I would like to be able to test my Android app on different Android versions on an actual device, rather than on the emulator. I have a Nexus S which currently has Android 2.3.6 installed.
My understanding is that I can boot into "recovery" mode on my phone and load an Android package from the SD card, but where can I find the official Android releases? Are they distributed along with the SDK somewhere?
I suspect you will have to root your device and then 'flash' another version of android onto it.
Here is a tutorial to get you started: http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-hacks/how-to-root-nexus-s-or-nexus-s-4g-new/
The Nexus S was the first android 2.3 phone as far as I'm aware. There won't be any official android releases earlier than that for it.
I do not believe 2.2 and earlier are listed anywhere,
however, you can check the factory images for nexus devices and you might find an explanation why they do not list earlier versions
Related
I'm creating a flutter app that will be installed on a Samsung Galaxy 7-inch Tablet with Android KitKat (v4.4). It will be the only app on the tablet, and will be implemented such that it loads when the device is powered up, and the user will be unable to exit the application.
I've found this on the Android Developer docs, but it only applies for versions 5.0 and over.
https://developer.android.com/work/dpc/dedicated-devices/lock-task-mode#java
I have not been able to find any documentation/tutorials that could possibly assist with this, without using a 3rd party application such as Surelock and Kioware.
Is there a way to implement the above for older Android version (in my case for version 4.4)? Thank you.
As you are targeting an older Android version you will need to implement some workarounds, but luckily there is a very extensive tutorial on how to do just that for Android 4 which you can find here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20201101145703/https://www.andreasschrade.com/2015/02/16/android-tutorial-how-to-create-a-kiosk-mode-in-android/
As this is very platform specific you will need to develop directly for Android and then connect it to your Dart code with this tutorial.
If you control the devices your software will be installed on, you can also opt for the 'root' way of doing things which is described here:
Enabling KioskMode in Android 4.4.2 with Root
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!
I currently have a web app and an app on google play. What i want to know is, Is there an emulator for android galaxy note, s3 google nexus and so on.
Also is there an emulator for non iOS or android like windows mobile, blackberry for me to test out my web app and see if it works on them devices with the screen resolutions.
please help.
thanks.
https://app.manymo.com/emulators
Android emulators that:
Start quickly. Run smoothly. Are lightweight.
Match every current OS version & screen size.
Are accessible from your browser.
An Android emulator is included in the Android SDK. Using this emulator you can mimic the hardware of a device. OS modifications made by the device vendors are not included in this emulator.
From what i know there is Blackberry Eclipse Plugin ...
Here, a link
https://swdownloads.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=060AD92489947D410D897474079C1477
Maybe it helps
The android emulator is included for the SDK, http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
You may want to take a look at this thread -> Samsung Galaxy s3 emulator settings . It mentions configurations to setup the Galaxy SIII emulator, and also other related configurations.
from Android Studio v2.4 some of AVD supports Google Play. You can use a native tool because they are much more better than previously
as it states in the title I am unable to find Samsung Galaxy option for installation in Android SDK Manager (Revision 20.0.3).
Could anyone help on the matter?
PS: Where ever I looked it is said that there should be third party option or should be under Android 2.3 but it isn't there.
Thanks for helping.
You can (and will probably have to) create an emulator image with the specifications of the device you are trying to duplicate. If you are looking for prebuilt ones you'll have to check with the respective manufacturer. If you are expected to see TouchWiz or HTC Sense on the emulator build, you won't as those are proprietary skins.
But, Android != Android and Samsung use their own modified webkit amongst other things.
Just making a best guess from the hardware specs is going to as effective as using chrome.
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.