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      1 page.title=<uses-feature>
      2 page.tags="filtering","features","google play filters","permissions"
      3 @jd:body
      4 
      5 <div id="qv-wrapper">
      6 <div id="qv">
      7 
      8 
      9 <h2>In this document</h2>
     10 <ol>
     11   <li><a href="#market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</a>
     12     <ol>
     13       <li><a href="#declared">Filtering based on explicitly declared features</a></li>
     14       <li><a href="#implicit">Filtering based on implicit features</a></li>
     15       <li><a href="#bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</a></li>
     16       <li><a href="#testing">Testing the features required by your application</a></li>
     17     </ol>
     18   </li>
     19   <li><a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a>
     20     <ol>
     21       <li><a href="#hw-features">Hardware features</a></li>
     22       <li><a href="#sw-features">Software features</a></li>
     23       <li><a href="#permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</a></li>
     24     </ol>
     25   </li>
     26 </ol>
     27 </div>
     28 </div>
     29 
     30  <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 
     31  <div class="sidebox">
     32     <img src="{@docRoot}assets/images/icon_play.png" style="float:left;margin:0;padding:0;"> 
     33     <p style="color:#669999;padding-top:1em;">Google Play Filtering</p> 
     34     <p style="padding-top:1em;">Google Play uses the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
     35     elements declared in your app manifest to filter your app from devices 
     36     that do not meet it's hardware and software feature requirements. </p>
     37 
     38 <p style="margin-top:1em;">By specifying the features that your application requires,
     39 you enable Google Play to present your application only to users whose
     40 devices meet the application's feature requirements, rather than presenting it
     41 to all users. </p>
     42 
     43 <p>For important information about how
     44 Google Play uses features as the basis for filtering, please read <a
     45 href="#market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</a>,
     46 below.</p>
     47 </div>
     48 </div>
     49 
     50 <dl class="xml">
     51 
     52 <dt>syntax:</dt>
     53 <dd>
     54 <pre class="stx">&lt;uses-feature
     55   android:<a href="#name">name</a>="<em>string</em>"
     56   android:<a href="#required">required</a>=["true" | "false"]
     57   android:<a href="#glEsVersion">glEsVersion</a>="<em>integer</em>" /&gt;</pre>
     58 </dd>
     59 
     60 <dt>contained in:</dt>
     61 <dd><code><a
     62 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html">&lt;manifest&gt;</a></code></dd>
     63 
     64 <dt>description:</dt>
     65 <dd>Declares a single hardware or software feature that is used by the
     66 application.
     67 
     68 <p>The purpose of a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declaration is to inform
     69 any external entity of the set of hardware and software features on which your
     70 application depends. The element offers a <code>required</code> attribute that
     71 lets you specify whether your application requires and cannot function without
     72 the declared feature, or whether it prefers to have the feature but can function
     73 without it. Because feature support can vary across Android devices, the
     74 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element serves an important role in letting an
     75 application describe the device-variable features that it uses.</p>
     76 
     77 <p>The set of available features that your application declares corresponds to
     78 the set of feature constants made available by the Android {@link
     79 android.content.pm.PackageManager}, which are listed for
     80 convenience in the <a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a> tables
     81 at the bottom of this document.
     82 
     83 <p>You must specify each feature in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
     84 element, so if your application requires multiple features, it would declare
     85 multiple <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements. For example, an application
     86 that requires both Bluetooth and camera features in the device would declare
     87 these two elements:</p>
     88 
     89 <pre>
     90 &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" />
     91 &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
     92 </pre>
     93 
     94 <p>In general, you should always make sure to declare
     95 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements for all of the features that your
     96 application requires.</p>
     97 
     98 <p>Declared <code>&lt;uses-feature></code> elements are informational only, meaning
     99 that the Android system itself does not check for matching feature support on
    100 the device before installing an application. However, other services
    101 (such as Google Play) or applications may check your application's 
    102 <code>&lt;uses-feature></code> declarations as part of handling or interacting
    103 with your application. For this reason, it's very important that you declare all of
    104 the features (from the list below) that your application uses. </p>
    105 
    106 <p>For some features, there may exist a specific attribute that allows you to define
    107 a version of the feature, such as the version of Open GL used (declared with
    108 <a href="#glEsVersion"><code>glEsVersion</code></a>). Other features that either do or do not
    109 exist for a device, such as a camera, are declared using the
    110 <a href="#name"><code>name</code></a> attribute.</p>
    111 
    112 
    113 <p>Although the <code>&lt;uses-feature></code> element is only activated for
    114 devices running API Level 4 or higher, it is recommended to include these
    115 elements for all applications, even if the <a href="uses-sdk-element.html#min"><code>minSdkVersion</code></a>
    116 is "3" or lower. Devices running older versions of the platform will simply
    117 ignore the element.</p>
    118 
    119 <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> When declaring a feature, remember
    120 that you must also request permissions as appropriate. For example, you must
    121 still request the {@link android.Manifest.permission#CAMERA}
    122 permission before your application can access the camera API. Requesting the
    123 permission grants your application access to the appropriate hardware and
    124 software, while declaring the features used by your application ensures proper
    125 device compatibility.</p>
    126 
    127 </dd> 
    128 
    129 
    130 <dt>attributes:</dt>
    131 
    132 <dd>
    133 <dl class="attr">
    134 
    135   <dt><a name="name"></a><code>android:name</code></dt>
    136   <dd>Specifies a single hardware or software feature used by the application,
    137 as a descriptor string. Valid descriptor values are listed in the <a
    138 href="#hw-features">Hardware features</a> and <a href="#sw-features">Software
    139 features</a> tables, below. </dd>
    140 
    141   <dt><a name="required"></a><code>android:required</code></dt>  <!-- added in api level 5 -->
    142   <dd>Boolean value that indicates whether the application requires
    143   the feature specified in <code>android:name</code>.
