Question

Having some experiences with iOS. I now look venturing into Android devices. One of obvious differences between iOS devices and Android devices is the Android hardware’s specs.

I am interested in to find out your experiences in programming perspective in the two platforms. And only specifically to programmings that will utilize hardware on Android devices such as WiFi, bluetooth, camera, microphone, etc. and to be compatible with different Android devices manufactures.

Answer 1

Android gives you an sdk for working with any hardware module.
Camera, bluetooth, wi-fi, gps.
So the implementation of camera app will be same for any phone.
For exmaple there is a difference where some devices mount sdcard. By default it is /mnt/sdcard. But Samsung uses a different path. But you can use GetExternalStorageDirectory() to return the correct directory regardless of device.

The biggest problem of android is screen sizes. You have a bunch of sizes from 2″ to 10-12″(There is bigger and smaller devices..) Also you have a bunch of resolutions and densities.
By the standards it is small, normal, large, xlarge screens with ldpi, mdpi, hdpi densities.
You have to create a layout for each screen size, and all of your pics should be in three sizes(for each density). Also fonts size in sp, and UI elements size in dp. It is density independent measures.
Doesn’t sound very hard. But some manufacturers are trying to be on the top – and creating some small size screens with enormous resolution and density. So it will be a big problem to create proper layout.