Android XL

You may have heard that one of the key changes introduced in Android 1.6 is support for new screen sizes. This is one of the things that has me very excited about Android 1.6 since it means Android will start becoming available on so many more devices. However, as a developer, I know this also means a bit of additional work. That’s why we’ve spent quite a bit of time making it as easy as possible for you to update your apps to work on these new screen sizes.

To date, all Android devices (such as the T-Mobile G1 and Samsung I7500, among others) have had HVGA (320×480) screens. The essential change in Android 1.6 is that we’ve expanded support to include three different classes of screen sizes:

* small: devices with a screen size smaller than the T-Mobile G1 or Samsung I7500, for example the recently announced HTC Tattoo
* normal: devices with a screen size roughly the same as the G1 or I7500.
* large: devices with a screen size larger than the G1 or I7500 (such as a tablet-style device.)

Any given device will fall into one of those three groups. As a developer, you can control if and how your app appears to devices in each group by using a few tools we’ve introduced in the Android framework APIs and SDK. The documentation at the developer site describes each of these tools in detail, but here they are in a nutshell:

* new attributes in AndroidManifest for an application to specify what kind of screens it supports,
* framework-level support for using image drawables/layouts correctly regardless of screen size,
* a compatibility mode for existing applications, providing a pseudo-HVGA environment, and descriptions of compatible device resolutions and minimum diagonal sizes.

The documentation also provides a quick checklist and testing tips for developers to ensure their apps will run correctly on devices of any screen size.

Once you’ve upgraded your app using Android 1.6 SDK, you’ll need to make sure your app is only available to users whose phones can properly run it. To help you with that, we’ve also added some new tools to Android Market.

Until the next time you upload a new version of your app to Android Market, we will assume that it works for normal-class screen sizes. This means users with normal-class and large-class screens will have access to these apps. Devices with “large” screens simply run these apps in a compatibility mode, which simulates an HVGA environment on the larger screen.

Devices with small-class screens, however, will only be shown apps which explicitly declare (via the AndroidManifest) that they will run properly on small screens. In our studies, we found that “squeezing” an app designed for a larger screen onto a smaller screen often produces a bad result. To prevent users with small screens from getting a bad impression of your app (and reviewing it negatively!), Android Market makes sure that they can’t see it until you upload a new version that declares itself compatible.

We expect small-class screens, as well as devices with additional resolutions in Table 1 in the developer document to hit the market in time for the holiday season. Note that not all devices will be upgraded to Android 1.6 at the same time. There will be significant number of users still with Android 1.5 devices. To use the same apk to target Android 1.5 devices and Android 1.6 devices, build your apps using Android 1.5 SDK and test your apps on both Android 1.5 and 1.6 system images to make sure they continue to work well on both types of devices. If you want to target small-class devices like HTC Tattoo, please build your app using the Android 1.6 SDK. Note that if your application requires Android 1.6 features, but does not support a screen class, you need to set the appropriate attributes to false. To use optimized assets for normal-class, high density devices like WVGA, or for low density devices please use the Android 1.6 SDK.

Android 1.6, which is based on the donut branch from the Android Open Source Project, introduces a number of new features and technologies. With support for CDMA and additional screen sizes, your apps can be deployed on even more mobile networks and devices. You will have access to new technologies, including framework-level support for additional screen resolutions, like QVGA and WVGA, new telephony APIs to support CDMA, gesture APIs, a text-to-speech engine, and the ability to integrate with Quick Search Box. What’s new in Android 1.6 provides a more complete overview of this platform update.

The Android 1.6 SDK requires a new version of Android Development Tools (ADT). The SDK also includes a new tool that enables you to download updates and additional components, such as new add-ons or platforms.

You can expect to see devices running Android 1.6 as early as October. As with previous platform updates, applications written for older versions of Android will continue to run on devices with Android 1.6. Please test your existing apps on the Android 1.6 SDK to make sure they run as expected.

Over the next several weeks, we will publish a series of blog posts to help you get ready for the new developer technologies in Android 1.6. The following topics, and more, will be covered: how to adapt your applications to support different screen sizes, integrating with Quick Search Box, building gestures into your apps, and using the text-to-speech engine.

The first Android app from mobypicture has landed in the Android market.  Called Moby Android, it allows for users to share photos, videos, audio and text with friends, family and contacts.  All of the major social networking sites and services are represented including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, and MySpace.

As a service, Mobypicture places content on a map, lets users create groups and/or events allows for live reporting on events.  Grab the app out of the market today!

Pandora have today announced that their popular mobile app Pandora Radio is now available to download from the Android Market.

The Pandora Android app supports the HTC G1, Hero, and the myTouch 3G, allowing for a home screen widget and background playback on the handsets.

Pandora Radio is your own FREE personalized radio now available to stream music on your Android phone. Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a “station” that plays their music and more music like it.

Already a Pandora user? Even easier. Just log in. Pandora on Android is fully integrated with Pandora on the web. Enjoy all your existing stations – and create new ones right from your Android phone.

Earlier in the week popular European music service Spotify also released their mobile app for the Android platform.

The HTC Tattoo has this week appeared on Vodafone UK’s ‘Coming Soon‘ web page, with a predicted launch date of October 2009.

The handset was first announced by HTC earlier in the month and will feature a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor, 512MB ROM/256MB RAM, a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi and a microSD card slot.

According to the more detailed specs over on the official HTC website, the HTC Tattoo will also include the Android 1.6 (Donut) update.

Detailed pricing and tariff information is not currently known, although the handset is expected to be available free on contract.

EA Mobile have made it clear in the past that they planned to release games for the Android platform – but only when they could charge for them.

Given Google’s recent announcement that applications and games from the official Android Market will remain free until the New Year, EA Mobile it seems aren’t prepared to wait that long and are instead directing G1 owners to their own eamobile.com store.

The publisher has released 2 new US titles for G1 owners: Tetris and Monopoly Here & Now.

The two new titles are priced at $7.99 each and can be downloaded at http://www.eamobile.com/