Robert Ly | 35f2fda | 2013-01-29 16:27:05 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | page.title=Android Compatibility |
| 2 | @jd:body |
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| 19 | |
| 20 | <p>Android's purpose is to establish an open platform for developers to build innovative apps. |
| 21 | The Android Compatibility program defines the technical details of Android platform and provides |
| 22 | tools used by OEMs to ensure that developers' apps run on a variety of devices. The Android SDK |
| 23 | provides built-in tools that developers use to clearly state the device features their apps |
| 24 | require. And Google Play shows apps only to those devices that can properly run them. |
| 25 | </p> |
| 26 | |
| 27 | <h2 id="why-build-compatible-android-devices">Why build compatible Android devices?</h2> |
| 28 | <h3 id="users-want-a-customizable-device">Users want a customizable device.</h3> |
| 29 | <p>A mobile phone is a highly personal, always-on, always-present gateway to |
| 30 | the Internet. We haven't met a user yet who didn't want to customize it by |
| 31 | extending its functionality. That's why Android was designed as a robust |
| 32 | platform for running after-market applications.</p> |
| 33 | <h3 id="developers-outnumber-us-all">Developers outnumber us all.</h3> |
| 34 | <p>No device manufacturer can hope to write all the software that a person could |
| 35 | conceivably need. We need third-party developers to write the apps users want, |
| 36 | so the Android Open Source Project aims to make it as easy and open as |
| 37 | possible for developers to build apps.</p> |
| 38 | <h3 id="everyone-needs-a-common-ecosystem">Everyone needs a common ecosystem.</h3> |
| 39 | <p>Every line of code developers write to work around a particular phone's bug |
| 40 | is a line of code that didn't add a new feature. The more compatible phones |
| 41 | there are, the more apps there will be. By building a fully compatible Android |
| 42 | device, you benefit from the huge pool of apps written for Android, while |
| 43 | increasing the incentive for developers to build more of those apps.</p> |
| 44 | <h2 id="android-compatibility-is-free-and-its-easy">Android compatibility is free, and it's easy.</h2> |
| 45 | <p>If you are building a mobile device, you can follow these steps to make |
| 46 | sure your device is compatible with Android. For more details about the |
| 47 | Android compatibility program in general, see <a href="overview.html">the program overview</a>.</p> |
| 48 | <p>Building a compatible device is a three-step process:</p> |
| 49 | <ol> |
| 50 | <li> |
| 51 | <p><em>Obtain the Android software source code</em>. |
Clay Murphy | a69844e | 2013-05-30 17:56:38 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 52 | This is <a href="{@docRoot}source/index.html">the source code for the Android platform</a>, that you port to your hardware.</p> |
Robert Ly | 35f2fda | 2013-01-29 16:27:05 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 53 | </li> |
| 54 | <li> |
| 55 | <p><em>Comply with Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD)</em>. |
| 56 | The CDD enumerates the software and hardware requirements of a compatible Android device.</p> |
| 57 | </li> |
| 58 | <li> |
| 59 | <p><em>Pass the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS)</em>. |
| 60 | You can use the CTS (included in the Android source code) as an ongoing aid to compatibility during the development process.</p> |
| 61 | </li> |
| 62 | </ol> |
| 63 | |
| 64 | <h2 id="joining-the-ecosystem">Joining the Ecosystem</h2> |
| 65 | <p>Once you've built a compatible device, you may wish to include Google |
| 66 | Play to provide your users access to the third-party app ecosystem. |
| 67 | Unfortunately, for a variety of legal and business reasons, we aren't able to |
| 68 | automatically license Google Play to all compatible devices. To inquire |
Clay Murphy | a69844e | 2013-05-30 17:56:38 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 69 | about access about Google Play, you can <a href="contact-us.html">contact us</a>.</p> |