    144 
    145 <ul>
    146 <li>When you declare <code>"android:required="true"</code> for a feature,
    147 you are specifying that the application <em>cannot function, or is not
    148 designed to function</em>, when the specified feature is not present on the
    149 device. </li>
    150 
    151 <li>When you declare <code>"android:required="false"</code> for a feature, it
    152 means that the application <em>prefers to use the feature</em> if present on
    153 the device, but that it <em>is designed to function without the specified
    154 feature</em>, if necessary. </li>
    155 
    156 </ul>
    157 
    158 <p>The default value for <code>android:required</code> if not declared is
    159 <code>"true"</code>.</p>
    160   </dd>
    161 
    162   <dt><a name="glEsVersion"></a><code>android:glEsVersion</code></dt>
    163   <dd>The OpenGL ES version required by the application. The higher 16 bits
    164 represent the major number and the lower 16 bits represent the minor number. For
    165 example, to specify OpenGL ES version 2.0, you would set the value as
    166 "0x00020000". To specify OpenGL ES 2.1, if/when such a version were made
    167 available, you would set the value as "0x00020001".
    168 
    169   <p>An application should specify at most one <code>android:glEsVersion</code>
    170 attribute in its manifest. If it specifies more than one, the
    171 <code>android:glEsVersion</code> with the numerically highest value is used and
    172 any other values are ignored.</p>
    173 
    174   <p>If an application does not specify an <code>android:glEsVersion</code>
    175 attribute, then it is assumed that the application requires only OpenGL ES 1.0,
    176 which is supported by all Android-powered devices.</p>
    177 
    178   <p>An application can assume that if a platform supports a given OpenGL ES
    179 version, it also supports all numerically lower OpenGL ES versions. Therefore,
    180 an application that requires both OpenGL ES 1.0 and OpenGL ES 2.0 must specify
    181 that it requires OpenGL ES 2.0.</p>
    182 
    183   <p>An application that can work with any of several OpenGL ES versions should
    184 only specify the numerically lowest version of OpenGL ES that it requires. (It
    185 can check at run-time whether a higher level of OpenGL ES is available.)</p>
    186   </dd>
    187 
    188 </dl>
    189 </dd>
    190 
    191 <!-- ##api level indication## -->
    192 <dt>introduced in:</dt>
    193 <dd>API Level 4</dd>
    194 
    195 <dt>see also:</dt>
    196 <dd>
    197   <ul>
    198     <li>{@link android.content.pm.PackageManager}</li>
    199     <li>{@link android.content.pm.FeatureInfo}</li>
    200     <li>{@link android.content.pm.ConfigurationInfo}</li>
    201     <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-permission-element.html"><code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code></a></li>
    202     <li><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/filters.html">Filters on Google Play</a></li>
    203   </ul>
    204 </dd>
    205 
    206 </dl>
    207 
    208 
    209 <h2 id="market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</h2>
    210 
    211 <p>Google Play filters the applications that are visible to users, so that
    212 users can see and download only those applications that are compatible with
    213 their devices. One of the ways it filters applications is by feature
    214 compatibility.</p>
    215 
    216 <p>To determine an application's feature compatibility with a given user's
    217 device, Google Play compares:</p>
    218 
    219 <ul>
    220 <li>Features required by the application &mdash; an application declares features in
    221 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements in its manifest <br/>with...</li>
    222 <li>Features available on the device, in hardware or software &mdash;
    223 a device reports the features it supports as read-only system properties.</li>
    224 </ul>
    225 
    226 <p>To ensure an accurate comparison of features, the Android Package Manager
    227 provides a shared set of feature constants that both applications and devices
    228 use to declare feature requirements and support. The available feature constants
    229 are listed in the <a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a> tables at
    230 the bottom of this document, and in the class documentation for {@link
    231 android.content.pm.PackageManager}.</p>
    232 
    233 <p>When the user launches Google Play, the application queries the
    234 Package Manager for the list of features available on the device by calling
    235 {@link android.content.pm.PackageManager#getSystemAvailableFeatures()}. The
    236 Store application then passes the features list up to Google Play
    237 when establishing the session for the user.</p>
    238 
    239 <p>Each time you upload an application to the Google Play Developer Console,
    240 Google Play scans the application's manifest file. It looks for
    241 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements and evaluates them in combination
    242 with other elements, in some cases, such as <code>&lt;uses-sdk&gt;</code> and
    243 <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements. After establishing the
    244 application's set of required features, it stores that list internally as
    245 metadata associated with the application <code>.apk</code> and the application
    246 version. </p>
    247 
    248 <p>When a user searches or browses for applications using the Google Play
    249 application, the service compares the features needed by each application with
    250 the features available on the user's device. If all of an application's required
    251 features are present on the device, Google Play allows the user to see the
    252 application and potentially download it. If any required feature is not
    253 supported by the device, Google Play filters the application so that it is
    254 not visible to the user and not available for download. </p>
    255 
    256 <p>Because the features you declare in <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
    257 elements directly affect how Google Play filters your application, it's
    258 important to understand how Google Play evaluates the application's manifest
    259 and establishes the set of required features. The sections below provide more
    260 information. </p>
    261 
    262 <h3 id="declared">Filtering based on explicitly declared features</h3>
    263 
    264 <p>An explicitly declared feature is one that your application declares in a
    265 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. The feature declaration can include
    266 an <code>android:required=["true" | "false"]</code> attribute (if you are
    267 compiling against API level 5 or higher), which lets you specify whether the
    268 application absolutely requires the feature and cannot function properly without
    269 it (<code>"true"</code>), or whether the application prefers to use the feature
    270 if available, but is designed to run without it (<code>"false"</code>).</p>
    271 
    272 <p>Google Play handles explicitly declared features in this way: </p>
    273 
    274 <ul>
    275 <li>If a feature is explicitly declared as being required, Google Play adds
    276 the feature to the list of required features for the application. It then
    277 filters the application from users on devices that do not provide that feature.
