Developing for older versions of Android

CelticPhantom

Hi All,

What is the oldest version of Android that we should be developing for?
I am thinking in terms of Target and Minimum SDK when setting up my Android project.

Do people really still have Android 2.2 (version 8) phones?

Is Android 3.0 even too old to be catering for?

Thanks for your opinions

Creamy Goodness

Unless you have an existing user base using 2.3 and they make up a huge portion of your revenue then you shouldn't be targeting anything under 4.0.

Even at that if really be pushing for it to be killed off.

3.0 was really only for tablets and at that not at all still in use.

shanefitz360

For a new application, 15 is the recommended minimum you should be targeting. This is about 85% of active android phones that use the Play Store.

The_B_Man

I usually target 10 (Gingerbread).
Its not too much hassle to target Gingerbread. With the compatibility library, its pretty seamless. You don't even need ActionBarSherlock anymore.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

i only target 4.0+ up now. forget Gingerbread and the stats, anyone who's still on Gingerbread is Indian and/or broke and won't be spending money on your app anyway.

i don't go higher than 4.0 as there's no new API methods that I really need. compare it to the jump from 2.3 to 4.0, there was a rake of new stuff that's really handy.

on an unrelated note, why do they use a version number *and* an API number? like android 4.4 is api level 19.

The Corinthian

CelticPhantom wrote: »

Do people really still have Android 2.2 (version 8) phones?

I do (at home)

If you look at the stats, and shanefitz360 pointed out, about 85% of users are on 4.0+. Given that, 15% is a lot of potential installs to be sacrificing. If you've had apps out there for a while, you'll also probably need to continue supporting lower API levels also, for a while, and that's another factor.

I believe that choosing the minimum API level comes down to your desired 'standard' functionality, maximizing potential users and how much trouble it is to code for or maintain older versions - a minimax decision.

Personally, I used to develop for API 7+ up until fairly recently when I began to drop support for anything under API 9, which isn't a bad cut off point as I find most of the messier functionality and compatibility issues kick in prior to that level and API 9+ covers over 95% of the market.

georgiecasey wrote: »

on an unrelated note, why do they use a version number *and* an API number? like android 4.4 is api level 19.

One is for us carbon units and the other is for development. Can you imagine having to apply a conditional on a 'number' like 4.2.2?

Mr. CooL ICE

I find fragments too useful to leave out, but don't see Gingerbread as being popular enough, so I go with API 14 minimum.

I know it makes me sound dismissive, but I don't care enough about the ~14% that are still on Froyo/Eclair to support them. That small margin is only getting smaller.

The_B_Man

Have you had a look at the support fragment?
As far as I know, you just add the support library, and change your import to the support fragment one, and its pretty much transferable, and enables support on older versions of Android.

The Corinthian

The_B_Man wrote: »

Have you had a look at the support fragment?

I suspect he has and that's why he avoids having to use it.

MOH

Coincidentally, just after I read this thread yesterday I got an email from Skype saying they're notifying me because I've previously signed in on a phone running 2.2 or lower, and they're permanently retiring all Skype apps for those versions.

MOH

Some interesting stats on device and API level fragmentation