How reliable is Android 2.2

Question

Its been around 2 years since Android's first release and already there are 6 to 7 Android releases, unlike Windows mobile. And I found between 2.1 and 2.2 there are lots of changes. The way to call my local services, and other methods have been deprecated etc..

So how stable is Android 2.2. Are we gonna have more frequent release? Developing in 2.2 is it going to bite me down the road? 2.2 sounds like a sub version, its not base lined yet. What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Its been around 2 years since Android's first release and already there are 6 to 7 Android releases, unlike Windows mobile.

You will notice that Microsoft discontinued Windows Mobile.

And I found between 2.1 and 2.2 there are lots of changes.

Not really. From a developer's standpoint, little really changed that affects your code. I have well over 100 sample apps and Android components, and I do not recall any of them needing to be modified for Android 2.2. I did have to create some new samples for some new 2.2-related stuff.

The way to call my local services

I am not aware of any significant changes to the local service API introduced in Android 2.2. Care to elaborate?

and other methods have been deprecated

That will happen. Note that "deprecated" in Android generally means "we'll support it as long as possible, but we really recommend you use other stuff". The primary exceptions are where things were deprecated for security reasons.

So how stable is Android 2.2.

I haven't had particular problems with it on my Nexus One, which I use daily, or on any of my other test devices (used much more sporadically).

Are we gonna have more frequent release?

Google has indicated a goal of dropping back to two releases per year, which is what is 2010 is looking like. It is possible that allowing the Android Market on Google TV might require three releases in 2011, but only time will tell.

Developing in 2.2 is it going to bite me down the road?

No more than developing for any other operating system. All OS manufacturers have the same basic goal: allow apps written for earlier versions to run on new versions with as few changes as possible, ideally no changes at all. All things considered, Android does a pretty decent job of this, though there is always room for improvement.

2.2 sounds like a sub version, its not base lined yet.

That is your opinion. Considering that there are tens of millions of Android 2.2 devices in consumers' hands already, I think that Google, device manufacturers, mobile carriers, consumers, and developers all realize that Android 2.2 is "base lined".

Answer 2

Yes, there will be frequent releases. Google's motto is Release Early, Release Often.

Answer 3

Any mobile platform that wants to stay competitive has to continue adding features. And when features are added new APIs are introduced or existing ones changed. This holds true for any modern platform: iPhone, Android or any other.

Arguably, old Windows Mobile (not WM7) did not change APIs so quickly because they lagged in development and it showed in their market numbers.

That said, I believe that Android now has all modern mobile operating system features and they will stop adding/changing APIs at a pace we saw in the past two years.

OTOH, they might add features (and APIs) for targeting new platforms: tablets and TV.

So, in my humble opinion, API changes in the future will not be as fast as we saw in the past two years, except if you plan to target features that depend on the new platforms: tablet and TV.

Answer 4

I think the bigger problem is, that your potential customers will use different versions. So you dont know if your customer will use 2.2, 2.1, 1.6 or even still 1.5. So you have to develop your app for several versions anyway in my opinion.

Since Google has announced to release 3.0 very soon, I think thi sproblem will get worse in the feature, unless you decide to design your app for just one version. If so I think it's relatively stable. However due to the technical progress and further possibilities, it will alaways be necessary to add new features to the OS and maybe to even changed the existing API.

But I think the higher the version, the more stable it should be. So I personally would say your more or less save.