    278 For example:
    279 <pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="true" /&gt;</pre></li>
    280 <li>If a feature is explicitly declared as <em>not</em> being required, Google
    281 Play <em>does not</em> add the feature to the list of required features. For
    282 that reason, an explicitly declared non-required feature is never considered when
    283 filtering the application. Even if the device does not provide the declared
    284 feature, Google Play will still consider the application compatible with the
    285 device and will show it to the user, unless other filtering rules apply. For
    286 example:
    287 <pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre></li>
    288 <li>If a feature is explicitly declared, but without an
    289 <code>android:required</code> attribute, Google Play assumes that the feature
    290 is required and sets up filtering on it. </li>
    291 </ul>
    292 
    293 <p>In general, if your application is designed to run on Android 1.6 and earlier
    294 versions, the <code>android:required</code> attribute is not available in the
    295 API and Google Play assumes that any and all
    296 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations are required. </p>
    297 
    298 <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> By declaring a feature explicitly and
    299 including an <code>android:required="false"</code> attribute, you can
    300 effectively disable all filtering on Google Play for the specified feature.
    301 </p>
    302 
    303 
    304 <h3 id="implicit">Filtering based on implicit features</h3>
    305 
    306 <p>An <em>implicit</em> feature is one that an application requires in order to
    307 function properly, but which is <em>not</em> declared in a
    308 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element in the manifest file. Strictly
    309 speaking, every application should <em>always</em> declare all features that it
    310 uses or requires, so the absence of a declaration for a feature used by an
    311 application should be considered an error. However, as a safeguard for users and
    312 developers, Google Play looks for implicit features in each application and
    313 sets up filters for those features, just as it would do for an explicitly
    314 declared feature. </p>
    315 
    316 <p>An application might require a feature but not declare it because: </p>
    317 
    318 <ul>
    319 <li>The application was compiled against an older version of the Android library
    320 (Android 1.5 or earlier) and the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element was
    321 not available.</li>
    322 <li>The developer incorrectly assumed that the feature would be present on all
    323 devices and a declaration was unnecessary.</li>
    324 <li>The developer omitted the feature declaration accidentally.</li>
    325 <li>The developer declared the feature explicitly, but the declaration was not
    326 valid. For example, a spelling error in the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
    327 element name or an unrecognized string value for the
    328 <code>android:name</code> attribute would invalidate the feature declaration.
    329 </li>
    330 </ul>
    331 
    332 <p>To account for the cases above, Google Play attempts to discover an
    333 application's implied feature requirements by examining <em>other elements</em>
    334 declared in the manifest file, specifically,
    335 <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements.</p>
    336 
    337 <p>If an application requests hardware-related permissions, Google Play
    338 <em>assumes that the application uses the underlying hardware features and
    339 therefore requires those features</em>, even though there might be no
    340 corresponding to <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations. For such
    341 permissions, Google Play adds the underlying hardware features to the
    342 metadata that it stores for the application and sets up filters for them.</p>
    343 
    344 <p>For example, if an application requests the <code>CAMERA</code> permission
    345 but does not declare a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element for
    346 <code>android.hardware.camera</code>, Google Play considers that the
    347 application requires a camera and should not be shown to users whose devices do
    348 not offer a camera.</p>
    349 
    350 <p>If you don't want Google Play to filter based on a specific implied
    351 feature, you can disable that behavior. To do so, declare the feature explicitly
    352 in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element and include an 
    353 <code>android:required="false"</code> attribute. For example, to disable
    354 filtering derived from the <code>CAMERA</code> permission, you would declare
    355 the feature as shown below.</p>
    356 
    357 <pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre>
    358 
    359 <p class="caution">It's important to understand that the permissions that you
    360 request in <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements can directly affect how
    361 Google Play filters your application. The reference section <a
    362 href="#permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</a>,
    363 below, lists the full set of permissions that imply feature requirements and
    364 therefore trigger filtering.</p>
    365 
    366 <h3 id="bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</h3>
    367 
    368 <p>Google Play applies slightly different rules than described above, when
    369 determining filtering for Bluetooth.</p>
    370 
    371 <p>If an application declares a Bluetooth permission in a
    372 <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> element, but does not explicitly declare
    373 the Bluetooth feature in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element, Google
    374 Play checks the version(s) of the Android platform on which the application is
    375 designed to run, as specified in the <code>&lt;uses-sdk&gt;</code> element. </p>
    376 
    377 <p>As shown in the table below, Google Play enables filtering for the
    378 Bluetooth feature only if the application declares its lowest or targeted
    379 platform as Android 2.0 (API level 5) or higher. However, note that Google
    380 Play applies the normal rules for filtering when the application explicitly
    381 declares the Bluetooth feature in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.
