I'm making a program for an Android tablet, and have been using the SDK with API level 12 (Android 3.1), without much thought or knowledge of it, just because it's the newest one. But, which one would you recommend I use? Which ones are for tablets (as opposed to phones)? And, do I have to reinstall all of the SDK if I want to use a different API (as http://android.konreu.com/developer-how-to/install-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-avds/ seems to suggest) or can I just create a new virtual device?
You should use API level 11 that is the one that Google targeted for tablets. Previous version will work with tablets too, but the API 11 itself includes features that are tablet-specific.
And no, you don't have to reinstall the SDK. Just install that additional API level, and create a new virtual machine.
I would probably go for 3.0 since there are tablets that run that.
You only need to download the platform for 3.0 if you don't already have it. No need to reinstall the complete sdk. Just download the appropriate files.
minimum API level is GALAXY_Tab Addon - API Level 8 for the tablet and Android HoneyComb-API Level Honeycomb for the Honeycomb devlopment.
Related
I use minimum sdk version 1.6 and run app on android device 4.0 but the app layout look likes devices with android 1.6. Is not it possible to use proper sdk based on device android version?
For clear my mean, suppose:
I use min sdk version 1.6 and target 8.0. I want when it runs on device version 4 it uses sdk 4, on device version 5 it uses sdk 5 and so on.
You can support different API levels creating multiple APKs taking advantage of this Google Play feature.
It’s essential to adopt some good practices from the get-go and prevent unnecessary headaches further into the development process.
Creating Multiple APKs for Different API Levels explains these steps in detail.
My app supports Android 4.x all they way through 7.x. As a result, I have all API revs between 14 & 26 installed on my machine. All those API rev's combined are taking up nearly 100Gb on my hard drive.
Do I need all revs still? Does API v25 have everything need to support Android 4.1 (Rev16)?
If I don't need all those lower Revs and I can delete them is there a proper method for permanently removing them from my harddrive? The SDK Manager allows you to Delete specific packages...but does deleting them via the SDK Manager actually delete them from the computer or must I do that separately?
They only one you need is the one you are targeting and/or the versions your physical device has for instant run, if you don't use instant run in android studio then you just need the version your app is targeting
While creating a project using eclipse i have Minimum SDK required as Android 2.2(Froyo) and Target SDK as Android 4.2(Jelly Bean) compile with Android 4.3. I have used sqlitebrowser v2.ob1 for creating database. My app runs without any errors (few lines in red in logcat though) and meets my requirements when i run it in an emulator. I tried 3 different emulators and it works fine. But when i tried this app in a mobile device it shows force close whenever there is something to do with database. I mean to say that it shows force close when it has to retrieve from database or connect to database. By searching i learned that just the .apk file is enough for the app to run even if externally created database is used in it (copying to assets folder and then to the default location). My questions are
Shouldn't my app work fine in any device ranging from Android 2.2 to 4.2 ?
Should i try compiling the app with Android 4.2 instead?
Am not sure about the version of the device i tried it in but am sure its within 2.2 and 4.2 . (Probably gingerbread). Other than plugging the device to PC via USB and seeing logcat (bcoz i dont own an android mobile phone) what can i do to solve this?
How is the app's version, emulator and version of mobile or any other device related?
My app can run on what versions of devices?
This is my first android app so any help is appreciated. Thanks in advace
It's possible that you are using a feature in your application that isn't supported by a lower version of the SDK. It's difficult to tell you exactly what that might be without any source code or stacktrace, but I can clear up your understanding of minSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion.
Consider that with each new version of the Android SDK, additional features and APIs are introduced that did not exist in previous versions. Obviously, the older versions of Android don't support those features.
When you specify a targetSdkVersion you are specifying that you are using features that were introduced in that particular version of Android. You are also implying that you have tested your application at that particular API level, and that it works as it should.
When you specify a minSdkVersion that is lower than your targetSdkVersion, you are implying that your application will work properly on a lower API level because you have manually programmed tests or checks in your code to ensure that the current API level is compatible with a feature before running it.
For example, if I wanted to run a feature introduced in Jelly Bean but I want to retain support for a lower API level (e.g. Gingerbread), I might add the following check before I run the feature (see other version codes here):
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN) {
// run some code specific to API level 16
}
The Android SDK can automatically deal with code introduced in a lower API level, but it can't automatically deal with code specific to a higher API level.
