1 page.title=Compatibility Program Overview 2 @jd:body 3 4 <!-- 5 Copyright 2015 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 <div id="qv-wrapper"> 20 <div id="qv"> 21 <h2>In this document</h2> 22 <ol id="auto-toc"> 23 </ol> 24 </div> 25 </div> 26 27 <p>The Android compatibility program makes it easy for mobile device 28 manufacturers to develop compatible Android devices.</p> 29 30 <h2 id="program-goals">Program goals</h2> 31 32 <p>The Android compatibility program works for the benefit of the entire 33 Android community, including users, developers, and device manufacturers.</p> 34 <p>Each group depends on the others. Users want a wide selection of devices 35 and great apps; great apps come from developers motivated by a large market 36 for their apps with many devices in users' hands; device manufacturers rely 37 on a wide variety of great apps to increase their products' value for 38 consumers.</p> 39 <p>Our goals were designed to benefit each of these groups:</p> 40 <ul> 41 <li> 42 <p><em>Provide a consistent application and hardware environment to application 43 developers.</em> 44 Without a strong compatibility standard, devices can vary so 45 greatly that developers must design different versions of their applications 46 for different devices. The compatibility program provides a precise definition 47 of what developers can expect from a compatible device in terms of APIs and 48 capabilities. Developers can use this information to make good design 49 decisions, and be confident that their apps will run well on any compatible 50 device.</p> 51 </li> 52 <li> 53 <p><em>Enable a consistent application experience for consumers.</em> 54 If an application runs well on one compatible Android device, it should run well on 55 any other device that is compatible with the same Android platform version. 56 Android devices will differ in hardware and software capabilities, so the 57 compatibility program also provides the tools needed for distribution systems 58 such as Google Play to implement appropriate filtering. This means 59 users see only the applications they can actually run.</p> 60 </li> 61 <li> 62 <p><em>Enable device manufacturers to differentiate while being 63 compatible.</em> 64 The Android compatibility program focuses on the aspects of 65 Android relevant to running third-party applications, which allows device 66 manufacturers the flexibility to create unique devices that are nonetheless 67 compatible.</p> 68 </li> 69 <li> 70 <p><em>Minimize costs and overhead associated with compatibility.</em> 71 Ensuring compatibility should be easy and inexpensive to 72 device manufacturers. The testing tool is free, open source, and 73 available for <a href="cts/downloads.html">download</a>. 74 It is designed to be used for continuous self-testing 75 during the device development process to eliminate the cost of changing your 76 workflow or sending your device to a third party for testing. Meanwhile, there 77 are no required certifications, and thus no corresponding costs and 78 fees.</p> 79 </li> 80 </ul> 81 82 <h2 id="program-components">Program components</h2> 83 84 <p>The Android compatibility program consists of three key components:</p> 85 <ul> 86 <li>The <a href="https://android.googlesource.com/">Android Open Source Project</a> source code</li> 87 <li>The <a href="cdd.html">Compatilbility Definition Document (CDD)<a/>, representing the "policy" aspect of compatibility</li> 88 <li>The <a href="cts/index.html">Compatilbility Test Suite (CTS)</a>, representing the "mechanism" of compatibility</li> 89 </ul> 90 91 <p>Just as each version of the Android platform exists in a separate branch in 92 the source code tree, there is a separate CTS and CDD for each version as 93 well. The CDD, CTS, and source code are -- along with your hardware and your 94 software customizations -- everything you need to create a compatible device.</p> 95
