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.
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I am trying to test my app and I have lots of problems with Android emulators. Finally, I got one emulator running using Android 2.2 . So I used this one and my app works fine.
I also tested my app using real device, Nexus 7 , Android OS 4.2. App works fine in both versions.
It is safe to consider my app will run fine for OS versions within 4.2 - and 2.2 band? The reason I am asking is because using emulator makes my computer very slow and it takes forever.
In the best case: yes. In worst case: no. It completely depends on the parts of the Android API you're using in your app. For example, private APIs might very well break or change. You should be fine with public APIs, but there's always the chance of a bug in one of the OS versions...
If you want to test your app on various devices and Android versions, you should give apkudo.com and testdroid.com a try.
You can also try https://www.elusivestars.com it allows you to select devices based on specs like OS version, brand... and offering 5 free reviews
I have heard good things about testflightapp, they used to be iOS only and now doing Android.
Something like http://www.perfectomobile.com/ might also be a good way to go.
Here is a list of tools, including test tools
http://www.apptamin.com/blog/app-developer-tools/
Cloud based real device testing is typically either devices you can access and manipulate/automate or users with devices. Personally I think starting with automated testing then finishing off with real user (usability testing) may give you good coverage.
I am the Founder of elusivestars
I really want to get into Android programming but I only have access to company resources right now. I have the money right now to purchase a XOOM or a development laptop. Is it possible to compile Android apps using the command line on the Xoom while using other apps to write the program files.
What would seem like a dream environment would be if I purchased a XOOM and a BlueTooth Keyboard. Am I dreaming? Developing using older Android devices was naturally limited by the screen space of the device and the underlying hardware also.
No, as far as I know, you cannot develop Android applications from within Android. You will need a Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop environment to develop Android applications. Visit the Android Developer site for additional info on the SDK.
Go for the development laptop, and test your applications on the emulator. Initially you can get friends to test them out on their android for you, and hopefully by the time you make something important enough you will be able to afford your own android.
Check out AIDE. It can build and deploy apps natively on Android.
Google doesn't have a version of the SDK that runs on an android device, although as devices become more powerful this would be a pretty awesome thing to have.
You'll want the laptop, since it can emulate different android devices.
Buy the laptop and get a cheap phone on craigslists.
Although, the XOOM emulator doesn't work at all, so if you want to develop specifically for that tablet it's a good idea to buy it. It's impossible to emulate android 3.0 on any computer on earth :)
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.
I'm interested in playing around with the Android OS, but I do not need or want a phone.
It doesn't look like there are any 'non-phone' Android devices out there, so maybe there's a device that is compatible that I can flash.
Any ideas?
they sell them at Kmart. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/08/06/attention-kmart-shoppers-149-android-tablet-on-aisle-5/?section=magazines_fortune
There are some pads, e.g. those made by Archos, which run Android but cost significantly less than a phone.
If you just want to play with the os, you could try the Android emulator which ships as part of the Android SDK (free).
A quick Google search for Android tablet reveals the existence of several such devices.
Can I use any Android Phone for app development? Here in the Philippines, there are many available mobile phones with Android installed. But I want to buy the cheapest phone available (which I think is Samsung i5500 Galaxy 5). Thanks in advance!
You can use any android powered device for development, just make sure it has Development menu option. To check go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Development. If there is somewhat like USB Debugging option you can use device for the development.
Why not use the actual dev kit? There is a complete setup with virtual phone included that you can run as an eclipse plugin.
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
I think any Android platform based phone will be OK.
Yes you can, and I would definitely recommend using a real phone. The emulator is excellent, but somewhat slow for a number of applications that require hardware (OpenGL comes to mind). Even a G1 tends to be faster than the emulator for certain things. If you're creating an app that uses Bluetooth, there's no way to do so on the emulator currently. Konstantin's directions are good for actually setting up the phone.
You need to understand one thing before you buy the phone. What version of Android SDK you will be using for to develop the app. If say, you are developing the app for cupcake and above, you better have a phone with cupcake version. But if you have Froyo phone, you will not be still able to run the app, but some depreciated functions might not be available and your app may crash.
If you want to develop in Windows there is a list of devices available for which the USB drivers work: USB Driver for Windows
If you don't need the GSM part you could also think about using the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, which is a Android powered media player and supports ADB (Android debug bridge) as well