    382 </p>
    383 
    384 <p class="caption"><strong>Table 1.</strong> How Google Play determines the
    385 Bluetooth feature requirement for an application that requests a Bluetooth
    386 permission but does not declare the Bluetooth feature in a
    387 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.</p>
    388 
    389 <table style="margin-top:1em;">
    390 <tr>
    391 <th><nobr>If <code>minSdkVersion</code> is ...</nobr></th>
    392 <th><nobr>or <code>targetSdkVersion</code> is</nobr></th>
    393 <th>Result</th>
    394 </tr>
    395 <tr>
    396 <td><nobr>&lt;=4 (or uses-sdk is not declared)</nobr></td>
    397 <td>&lt;=4</td>
    398 <td>Google Play <em>will not</em> filter the application from any devices
    399 based on their reported support for the <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code>
    400 feature.</td>
    401 </tr>
    402 <tr>
    403 <td>&lt;=4</td>
    404 <td>&gt;=5</td>
    405 <td rowspan="2">Google Play filters the application from any devices that
    406 do not support the <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature (including
    407 older releases).</td>
    408 </tr>
    409 <tr>
    410 <td>&gt;=5</td>
    411 <td>&gt;=5</td>
    412 </tr>
    413 </table>
    414 
    415 <p>The examples below illustrate the different filtering effects, based on how
    416 Google Play handles the Bluetooth feature. </p>
    417 
    418 <dl>
    419 <dt>In first example, an application that is designed to run on older API levels
    420 declares a Bluetooth permission, but does not declare the Bluetooth feature in a
    421 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.</dt>
    422 <dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play does not filter the application from any device.</dd>
    423 </dl>
    424 
    425 <pre>&lt;manifest ...>
    426     &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    427     &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" />
    428     ...
    429 &lt;/manifest></pre>
    430 
    431 <dl>
    432 <dt>In the second example, below, the same application also declares a target
    433 API level of "5". </dt>
    434 <dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play now assumes that the feature is required and
    435 will filter the application from all devices that do not report Bluetooth support,
    436 including devices running older versions of the platform. </dd>
    437 </dl>
    438 
    439 <pre>&lt;manifest ...>
    440     &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    441     &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
    442     ...
    443 &lt;/manifest></pre>
    444 
    445 <dl>
    446 <dt>Here the same application now specifically declares the Bluetooth feature.</dt>
    447 <dd><em>Result:</em> Identical to the previous example (filtering is applied).</dd>
    448 </dl>
    449 
    450 <pre>&lt;manifest ...>
    451     &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" />
    452     &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    453     &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
    454     ...
    455 &lt;/manifest></pre>
    456 
    457 <dl>
    458 <dt>Finally, in the case below, the same application adds an
    459 <code>android:required="false"</code> attribute.</dt>
    460 <dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play disables filtering based on Bluetooth
    461 feature support, for all devices.</dd>
    462 </dl>
    463 
    464 <pre>&lt;manifest ...>
    465     &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" android:required="false" />
    466     &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
    467     &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
    468     ...
    469 &lt;/manifest></pre>
    470 
    471 
    472 
    473 <h3 id="testing">Testing the features required by your application</h3>
    474 
    475 <p>You can use the <code>aapt</code> tool, included in the Android SDK, to
    476 determine how Google Play will filter your application, based on its declared
    477 features and permissions. To do so, run  <code>aapt</code> with the <code>dump
    478 badging</code> command. This causes <code>aapt</code> to parse your
    479 application's manifest and apply the same rules as used by Google Play to
    480 determine the features that your application requires. </p>
    481 
    482 <p>To use the tool, follow these steps: </p>
    483 
    484 <ol>
    485 <li>First, build and export your application as an unsigned <code>.apk</code>.
    486 If you are developing in Eclipse with ADT, right-click the project and select
    487 <strong>Android Tools</strong> &gt; <strong>Export Unsigned Application
    488 Package</strong>. Select a destination filename and path and click
    489 <strong>OK</strong>. </li>
    490 <li>Next, locate the <code>aapt</code> tool, if it is not already in your PATH.
    491 If you are using SDK Tools r8 or higher, you can find <code>aapt</code> in the
    492 <code>&lt;<em>SDK</em>&gt;/platform-tools/</code> directory.
    493 <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> You must use the version of
    494 <code>aapt</code> that is provided for the latest Platform-Tools component available. If
    495 you do not have the latest Platform-Tools component, download it using the <a
    496 href="{@docRoot}sdk/exploring.html">Android SDK Manager</a>.
