file, such as not being available on small screen sizes, but they are at your discretion.

The only limitation Google imposes on you is that any user who has a lower Android version than your minimum SDK version cannot see your app. To get around this, you can either design the app for lower SDK versions (I believe building for 2.2 and up gives you access to about 95% of the user base) or maintain multiple versions of the APK.

Collin Watts
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  • I've a desire HD with 2.3.5. I found a game which was running on my phone perfectly but it was not available to a Samsung model with same version but different screen size – reiley Dec 09 '12 at 20:01
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how can I make sure that the application will be able to run on atleast the type of devices that I intend.

In manifest file you can mention, which type of device you want to run your app. And for testing you can create emulators for different devices to test your app. Try to make app UI such that it runs on all devices.

Google changes some method names & flags

Whenever Android changes any thing it will always be upward compatible means if you have made app for 2.2 it will run on 2.2 and above (screen size or resolution is other thing)

Regarding UI see my answer here Layout for 720*1280 devices

Community
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Androider
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Read this. It will really help. Next Eclipse will help you a lot, firstly you can define what you wish to support (screen sizes and hardware requirements or even if they're not necessary but may be used) in the manifest. You can run a version check and implement APIs dependent on which version of Android you're running on. That's personally what I do, I check the API level and if it's greater than or equal to the API I wish to run I run it, otherwise I attempt to find compatible code (often using the compatibility library) or alternatively drop support for that feature, for example JellyBean notifications there's not really any work around for expanded notifications but I can use the NotifcationCompat builder.

AndroidPenguin
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