96 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
96 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
<html devsite>
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<head>
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<title>Compatibility Program Overview</title>
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<meta name="project_path" value="/_project.yaml" />
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<meta name="book_path" value="/_book.yaml" />
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</head>
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<body>
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<!--
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Copyright 2017 The Android Open Source Project
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Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
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you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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You may obtain a copy of the License at
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http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
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distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
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See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
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limitations under the License.
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-->
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<p>The Android compatibility program makes it easy for mobile device
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manufacturers to develop compatible Android devices.</p>
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<h2 id="program-goals">Program goals</h2>
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<p>The Android compatibility program works for the benefit of the entire
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Android community, including users, developers, and device manufacturers.</p>
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<p>Each group depends on the others. Users want a wide selection of devices
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and great apps; great apps come from developers motivated by a large market
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for their apps with many devices in users' hands; device manufacturers rely
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on a wide variety of great apps to increase their products' value for
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consumers.</p>
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<p>Our goals were designed to benefit each of these groups:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p><em>Provide a consistent application and hardware environment to application
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developers.</em>
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Without a strong compatibility standard, devices can vary so
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greatly that developers must design different versions of their applications
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for different devices. The compatibility program provides a precise definition
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of what developers can expect from a compatible device in terms of APIs and
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capabilities. Developers can use this information to make good design
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decisions, and be confident that their apps will run well on any compatible
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device.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><em>Enable a consistent application experience for consumers.</em>
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If an application runs well on one compatible Android device, it should run well on
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any other device that is compatible with the same Android platform version.
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Android devices will differ in hardware and software capabilities, so the
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compatibility program also provides the tools needed for distribution systems
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such as Google Play to implement appropriate filtering. This means
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users see only the applications they can actually run.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><em>Enable device manufacturers to differentiate while being
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compatible.</em>
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The Android compatibility program focuses on the aspects of
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Android relevant to running third-party applications, which allows device
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manufacturers the flexibility to create unique devices that are nonetheless
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compatible.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><em>Minimize costs and overhead associated with compatibility.</em>
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Ensuring compatibility should be easy and inexpensive to
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device manufacturers. The testing tool is free, open source, and
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available for <a href="cts/downloads.html">download</a>.
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It is designed to be used for continuous self-testing
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during the device development process to eliminate the cost of changing your
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workflow or sending your device to a third party for testing. Meanwhile, there
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are no required certifications, and thus no corresponding costs and
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fees.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2 id="program-components">Program components</h2>
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<p>The Android compatibility program consists of three key components:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>The <a href="https://android.googlesource.com/">Android Open Source Project</a> source code</li>
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<li>The <a href="cdd.html">Compatilbility Definition Document (CDD)<a/>, representing the "policy" aspect of compatibility</li>
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<li>The <a href="cts/index.html">Compatilbility Test Suite (CTS)</a>, representing the "mechanism" of compatibility</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Just as each version of the Android platform exists in a separate branch in
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the source code tree, there is a separate CTS and CDD for each version as
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well. The CDD, CTS, and source code are -- along with your hardware and your
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software customizations -- everything you need to create a compatible device.</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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