    497 </p></li>
    498 <li>Run <code>aapt</code> using this syntax: </li>
    499 </ol>
    500 
    501 <pre>$ aapt dump badging &lt;<em>path_to_exported_.apk</em>&gt;</pre>
    502 
    503 <p>Here's an example of the command output for the second Bluetooth example, above: </p>
    504 
    505 <pre>$ ./aapt dump badging BTExample.apk
    506 package: name='com.example.android.btexample' versionCode='' versionName=''
    507 <strong>uses-permission:'android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN'</strong>
    508 <strong>uses-feature:'android.hardware.bluetooth'</strong>
    509 sdkVersion:'3'
    510 targetSdkVersion:'5'
    511 application: label='BT Example' icon='res/drawable/app_bt_ex.png'
    512 launchable activity name='com.example.android.btexample.MyActivity'label='' icon=''
    513 uses-feature:'android.hardware.touchscreen'
    514 main
    515 supports-screens: 'small' 'normal' 'large'
    516 locales: '--_--'
    517 densities: '160'
    518 </pre>
    519 
    520 
    521 <h2 id=features-reference>Features Reference</h2>
    522 
    523 <p>The tables below provide reference information about hardware and software
    524 features and the permissions that can imply them on Google Play. </p>
    525 
    526 <h3 id="hw-features">Hardware features</h3>
    527 
    528 <p>The table below describes the hardware feature descriptors supported by the
    529 most current platform release. To signal that your application uses or requires
    530 a hardware feature, declare each value in a <code>android:name</code> attribute
    531 in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. </p>
    532 
    533   <table>
    534     <tr>
    535        <th>Feature Type</th>
    536        <th>Feature Descriptor</th>
    537        <th style="min-width:170px">Description</th>
    538        <th>Comments</th>
    539     </tr>
    540     <tr>
    541        <td>Audio</td>
    542        <td><code>android.hardware.audio.low_latency</td>
    543        <td>The application uses a low-latency audio pipeline on the device and
    544 is sensitive to delays or lag in sound input or output.</td>
    545 <td>
    546 </td>
    547     </tr>
    548     <tr>
    549        <td>Bluetooth</td>
    550        <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</td>
    551        <td>The application uses Bluetooth radio features in the device.</td>
    552 <td>
    553 </td>
    554     </tr>
    555     <tr>
    556        <td rowspan="5">Camera</td>
    557        <td><code>android.hardware.camera</code></td>
    558        <td>The application uses the device's camera. If the device supports
    559            multiple cameras, the application uses the camera that facing
    560            away from the screen.</td>
    561        <td></td>
    562     </tr>
    563 <tr>
    564   <td><code>android.hardware.camera.autofocus</code></td>
    565   <td>Subfeature. The application uses the device camera's autofocus capability.</td>
    566   <td rowspan="3">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
    567 <code>android.hardware.camera</code> parent feature, unless declared with
    568 <code>android:required="false"</code>.</td>
    569 </tr>
    570 <tr>
    571   <td><code>android.hardware.camera.flash</code></td>
    572   <td>Subfeature. The application uses the device camera's flash.</td>
    573 </tr>
    574 <tr>
    575   <td><code>android.hardware.camera.front</code></td>
    576   <td>Subfeature. The application uses a front-facing camera on the device.</td>
    577 </tr>
    578 <tr>
    579   <td><code>android.hardware.camera.any</code></td>
    580   <td>The application uses at least one camera facing in any direction. Use this
    581 in preference to <code>android.hardware.camera</code> if a back-facing camera is
    582 not required.</td>
    583 </tr>
    584 
    585 <tr>
    586   <td rowspan="3">Location</td>
    587   <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    588   <td>The application uses one or more features on the device for determining
    589 location, such as GPS location, network location, or cell location.</td>
    590   <td></td>
    591 </tr>
    592 <tr>
    593   <td><code>android.hardware.location.network</code></td>
    594   <td>Subfeature. The application uses coarse location coordinates obtained from
    595 a network-based geolocation system supported on the device.</td>
    596   <td rowspan="2">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
    597 <code>android.hardware.location</code> parent feature, unless declared with
    598 <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
    599 </tr>
    600 <tr>
    601   <td><code>android.hardware.location.gps</code></td>
    602   <td>Subfeature. The application uses precise location coordinates obtained
    603 from a Global Positioning System receiver on the device. </td>
    604 </tr>
    605 <tr>
    606   <td>Microphone</td>
    607   <td><code>android.hardware.microphone</code></td>
    608   <td>The application uses a microphone on the device.
