What is the best method to support older Android devices running stock browser without owning multiple physical devices?
Im interested in Android 2.x ... 3.x. Is it maybe possible to install older versions to newer devices?
It don't think it is possible to install older versions of the browser, but it is possible to run any version of android that you would like using the AVD Manager (Android Virtual Device). Using a virtual device on your computer allows you to control the screen size, software version, and many other factors without having to own a physical device. It can be a little slow if you try to run one on an older computer, but it is definitely worth looking into. It can be downloaded with the Android SDK.
Good luck!
Related
How can I find out the latest version of Chrome that I can run on KitKat Android (4.4x) please? Is it possible to grab the most recent versions APK from a newer OS install and copy to my KitKat device?
I need to determine the best way to run to run fullscreen without user intervention and there are varying supports for "fullscreen apis".
You can grab the latest version of Chrome from Google Play, but it's backwards-compatible with KitKat and it won't change a single thing you're currently seeing on KitKat.
Here is the future bleeding-edge version of Chrome, but this too won't solve your immediate testing problem.
Since you don't seem to have a Lollipop device with the right specs for what you're testing, you'll need to create a Lollipop Intel-based emulator for it and run it on your computer (an ARM-based emulator won't be sufficient, because it will be too slow).
If you need to simulate a slower cell phone internet connection with higher latency, you'll need to make that explicit when you configure your emulator, because one thing that developers forget is that their development machine usually has a very fast internet connection despite the fact that the emulator itself runs slower.
Do I need to install an emulator of some sort? Are there any online services that offer this? I've found little guidance elsewhere on this matter. I'm on Windows 8, just trying to figure out (locally) why my android users are experiencing issues with an MVC app.
The easiest way would be to download and install the Android SDK and use the emulator to try and reproduce the problem. The SDK has emulator images for all versions of Android, and you can create devices with different screens (resolution/dpi/size), so if your site uses responsive design you can test also how it scales across different devices and whether the problem affects one specific or all Android devices.
However, it is possible that the emulator might not be good enough for reproducing and understanding the problem. The Android SDK images come with the browser that is part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). While this browser is technically based on WebKit, it is based on a rather old version of it. Most OEMs that have built Android devices have signed the Google Mobile Services (GMS) license ship on their devices the Google suite of apps which includes the latest version of Chrome, which is based on the most recent WebKit version. The difference in the behavior between the two browsers is rather big.
So if the problem turns out to be with Chrome instead of the AOSP Browser, you will have to buy a real device and test on it. Depending on the budget you have and whether you want a phone or a tablet, you can go with a Nexus 5 ($350 w/o contract), Nexus 7 ($230 wifi only), or a Moto G ($175 w/o contract). Of course, you could also buy Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One X, or a Moto X, but they all will cost you more.
It might be worth also borrowing from someone a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, or equivalent low end MDPI device.
well, you can install an android emulator and use the browser there (http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/index.html), but it's extremely slow,
so you should, instead, try Genymotion. It's an android virtual machine and it's pretty smooth. (http://www.genymotion.com/)
another option, is the Opera mobile emulator, but that is specifically for the mobile Opera browser. (http://www.opera.com/developer/mobile-emulator)
if you want a chrome specific approach, try this (https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/mobile-emulation)
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html has the emulators.
… but it may be just as cost-effective to just spring the $40 for a cheap Android tablet with WiFi.
I am thinking about getting an used HTC Droid Incredible to develop Android apps, but I think it has Android 2.2 on it. Is the OS upgradable to the current Android version? If I am using the old Android OS 2.2 for testing of my apps, will the apps work on more current versions of android devices, such as Honeycomb?
Once you root the device you can put just about any os needed. Rooting this device is also extremely simple.
They definitely still allow it and its definitely an awesome handset. I currently have one rooted with Cyangenmod 7.0.3 so I have Android 2.3.3. It is extremely easy as Bill said. Also, I use mine to tether to my laptop and wii to stream netflix etc so at least Verizon hasn't killed free tethering yet. As long as you try to avoid using things that are listed as deprecated, you should be fine running on more up-to-date Androids. Also let me know if you need any help or whatever with getting the htc inc set up for developing, I love mine.
Is it possible for every Android mobile to be upgraded to its latest version or are there any limitations?
I have seen ad-tags for many mobile devices saying "Upgradeable to 2.2", or "Upgradeable to 2.1". Isn't upgrading a mobile OS just like upgrading a desktop OS?
It depends on the manufacturer. I have an HTC Desire and I don't believe there are any plans to upgrade that to Android 2.3, however the HTC Desire HD has. I could install an unofficial 'port' of Android 2.3, but it wouldn't be a reliable as the official.
Bottom line is, yes I believe it is possible, but it won't always happen.
My boss recently gave me an HTC Wildfire phone for doing an Android version of one of our mobile apps, which is all fine and good, except that the app requires API level 8 (ie Android 2.2), and the phone itself only has Android 2.1 installed. After much googling, I discovered that this phone does support Android 2.2, and carriers will be rolling out updates over the air for this model phone "in the near future".
Since I'm not entirely certain what our lazy carrier's definition of "near future" is, it would be nice if I could download images for particular releases and install them on my phone. Coming from the world of the iPhone, it seems that this should be something rather necessary in order to successfully develop an Android app.
Yet, it doesn't seem that Google offers any Android OS updates themselves. Have I no choice but to wait for the carrier to release an update?
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions regarding the emulator, but I'm asking about testing on hardware only. I already have a working 2.2 emulator image, but I need to test on hardware now, since the emulator does a very poor job of things like video playback and audio processing.
There's a few ways you can test your application on Android 2.2:
1) You can use the Emulator provided by Google in the SDK. It is possible to create a virtual machine of any version of Android with various hardware options. However, the emulator does have some limitations such as not supporting certain hardware options (such as bluetooth) and it's also dreadfully slow to boot.
2) If you have to use an actual phone with 2.2, you can root your phone and flash a custom ROM. I'm not particularly familiar with how to root the Wildfire, or what custom ROMs are available for that specific phone, but Cyanogen Mod has pretty good ROM support for HTC phones, as well as an active forum with tutorials.
No, it's not possible to download images before OTA. You could check CyanogemMod from time to time - they're working on Wildfire support. Also you could use an emulator.
If you are wanting to bounce around with newer versions, I recommend the Nexus One as a dev phone if you can get your hands on one. Or, if you can deal with the constraints, start with a built-in AVD emulator with API 8 until your phone gets the OTA update.
The Motorola Droid is also getting/has 2.2 on it. At least in the States, in seems that most of the phones on Verizon already have it (non-scientific, just from talking to people I know). So if that phone is available, it may be a decent choice.