4 ms·

Could anyone enlighten me on how Android developers handle the problem at the moment? Lowest common denominator, optimizing for popular resolutions or releasing

by p0ppe 16y ago

Could anyone enlighten me on how Android developers handle the problem at the moment? Lowest common denominator, optimizing for popular resolutions or releasing versions for different resolutions seem to be pathways one could take, but they all seem inadequate.

grammaton 16y ago
By using the well designed and thought out frameworks that Google provides exactly for this particular reason. Honestly this whole "fragmentation" thing is a red herring. You create your app, you create different sets of resources (images and layouts) for different classes of device (broadly speaking there are three groups of Android phones) and that's about it - you're done. Developing for Android has entailed way less worry about specific devices than, say, Blackberry or feature phones.
- nailer 16y ago
  Main thing is there is stuff you can do with minsdk set to 2.0 that customers using HTC Heros, Sony X10s, and other popular but not updated devices won't be able to access.
  - bad_user 16y ago
    If your app is any good, that's an incentive to upgrade, no?
    - nailer 16y ago
      Users don't have the choice, alas.
  - grammaton 16y ago
    Another point the author misses is that most users - and for that matter developers - aren't chasing the latest features in Android. Look at Froyo for instance - it's awesome, but I can guarantee you that right now, probably less than 1% of apps in the market actually use Froyo specific features. And as nailer points out, if you really must use them, then you can make sure no one with a phone earlier than that can even see your app in the market.
- keltex 16y ago
  I totally agree. Since when did developers need exactly the same specs on every device to develop a good app? It doesn't seem to be an issue for Web / Facebook / PC / Mac / Linux apps.
bad_user 16y ago
Yeah ... I have the same question for ... * different desktop browsers * different mobile browsers * different Windows versions * different desktop hardware * different JVM versions / vendors * different gaming consoles ... you have to be stupid to choose just one I don't get it ... sooner or later the iOS will also see fragmentation ... it's inevitable as new and more capable versions of the iPhone / iPod and now the iPad are getting released ... and while a niche like Apple's loves to upgrade, many customers don't (I still have a first generation iPod Touch and I've encountered apps that wouldn't run on it ... go figure).

by p0ppe 16y ago

grammaton 16y ago

By using the well designed and thought out frameworks that Google provides exactly for this particular reason. Honestly this whole "fragmentation" thing is a red herring. You create your app, you create different sets of resources (images and layouts) for different classes of device (broadly speaking there are three groups of Android phones) and that's about it - you're done. Developing for Android has entailed way less worry about specific devices than, say, Blackberry or feature phones.

nailer 16y ago
Main thing is there is stuff you can do with minsdk set to 2.0 that customers using HTC Heros, Sony X10s, and other popular but not updated devices won't be able to access.
- bad_user 16y ago
  If your app is any good, that's an incentive to upgrade, no?
  - nailer 16y ago
    Users don't have the choice, alas.
- grammaton 16y ago
  Another point the author misses is that most users - and for that matter developers - aren't chasing the latest features in Android. Look at Froyo for instance - it's awesome, but I can guarantee you that right now, probably less than 1% of apps in the market actually use Froyo specific features. And as nailer points out, if you really must use them, then you can make sure no one with a phone earlier than that can even see your app in the market.
keltex 16y ago
I totally agree. Since when did developers need exactly the same specs on every device to develop a good app? It doesn't seem to be an issue for Web / Facebook / PC / Mac / Linux apps.

bad_user 16y ago

Yeah ... I have the same question for ... * different desktop browsers * different mobile browsers * different Windows versions * different desktop hardware * different JVM versions / vendors * different gaming consoles ... you have to be stupid to choose just one I don't get it ... sooner or later the iOS will also see fragmentation ... it's inevitable as new and more capable versions of the iPhone / iPod and now the iPad are getting released ... and while a niche like Apple's loves to upgrade, many customers don't (I still have a first generation iPod Touch and I've encountered apps that wouldn't run on it ... go figure).