    609   </td>
    610   <td></td>
    611 </tr>
    612 <tr>
    613   <td>NFC</td>
    614   <td><code>android.hardware.nfc</td>
    615   <td>The application uses Near Field Communications radio features in the device.</td>
    616   <td></td>
    617 </tr>
    618 <tr>
    619   <td rowspan="6">Sensors</td>
    620   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer</code></td>
    621   <td>The application uses motion readings from an accelerometer on the
    622 device.</td>
    623   <td></td>
    624 </tr>
    625 <tr>
    626   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.barometer</code></td>
    627   <td>The application uses the device's barometer.</td>
    628   <td></td>
    629 </tr>
    630 <tr>
    631   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.compass</code></td>
    632   <td>The application uses directional readings from a magnetometer (compass) on
    633 the device.</td>
    634   <td></td>
    635 </tr>
    636 <tr>
    637   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.gyroscope</code></td>
    638   <td>The application uses the device's gyroscope sensor.</td>
    639   <td></td>
    640 </tr>
    641 <tr>
    642   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.light</code></td>
    643   <td>The application uses the device's light sensor.</td>
    644   <td></td>
    645 </tr>
    646 <tr>
    647   <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.proximity</code></td>
    648   <td>The application uses the device's proximity sensor.</td>
    649   <td></td>
    650 </tr>
    651 
    652 <tr>
    653   <td rowspan="2">Screen</td>
    654   <td><code>android.hardware.screen.landscape</code></td>
    655   <td>The application requires landscape orientation.</td>
    656   <td rowspan="2">
    657      <p>For example, if your app requires portrait orientation, you should declare
    658 <code>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.screen.portrait"/></code> so that only devices
    659 that support portrait orientation (whether always or by user choice) can install your app. If your
    660 application <em>supports</em> both orientations, then you don't need to declare either.</p>
    661     <p>Both orientations are assumed <em>not required</em>, by default, so your app may be installed
    662 on devices that support one or both orientations. However, if any of your activities request that
    663 they run in a specific orientation, using the <a
    664 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
    665 android:screenOrientation}</a> attribute, then this also declares that the application requires that
    666 orientation. For example, if you declare <a
    667 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
    668 android:screenOrientation}</a> with either {@code "landscape"}, {@code "reverseLandscape"}, or
    669 {@code "sensorLandscape"}, then your application will be available only to devices that support
    670 landscape orientation. As a best practice, you should still declare your requirement for this
    671 orientation using a {@code &lt;uses-feature&gt;} element. If you declare an orientation for your
    672 activity using <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
    673 android:screenOrientation}</a>, but don't actually <em>require</em> it, you can disable the
    674 requirement by declaring the orientation with a {@code &lt;uses-feature&gt;} element and include
    675 {@code android:required="false"}.</p>
    676     <p>For backwards compatibility, any device running a platform version that supports only API
    677 level 12 or lower is assumed to support both landscape and portrait.</p>
    678   </td>
    679 </tr>
    680 <tr>
    681   <td><code>android.hardware.screen.portrait</code></td>
    682   <td>The application requires portrait orientation.</td>
    683 </tr>
    684 
    685 <tr>
    686   <td rowspan="3">Telephony</td>
    687   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    688   <td>The application uses telephony features on the device, such as telephony
    689 radio with data communication services.</td>
    690   <td></td>
    691 </tr>
    692 <tr>
    693   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony.cdma</code></td>
    694   <td>Subfeature. The application uses CDMA telephony radio features on the
    695 device. </td>
    696   <td rowspan="2">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
    697 <code>android.hardware.telephony</code> parent feature, unless declared with
    698 <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
    699 </tr>
    700 <tr>
    701   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony.gsm</code></td>
    702   <td>Subfeature. The application uses GSM telephony radio features on the
    703 device.</td>
    704 </tr>
    705 
    706 <tr>
    707   <td>Television</td>
    708   <td><code>android.hardware.type.television</code></td>
    709   <td>The application is designed for a television user experience.</td>
    710   <td>This feature defines "television" to be a typical living room television experience: 
    711   displayed on a big screen, where the user is sitting far away and the dominant form of 
    712   input is something like a d-pad, and generally not through touch or a 
    713   mouse/pointer-device.</td>
    714 </tr>
    715 
    716 <tr>
    717   <td rowspan="7">Touchscreen</td>
    718   <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch</code></td>
    719   <td>The application uses basic touch interaction events, such as "click down", "click
    720 up", and drag.</td>
    721   <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
    722 only if it offers an emulated touchscreen ("fake touch" interface), or better. A device that offers
    723 a fake touch interface provides a user input system that emulates a subset of touchscreen
    724 capabilities. For example, a mouse or remote control that drives an on-screen cursor provides a fake
    725 touch interface. If your application requires basic point and click interaction (in other
    726 words, it won't work with <em>only</em> a d-pad controller), you should declare this feature.
    727 Because this is the minimum level of touch interaction, your app will also be compatible with
    728 devices that offer more complex touch interfaces.</p>
    729   <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Because applications require the {@code
    730 android.hardware.touchscreen} feature by default, if you want your application to be available to
    731 devices that provide a fake touch interface, you must also explicitly declare that a touch screen is
    732 <em>not</em> required by declaring {@code &lt;uses-feature
    733 android:name="android.hardware.touchscreen" <strong>android:required="false"</strong>
    734 /&gt;}</p></td>
    735 </tr>
    736 
    737 <tr>
    738   <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch.multitouch.distinct</code></td>
    739   <td>The application performs distinct tracking of two or more "fingers" on a fake touch
    740 interface. This is a superset of the faketouch feature.</td>
    741   <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
    742 only if it supports touch emulation for events that supports distinct tracking of two or more
    743 fingers, or better.</p>
    744   <p>Unlike the distinct multitouch defined by {@code
    745 android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.distinct}, input devices that support distinct multi-touch
    746 with a fake touch interface will not support all two-finger gestures, because the input is
    747 being transformed to cursor movement on the screen. That is, single finger gestures on such a device
    748 move a cursor; two-finger swipes will result in single-finger touch events; other two-finger
    749 gestures will result in the corresponding two-finger touch event. An example device that supports
    750 distinct multi-touch with a fake touch interface is one that provides a trackpad for cursor movement
    751 which also supports two or more fingers.</p></td>
    752 </tr>
    753 
    754 <tr>
    755   <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch.multitouch.jazzhand</code></td>
    756   <td>The application performs distinct tracking of five or more "fingers" on a fake touch
    757 interface. This is a superset of the faketouch feature.</td>
    758   <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
    759 only if it supports touch emulation for events that supports distinct tracking of five or more
    760 fingers.</p>
    761   <p>Unlike the distinct multitouch defined by {@code
    762 android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.jazzhand}, input devices that support jazzhand multi-touch
    763 with a fake touch interface will not support all five-finger gestures, because the input is being
    764 transformed to cursor movement on the screen. That is, single finger gestures on such a device move
    765 a cursor; multi-finger gestures will result in single-finger touch events; other multi-finger
    766 gestures will result in the corresponding multi-finger touch event. An example device that supports
    767 distinct multi-touch with a fake touch interface is one that provides a trackpad for cursor movement
    768 which also supports five or more fingers.</p></td>
    769 </tr>
    770 
    771 <tr>
    772   <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen</code></td>
    773   <td>The application uses touchscreen capabilities for gestures that are more interactive
    774 than basic touch events, such as a fling. This is a superset of the basic faketouch feature.</td>
    775   <td><p>By default, your application requires this. As such, your application is <em>not</em>
    776 available to devices that provide only an emulated touch interface ("fake touch"), by default. If
    777 you want your application available to devices that provide a fake touch interface (or even devices
    778 that provide only a d-pad controller), you must explicitly declare that a touch screen is not
    779 required, by declaring {@code android.hardware.touchscreen} with {@code android:required="false"}.
