Question

I have an app in the android market that is reporting incomparability and so cannot be installed on a Samsung Galaxy Mini. Developer Console says that it is due to my manifest settings.

My manifest is very light : android 1.5 or above and bare bones permissions so I’m surprised that this is the problem.

My question is in 2 parts:

1. Are there any tools to help diagnose device and app compatibility.

2. What is the problem with my manifest?

Here is my manifest

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.basl.bugsy.free"
  android:versionCode="8"
  android:versionName="8"
  installLocation="preferExternal">

    <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
      <activity android:name=".BugsyFreeGame"
              android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="3" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
</manifest>

Answer 1

Are there any tools to help diagnose device and app compatibility.

Try MOTODEV’s App Validator. They won’t tell you that you will have problems with the Samsung Galaxy Mini, but if your problems with the Mini would also cause problems with some Motorola device, the errors it tells you may help clear that up.

What is the problem with my manifest?

The Samsung Galaxy Mini may be considered a small-screen device. Try adding a <supports-screens> element declaring specifically what screen sizes you support, including small screens.

Also, please seriously reconsider your <uses-sdk> element, particularly your chosen android:targetSdkVersion. Your app will look out of date on Android 3.0+ devices, and there are already more of those than there are Android 1.5 (a.k.a., API Level 3) devices. If you set android:targetSdkVersion to 11 or higher, your app will still run on older devices, but you will adopt the Honeycomb look-and-feel (holographic theme for widgets, action bar, etc.), which will make your app look like it belongs on the newer devices.