As the Android ecosystem continues to grow, developers now need to adapt to various devices, such as folding screen phones or tablets. Coupled with different screen ratios, the workload in this area has already getting bigger and bigger.
At the same time, during the development process, Android applications will also be designed for various scenarios that may be used. For example, if you want to scan a code, you need to call the camera. The premise of this function is that it must meet the hardware requirements of “having a camera”.
This leads to a problem: most developers do not deliberately distinguish between these Apps for different models. They are more likely to directly provide all the functions that users may use in their daily lives in one App, and this is As a result, some hardware requirements that apply to a specific device are also present in other devices.
At present, most Android devices (such as phones and tablets) are equipped with cameras and touch screens, while some smart TVs and projectors based on Android systems may not provide cameras and touch screens. Therefore, many regular apps often Due to this hardware limitation, it cannot be used on these devices.
Therefore, Google posted an article on the Android Developer Blog to remind developers that they should delete certain unnecessary functional requirements to improve the usability of apps on different types of devices.
Google believes that developers should adopt more flexible solutions, and they should make these features “optional” rather than “required” where possible. For example, even if a device does not have a camera, it should support the use of the app because users can upload photos through other methods.
This is crucial for Google. After all, there are relatively few apps available on laptops, car systems, and other non-touch screen IoT devices, but developers generally don’t have the energy to adapt to these devices. After all, this The number of users of such devices is really too small.
In addition, Google also reminds App developers to flexibly handle horizontal or vertical screens. For example, currently large car screens are generally horizontal, and there are currently many apps that cannot be used on cars because they do not support such screens. Even if It does not support automatic rotation, which results in a very poor user experience.