    780 You should do so even if your application uses&mdash;but does not <em>require</em>&mdash;a real
    781 touch screen interface.</p>
    782 <p>If your application <em>does require</em> a touch interface (in order to perform touch
    783 gestures such as a fling), then you don't need to do anything, because this is required by default.
    784 However, it's best if you explicitly declare all features used by your application, so you should
    785 still declare this if your app uses it.</p>
    786   <p>If you require more complex touch interaction, such as multi-finger gestures, you
    787 should declare the advanced touch screen features below.</p></td>
    788 </tr>
    789 <tr>
    790   <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch</code></td>
    791   <td>The application uses basic two-point multitouch capabilities on the device
    792 screen, such as for pinch gestures, but does not need to track touches independently. This
    793 is a superset of touchscreen feature.</td>
    794   <td>This implicitly declares the <code>android.hardware.touchscreen</code> parent feature, unless
    795 declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
    796 </tr>
    797 <tr>
    798   <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.distinct</code></td>
    799   <td>Subfeature. The application uses advanced multipoint multitouch
    800 capabilities on the device screen, such as for tracking two or more points fully
    801 independently. This is a superset of multitouch feature.</td>
    802   <td rowspan="2">This implicitly declares the <code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch</code>
    803 parent feature, unless declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
    804 </tr>
    805 <tr>
    806   <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.jazzhand</code></td>
    807   <td>The application uses advanced multipoint multitouch
    808 capabilities on the device screen, for tracking up to five points fully
    809 independently. This is a superset of distinct multitouch feature.</td>
    810 </tr>
    811 
    812 <tr>
    813   <td rowspan="2">USB</td>
    814   <td><code>android.hardware.usb.host</code></td>
    815   <td>The application uses USB host mode features (behaves as the host and connects to USB
    816 devices).</td>
    817   <td></td>
    818 </tr>
    819 
    820 <tr>
    821   <td><code>android.hardware.usb.accessory</code></td>
    822   <td>The application uses USB accessory features (behaves as the USB device and connects to USB
    823 hosts).</td>
    824   <td></td>
    825 </tr>
    826 
    827 <tr>
    828   <td>Wifi</td>
    829   <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
    830   <td>The application uses 802.11 networking (wifi) features on the device.</td>
    831   <td></td>
    832 </tr>
    833 
    834   </table>
    835 
    836 <h3 id="sw-features">Software features</h3>
    837 
    838 <p>The table below describes the software feature descriptors supported by the
    839 most current platform release. To signal that your application uses or requires
    840 a software feature, declare each value in a <code>android:name</code> attribute
    841 in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. </p>
    842 
    843 
    844   <table>
    845 <tr> 
    846   <th>Feature</th>
    847   <th>Attribute Value</th> 
    848   <th>Description</th>
    849   <th>Comments</th>
    850 </tr>
    851 <tr>
    852   <td>Live Wallpaper</td>
    853   <td><code>android.software.live_wallpaper</code></td>
    854   <td>The application uses or provides Live Wallpapers.</td>
    855   <td></td>
    856 </tr>
    857 <tr>
    858   <td rowspan="2">SIP/VOIP</td>
    859   <td><code>android.software.sip</code></td>
    860   <td>The application uses SIP service on the device.
    861   </td>
    862   <td></td>
    863 </tr>
    864 <tr>
    865   <td><code>android.software.sip.voip</code></td>
    866   <td>Subfeature. The application uses SIP-based VOIP service on the device.
