Android software development: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:08, 30 October 2011

Revision as of 14:32, 3 November 2011

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However, this situation appears to have improved, in that by July 2011, Google reported over 95% of android phones in service were on 2.1 variants and newer, over 60% on 2.2 variants and newer <ref>{{cite web |url =http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html |title=Platform Versions |date = 2011-07-05|publisher=developer.android.com |accessdate = 2011-07-29}}</ref>. A year ago, August 2010, Google reported 83% of Android phones were running the, then current, 2.x versions, with 17% still on 1.5 and 1.6.

Such problems were pointedly brought into focus as they were encountered during the ADC2 contest.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/11/a-chink-in-androids-armor/ |title = A Chink In Android's Armor |date = 2009-10-11 |publisher=[[TechCrunch]] |quote=''And now they're faced with a landslide of new handsets, some running v.1.6 and some courageous souls even running android v.2.0. All those manufacturers/carriers are racing to release their phones by the 2009 holiday season, and want to ensure the hot applications will work on their phones. And here's the problem&nbsp;– in almost every case, we hear, there are bugs and more serious problems with the apps.[...]First of all, the compatibility between versions issue may be overblown. The reported problems have been limited to an Android developer contest[...]We haven’t heard of any major app developers complaining of backwards or forward compatibility problems. Also, I’ve now upgraded my phone from 1.5 to 1.6, and every application continues to work fine.'' |accessdate = 2009-10-11}}</ref> Further, the rapid growth in the number of Android-based phone models with differing hardware capabilities also makes it difficult to develop applications that work on all Android-based phones.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/android-fragmentation/ |title = Android’s Rapid Growth Has Some Developers Worried |date = 2009-11-16 |publisher=[[Wired News]] |quote=''Fagan’s concerns about the fragmentation of Android is being echoed by other developers, says Sean Galligan, vice president of business development at Flurry, ana mobile app analytics company(...)"You may build an app that works perfectly with all three firmwares, but then when you run it on carriers’ ROMs it completely blows up," says Fagan. "So we find ourselves having to create apps that are compatible with multiple firmwares, multiple ROMs and multiple devices with different hardware.'' |accessdate = 2010-02-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/3704 |title = Android just reproducing Java ME's problems, now |date = 2009-11-17 |publisher=[[JavaWorld]] |accessdate = 2010-02-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2009/tc20091015_626136.htm |title = Android's Spread Could Become a Problem |date = 2009-10-15 |publisher=[[Bloomberg BusinessWeek|BusinessWeek]] |accessdate = 2010-02-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://infoworld.com/d/mobilize/google-androids-self-destruction-derby-begins-863 |title = Google Android's self-destruction derby begins |date = 2010-02-22 |publisher=[[InfoWorld]] |accessdate = 2010-02-28}}</ref>

==History==