An Android in Every Home - Beginning Android Games - page 4

all versions of Android. While applications written for earlier versions of Android usually run fine
on newer ones, the reverse is not true. Some features added to newer Android versions are, of
course, not available on older versions, such as multitouch support. Developers are thus forced
to create separate code paths for different versions of Android.
In 2011, many prominent Android device manufacturers agreed to support the latest Android
OS for a device lifetime of 18 months. This may not seem like a long time, but it's a big step
in helping to cut down on fragmentation. It also means that new features of Android, such as
the new APIs in Ice Cream Sandwich, become available on more phones, much faster. A year
later, this promise hasn't been kept, it seems. A significant portion of the market is still running
older Android versions, mostly Gingerbread. If the developers of a game want mass-market
acceptance, the game will need to run on no fewer than six different versions of Android, spread
across 600+ devices (and counting!).
But fear not. Although this sounds terrifying, it turns out that the measures that have to be taken
to accommodate multiple versions of Android are minimal. Most often, you can even forget
about the issue and pretend there's only a single version of Android. As game developers, we're
less concerned with differences in APIs and more concerned with hardware capabilities. This is a
different form of fragmentation, which is also a problem for platforms such as iOS, albeit not as
pronounced. Throughout this topic, we will cover the relevant fragmentation issues that might
get in your way while you're developing your next game for Android.
The Role of Google
Although Android is officially the brainchild of the Open Handset Alliance, Google is the clear
leader when it comes to implementing Android itself, as well as providing the necessary
ecosystem for it to grow.
The Android Open Source Project
Google's efforts are summarized in the Android Open Source Project . Most of the code is
licensed under Apache License 2, which is very open and nonrestrictive compared to other
open source licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL). Everyone is free to use
this source code to build their own systems. However, systems that are proclaimed Android
compatible first have to pass the Android Compatibility Program, a process that ensures
baseline compatibility with third-party applications written by developers. Compatible systems
are allowed to participate in the Android ecosystem, which also includes Google Play .
Google Play
Google Play (formerly known as Android Market ) was opened to the public by Google in October
2008. It's an online store that enables users to purchase music, videos, books and third-party
applications, or apps, to be consumed on their device. Google Play is primarily available on
Android devices, but also has a web front end where users can search, rate, download, and
install apps. It isn't required, but the majority of Android devices have the Google Play app
installed by default.