So with that in mind, to answer your questions:
No, it's only guaranteed that your application will work properly on Android 4.2. It's up to you to ensure that it remains backwards compatible for earlier versions that you wish to support.
It shouldn't matter. Instead, you should first determine if your application runs on a device/emulator that is running the same API level as you are targeting (Android 4.2, API level 17), then run it on a device/emulator running a lower version and try to isolate the code that is causing it to crash (logcat will be helpful).
You can check the Android version of a device by going into Settings > About phone > Android version. If it is running Gingerbread, keep in mind that a lot of new features have been introduced since then and your application might be using some of those features. For the emulator, you can specify an API level when you create an emulator (you can download other versions to use from the SDK Manager).
I think my answer so far has made this relationship clear.
To reiterate, your application WILL run on any device running Android 2.2 or later, but it can crash if you are using features from a higher API level than the device is running.
If this is still not clear, you should read more about supporting multiple platform versions in the Android documentation: here.
I have downloaded the Android SDK(which i think has no version, it is standard). After installing Android SDK, Android SDK Manager comes which by default selects 3 things to be downloaded (1)Android SDK tools(2)Android 4.0.3 (API 15) and the things under it like documentation, samples etc (3)Google USB driver But at present i am having book on Android 3, so should i deselect the second option i.e. Android 4.0.3 (API 15) and select all things under Android 3.0 (API 11) or keeping Android 4.0.3 will be OK for Android 3.I know there are tutorials for Android 4.0.3 on Web so why should i go for Android 3 because i find it easy through books and i got Android 3 here in my place and still no Android 4. So what should i do?
You can install everything. I would recommend to install the API level you want to develop for. But it doesn't hurt (but wastes disk space) to install everything.
Sidenote: Android 3.0 is for tablets, 2.x for older and 4.x for the latest Android Smartphone devices.
You should select the API level that you will target. For example, I am writing an application for API level 7 (Android 2.1.x), so I've got that version installed on my machine. Of course, you can have more than one API level installed, so it is safe to install any combination (for example 3.0.x and 4.0.4 simultaneously - see last paragraph for the reason).
Once you've got a few API levels installed, Eclipse will allow you to change the target API for your project to any of the versions you have installed. The same applies for the command-line project creation.
There is actually one good use-case for installing a version newer than the one you are targeting in addition to the one you use: testing. You can create an emulation environment for a newer version of the API to ensure that your application does not crash and burn when the API levels do not match. If we were to extend my above example, a sensible set of levels to install is 3.0.x, 3.2, and 4.0.4. You can target the initial release of Honeycomb (unless you need anything from the later versions), and test with both the latest Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwitch.
I would like to test and distribute my phonegap app. It already runs for iPhone.
At first I installed the newest SDK (4.0.3) but this one does not run on my phone. So... i guess I have to install more.
What do I need to install in the Android SDK Manager?
All SDKs? Do I need the Sample/Arm/GoogleAPI/Sources too?
Generally I install all the SDK versions as it is good to be able to test on the various emulators to make sure you app works in all versions of Android. You should always build your application with the latest SDK but in your AndroidManifest.xml file you should have a android:minSdkVersion set to the lowest Android level you want your app to run on. For now I recommend 7 (Android 2.1) as 97% of the phones are running 2.1 or above.
As you can see in the platform versions chart here it is recommended to use Android 2.1 or 2.2 SDK to cover almost all the Android devices on the market.
I think you don't need Sample/ARM/Sources, though if you need to use Google proprietary API (for example Google Maps API) you need to use Google API versions of 2.1 or 2.2.
You only need the SDK that matches the API level you intend to build for.
This page: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
has a breakdown of what devices are most active in currrent use (accessed market within 2 weeks)
Judging by that, if you target 2.1 you'd be able to install your app on 98.3% of all such devices.
It is generally best to pick the oldest platform that supports all of the features you need. Just stay at or above 1.6, that is when support for multiple screen sizes was introduced.
As I think, the best solution is SDK 2.2. Many devices work with this android version.
On your Android phone go to settings->About Phone and view the Android version. This should be the sdk you will need. Afterwords, you can just change the target android sdk version in your app and it should run on your phone. As for the folders you speak of - they contain some examples, the source code of the sdk and some additional apis to use google services. It is up to you whether you will need them. You will definitely need the platform-tools from the Android SDK manager - they provide you with the adb tool that enables you to upload applications to your device.