3 ms·

Does anyone know what efforts Android developers specifically take to address Android's performance on the multitude of low-end Android devices? I think (?) mo

Does anyone know what efforts Android developers specifically take to address Android's performance on the multitude of low-end Android devices? I think (?) most people experience Android on low-end / underpowered devices and I wonder whether with these upgrades those devices are left behind.

Aaargh20318 6y ago
It’s more that buying a high-end Android phone is kind of pointless. As a dev you want to target the largest possible customer base. In practice this means developing with a low-end phone and an older OS version in mind. You could have your app adapt to higher-end phones or newer OS versions with things like optional features, but in reality the market share of those devices is too low to be worth the investment. In the end, users with high-end Android phones will mainly be running apps that are not designed to take full advantage of the capabilities of the device.
- mastazi 6y ago
  Mmmm I’m not sure if that is always the case. Anecdote: I live in Australia (where probably the share of higher end devices is higher than other countries) and I’ve seen a trend where some Android apps that are made for the Australian market, are only available to higher end devices and listed as incompatible with everything else. In some extreme cases, they are also restricted to one single brand i.e. only latest generation, high-end Samsung models would be supported. I haven’t used Android for more than a year so I’m really struggling to remember what apps did that, if I remember I will reply to this comment later.
creshal 6y ago
Those devices never get upgraded to new Android versions so that's not something Android devs worry about. Hardware manufacturers just have to beef up the next generation of low end phones! (Cue KaiOS eating away all the low end market.)
throwaway8941 6y ago
I'll leave my anecdote until someone knowledgeable shows up. I don't they they've been doing nearly enough. I've been using a cheap Asus (MSM8916 + 2 GiB RAM) for about 4.5 years and have tried every version of Android from 5 through 10 (most of them via CyanogenMod / LineageOS). I always trim down the firmware on my devices as much as possible without bricking it, and still one feels the phone getting slower and slower with every version increment. 7 is the last one more or less usable on this kind of hardware, and 10 really struggles to run and leaves very little RAM for applications to use. So, even if my vendor didn't stop releasing updates so soon, a less patient user would've tossed the phone right after Nougat was released. (BTW, fuck you Asus, I'll never buy from you again)

Aaargh20318 6y ago

It’s more that buying a high-end Android phone is kind of pointless. As a dev you want to target the largest possible customer base. In practice this means developing with a low-end phone and an older OS version in mind. You could have your app adapt to higher-end phones or newer OS versions with things like optional features, but in reality the market share of those devices is too low to be worth the investment. In the end, users with high-end Android phones will mainly be running apps that are not designed to take full advantage of the capabilities of the device.

mastazi 6y ago
Mmmm I’m not sure if that is always the case. Anecdote: I live in Australia (where probably the share of higher end devices is higher than other countries) and I’ve seen a trend where some Android apps that are made for the Australian market, are only available to higher end devices and listed as incompatible with everything else. In some extreme cases, they are also restricted to one single brand i.e. only latest generation, high-end Samsung models would be supported. I haven’t used Android for more than a year so I’m really struggling to remember what apps did that, if I remember I will reply to this comment later.

creshal 6y ago

Those devices never get upgraded to new Android versions so that's not something Android devs worry about. Hardware manufacturers just have to beef up the next generation of low end phones! (Cue KaiOS eating away all the low end market.)

throwaway8941 6y ago

I'll leave my anecdote until someone knowledgeable shows up. I don't they they've been doing nearly enough. I've been using a cheap Asus (MSM8916 + 2 GiB RAM) for about 4.5 years and have tried every version of Android from 5 through 10 (most of them via CyanogenMod / LineageOS). I always trim down the firmware on my devices as much as possible without bricking it, and still one feels the phone getting slower and slower with every version increment. 7 is the last one more or less usable on this kind of hardware, and 10 really struggles to run and leaves very little RAM for applications to use. So, even if my vendor didn't stop releasing updates so soon, a less patient user would've tossed the phone right after Nougat was released. (BTW, fuck you Asus, I'll never buy from you again)