Android Multiple Device Development

Question

I am new to programming in general and have been teaching myself using Android SDK in Eclipse. Lately I have had a lot of iPhone developers telling me to ditch Android and go to iPhone because it is simply too hard to develop for the whole spectrum of Android devices.

When I look at the dev guide, I see a page about developing for multiple screens, and it seems pretty straight forward.

Has anyone had a hard time developing for multiple devices on the Android platform?

Answer 1

Developing for multiple screens can be a bit weird, especially after the iPhone, where there is only one screen to worry about. Read up on the AndroidMainfest.xml file, which describes how to limit deployment to certain hardware features.

Once you've decided what you target hardware is, have a look at the multiple screen guide again, make sure to pay attention to the difference between "px," "dp," and "sp." After that, I have found certain things will not EXACLTY look the same across different resolutions, but I've accepted that (but I think you can target resolution if you need to also).

In the end, it depends on how much time and effort you're willing to give it.