On Jan 18, 5:13 pm, Casper Bang <[email protected]> wrote: > Not sure what fragmentation you mean, Android developers targets their > application for a specific lowest common denominator OS profile, of > which there are 7 of now (1.0, 1.1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0 2.0.1 and 2.1). If a > developer is making use voice-commands only available in 2.0, it makes > sense if 1.6 users can't use this application no?
This is exactly my point. Why shouldn't a 1.6 user be able to use the application but just not have access to the voice commands (unless of course they are the raison d'etre)? If I have application 'x' I'm forced to release two versions - or in fact 'n' versions, one for each OS profile - and rely on the user to purchase the right one. As an app developer I'd want to produce one version of my app that was able to make use of all the latest features but then fall back to the smaller footprint API profile on a phone running (say) 1.6 - and late binding is the key to this. I can't resolve calls to 2.1 features that are not present in earlier versions of Android, so I'd write defensive code that disabled 2.1 dependent features when running on a 1.6 phone. As a developer I'd also be able to present a clear message to my user as to which features are/are not available on their phone. We have, and will continue to have, different phones at different OS levels, so I see this as a key point in economical app development. There is also a degree of anecdotal evidence supporting the claim that forwards compatibility isn't perfect either. > > The only kind of > fragmentation I am aware of, is handset providers not keen on updating > Android which of course leaves consumers frustrated. This probably has > more to do with conservative OEM practices than an inherent problem > with Android itself. > No, I agree that this is not an inherent problem with Android. However the features I describe above are critical for Android to offer an economical development model. Otherwise developers will have two big problems: - Additional support overhead caused by people trying to run an application designed for version x+1 on a version x phone. - People posting poor reviews/ratings of applications that were designed for a later version of Android than they have on their phone. These are ecosystem problems that are being seen today, but the correct approach by Google can mitigate this. We could also do with manufacturers releasing device profiles for the SDK, this would also allow a degree of platform testing to be conducted in an economical fashion.
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