1 page.title=Android Compatibility 2 @jd:body 3 4 <!-- 5 Copyright 2010 The Android Open Source Project 6 7 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 8 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 9 You may obtain a copy of the License at 10 11 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 12 13 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software 14 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, 15 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. 16 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and 17 limitations under the License. 18 --> 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>. 52 This is <a href="{@docRoot}source/index.html">the source code for the Android platform</a>, that you port to your hardware.</p> 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 69 about access about Google Play, you can <a href="contact-us.html">contact us</a>.</p> 70
