CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidandroid-appcompatmaterial-design
Yaron Levi
Yaron Levi

Reputation: 13079

Should I support Android 2.3 and up or 4.0 and up?

Starting to build the android version of our app, I am trying to decide which version to support. By going over the play store it seems that most apps fall into one of those groups:

The "2.3 and up" apps look modern and sleek (material design etc..), and I can't seem to notice any functional/styling feature that is missing in those apps.

What is the main difference between the two?
When using AppCompat, can I achieve material design + 2.3 support ?
If not, what features will I miss?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 891

Answers (1)

Kushal Sharma
Kushal Sharma

Reputation: 5973

What is the main difference between the two?

2.3 and 4.0 are android OS version. Like Windows 7, 8 etc.

Android 2.3 – Gingerbread - API level 9 was launched in 2010 whereas

Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich - API level 14 was launched in 2011.

You can read more about android versions here.

When using AppCompat, can I achieve material design + 2.3 support ?

Yes you can. Backport to some material features is provided by google in there AppCompat libraries (like recycler view, toolbar etc) but many features are not yet available or might not be available. But there are a lot of open source libraries on github that you can use to get material like effects back upto 2.3 android version (like reveal effect, ripple effect etc)!

Note - Reveal effect, Ripple effect etc are available only on 5.0 and above, So even if you chose 4.0 you still need to use librares or make these effects yourself!

Also i would suggest a read here.

More than 90% devices on google play store run on 4.0 and above! Also many classes are deprecated from older versions as new and better solutions come to same problems.

If i was to chose between the 2 version i will go for 4.0 (provided the fact that there is no restrictions on chosing either of them).

Upvotes: 1

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