Developing Android App | Should I set minSdkVersion to 10?

Question

Via developer.android I still see that API 10 (2.3.3) still has a large usage, and it would seem to be good to support it; however, I do see that API 16+ (4.1+) are increasing in usage pretty fast. It looks like it is doing so by reducing usage of API 10.

I have been wanting to see a chart that could have showed be the usage of API 10 over the years and see the RATE at which it is being reduced by. I have looked at Google's Cached version, but that only take me back a week. I have looked at Wayback Machine's version, but they don't contain the pictures anymore!!

I know that API 10 (basically all of Gingerbread) is being used less and less, and I am just trying to figure out how long from now (based on trajectories) when API 10 will be basically a real question if it should be built for or not...right now it kind of is a necessity (33%)...IF you look at it in a static context!!

Is it worth the time and money to implement API 10 if in 6 months (or 1 year) from now that percentage is only 5 - 10%?

Answer 1

According to the docs:

The dashboard for Platform Versions is updated regularly to show the distribution of active devices running each version of Android, based on the number of devices that visit the Google Play Store. Generally, it’s a good practice to support about 90% of the active devices, while targeting your app to the latest version.

emphasis added

IMO, it doesn't matter if Gingerbread will vanished within 6 months. Until there you could lose a lot of clients to your competitors.

Answer 2

OK, a lot of the ideas of whether to do this are subjective in nature. I have seen suggestions pointed out by Exception-al before...with it being good practice to support 90% of all active devices. I do agree with that on a high level; however, my question was pointed at the (near) future, and trying to predict that from past data via information Google releases in its Dashboards.

In a static context, the 33% would seem very reasonable to implement it as a minSdkVersion. However, with my research, I stated This is subjective, but seems like the drop in usage will be large in the next 6 - 12 months. I just want to know if I am right...or wrong., and I have recieved the following I think your time frame and percentage estimations are reasonable. – FoamyGuy

However, that is still very subjective! I want data to back up my thoughts.

I found this one chart before...now I can only find a YouTube video with it here, but the level of detail is bad. However, I just found Android Platform Usage in Wikipedia! Which has a saved history!!

This is NOT the best format...but it gives me some actual real data to go off of. I guess I will start a discussion there if someone could go through all the info and publish that data on that Wiki, or elsewhere.

NOTE: If anyone else finds something better, then I will accept there answer

Answer 3

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html

from the above link

Selecting a platform version and API Level

When you are developing your application, you will need to choose the platform version against which you will compile the application. In general, you should compile your application against the lowest possible version of the platform that your application can support.

You can determine the lowest possible platform version by compiling the application against successively lower build targets. After you determine the lowest version, you should create an AVD using the corresponding platform version (and API Level) and fully test your application. Make sure to declare a android:minSdkVersion attribute in the application's manifest and set its value to the API Level of the platform version.

Set your min sdk to the lowest api level that will support your app. Set your target api level to the highest api level available.

Examples of setting min to 18

• Using Network Device Manager so home networks are aware of your app.
• Using low power bluetooth

Examples of setting min to 7

• Using the action bar (support v7 library)

Examples of setting min to 4

• Using fragments (with support library v4)