    867   </td>
    868   <td>This subfeature implicitly declares the <code>android.software.sip</code> parent feature,
    869 unless declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>.</td>
    870 </tr>
    871   </table>
    872 
    873 
    874 <h3 id="permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</h3>
    875 
    876 <p>Some feature constants listed in the tables above were made available to
    877 applications <em>after</em> the corresponding API; for example, the
    878 <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature was added in Android 2.2 (API
    879 level 8), but the bluetooth API that it refers to was added in Android 2.0 (API
    880 level 5). Because of this, some apps were able to use the API before they had
    881 the ability to declare that they require the API via the
    882 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> system. </p>
    883 
    884 <p>To prevent those apps from being made available unintentionally,  Google
    885 Play assumes that certain hardware-related permissions indicate that the
    886 underlying hardware features are required by default. For instance, applications
    887 that use Bluetooth must request the <code>BLUETOOTH</code> permission in a
    888 <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> element &mdash; for legacy apps, Google
    889 Play assumes that the permission declaration means that the underlying
    890 <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature is required by the application
    891 and sets up filtering based on that feature. </p>
    892 
    893 <p>The table below lists permissions that imply feature requirements
    894 equivalent to those declared in <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements. Note
    895 that <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations, including any declared
    896 <code>android:required</code> attribute, always take precedence over features
    897 implied by the permissions below. </p>
    898 
    899 <p>For any of the permissions below, you can disable filtering based on the
    900 implied feature by explicitly declaring the implied feature explicitly, in a
    901 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element, with an
    902 <code>android:required="false"</code> attribute. For example, to disable any
    903 filtering based on the <code>CAMERA</code> permission, you would add this
    904 <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declaration to the manifest file:</p>
    905 
    906 <pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre>
    907 
    908 <table id="permissions-features" >
    909   <tr> 
    910     <th>Category</th>
    911     <th>This Permission...</th>
    912     <th>Implies This Feature Requirement</th>
    913     <!-- <th>Comments</th> -->
    914   </tr>
    915 
    916 
    917 <tr>
    918   <td rowspan="2">Bluetooth</td>
    919   <td><code>BLUETOOTH</code></td>
    920   <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code>
    921 <p>(See <a href="#bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</a> for details.)</p></td>
    922 <!--  <td></td> -->
    923 </tr>
    924 <tr>
    925   <td><code>BLUETOOTH_ADMIN</code></td>
    926   <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code></td>
    927 <!--  <td></td> -->
    928 </tr>
    929 
    930 <tr>
    931   <td>Camera</td>
    932   <td><code>CAMERA</code></td>
    933   <td><code>android.hardware.camera</code> <em>and</em>
    934 <br><code>android.hardware.camera.autofocus</code></td>
    935 <!--  <td></td> -->
    936 </tr>
    937 
    938 <tr>
    939   <td rowspan="5">Location</td>
    940   <td><code>ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION</code></td>
    941   <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    942 <!--  <td></td> -->
    943 </tr>
    944 <tr>
    945   <td><code>ACCESS_LOCATION_EXTRA_COMMANDS</code></td>
    946   <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    947 <!--  <td></td> -->
    948 </tr>
    949 <tr>
    950   <td><code>INSTALL_LOCATION_PROVIDER</code></td>
    951   <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    952 <!--  <td></td> -->
    953 </tr>
    954 <tr>
    955   <td><code>ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION</code></td>
    956   <td><code>android.hardware.location.network</code> <em>and</em>
    957 <br><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    958 <!--  <td></td> -->
    959 </tr>
    960 <tr>
    961   <td><code>ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION</code></td>
    962   <td><code>android.hardware.location.gps</code> <em>and</em>
    963 <br><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
    964 <!--  <td></td> -->
    965 </tr>
    966 
    967 <tr>
    968   <td>Microphone</td>
    969   <td><code>RECORD_AUDIO</code></td>
    970   <td><code>android.hardware.microphone</code></td>
    971 <!--  <td></td> -->
    972 </tr>
    973 
    974 <tr>
    975   <td rowspan="11">Telephony</td>
    976   <td><code>CALL_PHONE</code></td>
    977   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    978 <!--  <td></td> -->
    979 </tr>
    980 <tr>
    981   <td><code>CALL_PRIVILEGED</code></td>
    982   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    983 <!--  <td></td> -->
    984 </tr>
    985 
    986 <tr>
    987   <td><code>MODIFY_PHONE_STATE</code></td>
    988   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    989 <!--  <td></td> -->
    990 </tr>
    991 <tr>
    992   <td><code>PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS</code></td>
    993   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    994 <!--  <td></td> -->
    995 </tr>
    996 <tr>
    997   <td><code>READ_SMS</code></td>
    998   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
    999 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1000 </tr>
   1001 <tr>
   1002   <td><code>RECEIVE_SMS</code></td>
   1003   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1004 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1005 </tr>
   1006 <tr>
   1007   <td><code>RECEIVE_MMS</code></td>
   1008   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1009 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1010 </tr>
   1011 <tr>
   1012   <td><code>RECEIVE_WAP_PUSH</code></td>
   1013   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1014 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1015 </tr>
   1016 <tr>
   1017   <td><code>SEND_SMS</code></td>
   1018   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1019 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1020 </tr>
   1021 <tr>
   1022   <td><code>WRITE_APN_SETTINGS</code></td>
   1023   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1024 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1025 </tr>
   1026 <tr>
   1027   <td><code>WRITE_SMS</code></td>
   1028   <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
   1029 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1030 </tr>
   1031 
   1032 <tr>
   1033   <td rowspan="3">Wifi</td>
   1034   <td><code>ACCESS_WIFI_STATE</code></td>
   1035   <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
   1036 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1037 </tr>
   1038 <tr>
   1039   <td><code>CHANGE_WIFI_STATE</code></td>
   1040   <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
   1041 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1042 </tr>
   1043 <tr>
   1044   <td><code>CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE</code></td>
   1045   <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
   1046 <!--  <td></td> -->
   1047 </tr>
   1048 </table>