1. Supporting Different Screens:
Screens come in four sizes: small, normal, large, xlarge. The current devices support four densities: low (ldpi), medium (mdpi), high (hdpi), extra high (xhdpi).
Corresponding folders in the project for different screen sizes are depicted via the following hierarchy.
MyProject/
res/
layout/ # default (portrait)
main.xml
layout-land/ # landscape
main.xml
layout-large/ # large (portrait)
main.xml
layout-large-land/ # large landscape
main.xml
The generalized density buckets are: low, medium, high and extra-high density. Generate image for each density and use the following Google recommended scaling:
- xhdpi: 2.0
- hdpi: 1.5
- mdpi: 1.0 (baseline)
- ldpi: 0.75
2. Supporting Different Platform Versions:
Target the application for latest version and support almost 90% of the devices.
Specify Minimum and Target API Levels
In the AndroidManifest.xml file, the following attributes for the uses-sdk element are important.
minSdkVersion: lowest API level to keep the app compatible with.
targetSdkVersion: use the latest android version here.
Check System Version at Runtime
Use the Build constant class to check for the API level being executed.
Use Platform Styles and Themes
The built in styles and themes are important to give the application look and feel of the underlying operating system.
