1 page.title=Android Compatibility 2 doc.type=compatibility 3 @jd:body 4 <p>Android's purpose is to establish an open platform for developers to build 5 innovative mobile apps. Three key components work together to realize this 6 platform.</p> 7 <p>The Android Compatibility Program defines the technical details of Android 8 platform and provides tools used by OEMs to ensure that developers apps run 9 on a variety of devices. The Android SDK provides built-in tools that 10 Developers use to clearly state the device features their apps require. And 11 Android Market shows apps only to those devices that can properly run 12 them.</p> 13 <p>These pages describe the Android Compatibility Program and how to get 14 access to compatibility information and tools. The latest version of the 15 Android source code and compatibility program is 2.3, which 16 corresponded to the Gingerbread branch.</p> 17 18 19 <h2>Why build compatible Android devices?</h2> 20 <h3>Users want a customizable device.</h3> 21 <p>A mobile phone is a highly personal, always-on, always-present gateway to 22 the Internet. We haven't met a user yet who didn't want to customize it by 23 extending its functionality. That's why Android was designed as a robust 24 platform for running after-market applications.</p> 25 26 <h3>Developers outnumber us all.</h3> 27 <p>No device manufacturer can hope to write all the software that a person could 28 conceivably need. We need third-party developers to write the apps users want, 29 so the Android Open Source Project aims to make it as easy and open as 30 possible for developers to build apps.</p> 31 32 <h3>Everyone needs a common ecosystem.</h3> 33 <p>Every line of code developers write to work around a particular phone's bug 34 is a line of code that didn't add a new feature. The more compatible phones 35 there are, the more apps there will be. By building a fully compatible Android 36 device, you benefit from the huge pool of apps written for Android, while 37 increasing the incentive for developers to build more of those apps.</p> 38 39 40 <h2>Android compatibility is free, and it's easy.</h2> 41 <p>If you are building a mobile device, you can follow these steps to make 42 sure your device is compatible with Android. For more details about the 43 Android compatibility program in general, see <a 44 href="{@docRoot}compatibility/overview.html">the program overview</a>.</p> 45 <p>Building a compatible device is a three-step process:</p> 46 <ol> 47 <li><b>Obtain the Android software source code</b><p>This is the 48 <a href="{@docRoot}source/index.html">source code for the Android 49 platform</a>, that you port to your hardware.</p></li> 50 <li><b>Comply with Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD)</b><p> 51 The CDD enumerates the software and hardware requirements of 52 a compatible Android device.</p></li> 53 <li><b>Pass the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS)</b><p>You can use the CTS 54 (included in the Android source code) as an ongoing aid to compatibility 55 during the development process.</p></li> 56 </ol> 57 58 <h2>Joining the Ecosystem</h2> 59 <p>Once you've built a compatible device, you may wish to include Android 60 Market to provide your users access to the third-party app ecosystem. 61 Unfortunately, for a variety of legal and business reasons, we aren't able to 62 automatically license Android Market to all compatible devices. To inquire 63 about access about Android Market, you can <a 64 href="{@docRoot}compatibility/contact-us.html">contact us</a></p> 65
