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.
Related
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 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.
I'm looking at market stats here for sdk distribution:
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
saying that 31% of marketplace users are still running 1.5. Is it true that an OS update went out for G1 and myTouch users? I'm wondering why so many people are still running 1.5 if so? Just curious because I'd like to use th setView() method introduced in 1.6 for TabSpec, but not if so many people are still using 1.5, I might have to roll my own control,
Thanks
Many devices are being announced with 1.5 but will be upgraded before or soon after launch, as I see it many rooted phones that came with 1.5 or lower are almost all at 1.6. Some $100 devices announced will never go higher than 1.6 because of performance issues unless Google actually optimizes newer versions of Android.
The htc Magic(Mytouch) and htc Dream(G1) here in canada only officially have a 1.5 update and no 1.6. But in the USA they now have 1.6. I have a Dream and I rooted it and have firmware 1.6 but I have run 2.0, 2.01, 2.1 on it but performance is not too great on it. With 1.6 I can play apparently slow games on it at a decent speed.
Google also stated that they will update most android devices to have 2.1. So I would think that All Htc and Motorola phones will end up with 2.1. Just give me a moment to find the source of this.
All US Android phones to have 2.1
Devices that have a custom ui are: (These are the devices that I know of but there are more)
Sence UI
HTC Magic in canada
HTC Hero
MotoBlur
Backflip
Click
Click xt
There are custom roms that enable sence ui and motoblur for motorola phones and htc phones. For example I have run sense ui and motoblur on my Dream.
Reports suggest that most devices will be upgraded to 2.0 in the coming months and those that aren't will be running 1.6.
So you have to weigh up the advantage of using the setView() method over the potential loss in device compatibility.
strangly enough LG is just releasing a new phone based on 1.5
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/03/17/review_phone_lg_gw620/
I'm one of the users running 1.5 on my HTC Hero, this is not because I don't want to update but because they haven't released it yet, fortunately 2.1 is being released in April for Orange customers in the UK.
Furthermore the reason some devices take some time to upgrade are mostly due to HTC improving and upgrading the SenseUI, it's what I was told when I asked them anyway.
HTC Hero being upgraded to 2.1 on 26th April in Taiwan, a day or two after rest of the world
Source: http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-gets-21-upgrade-april-26th-%E2%80%93-taiwan
Recently android have launch 2.1 version, so i just want to ask, can phone running on 1.6 version are upgradable to 2.1 version.
There is no technical reason why not. It just depends if the ROM is made available for the phone.
If you are preparing an app for normal users, they depend on the phone producer - if he will give out new version they might install it, if not, they will stuck with the old version...
Here: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html you can check, which version is most popular. If you want to reach many users, 1.6 should be your choice probably.
Depends on the phone manufacturer on how they want to push the updates to a particular device. for example HTC G1 device has not been updated to ver2.1 due to old hardware while HTC Hero was not updated above ver1.5 due to the incompatibilities of their Sense UI.
I just uploaded my first app to the Android marketplace and one comments says, "It force closes on G1". What version of the Android OS does the G1 use?
Originally the G1 shipped with 1.0, then upgrades were released to update the phone to 1.1, 1.5 (Cupcake) and 1.6 (Donut).
So you would expect most users to be on 1.6. However, there are a couple of extra things you may want to consider.
Firstly, some users will be running custom firmware. A quite a few G1 users - me included - run community firmware on their devices, such as CyanogenMod. Often these releases are 1.6 releases with 2.x functionality ported from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) tree, so you could consider them as a hybrid release, putting the phone somewhere between 1.6 and 2.x. I wouldn't worry about the people running custom firmware since they are so many different firmwares and builds of each firmware, and people who put custom firmware on their phone usually expect to fend for themselves. I only mention it in case you get some weird bugs you really can't replicate which might be caused by this.
Secondly, I'd recommend looking at the Android Device Dashboard as this shows what fraction of users of all phones are running each release:
At the time of writing 31% of users are still on Android 1.5 and I would guess quite a few of these are running G1s.
So my advice would be to test your application on 1.5 and 1.6 if you want to support G1 users.
The latest should have been Android 1.6, but originally it was shipped with Android 1.0 (Source).
The latest update they've pushed out to the G1 is Android 1.6. They're supposed to be working on trimming down 2.0 to make it fit on the G1 but so far it hasn't been available without hacking your phone.
Currently 1.6 (Donut), this is most likely the last OS version that will be on the G1.
Originally it was shipped with Android 1.0. Now it uses Android 1.6