Question

I’m just getting started with Android Dev.

Which Android phones should I add as virtual devices to make sure that my apps will work for the majority of people?

The only articles I’ve found from google were written 2 years ago, and I think the market share must’ve changed quite a bit by now, hence the phones listed there might no longer be in use as much.

Specifically I’d like to know which screen dimensions + Ram/memory I should provide to the phones for testing.

Answer 1

if your question is about which Android versions you want to support, you should check this link.

So basically you can use eclair (2.1) has the minimum supported version.
I highly recommend that you target the last version (Jelly Bean at the moment). It is a pretty good practice and this way you won’t have to update your app to adapt it when JB will become more popular..

For my tests, I usually have a virtual machine with eclair or gingerbread and my phone with Jelly Bean.

edit : one very important clarification, in your app manifest. You will have to declare the minimum android version you support with android:minSdkVersion=”XXX”. the tag android:targetSdkVersion=”XXX” is not here to tell on what version you are focusing, but to tell to the system if you have thought about the last versions. so you should always target the last one (16 at the moment). If for example you target gingerbread (api level 9 I think), then the terminal will assume that you did not adjust to the disparition of the menu button and display one, EVEN IF you don’t even use it !! It is a very poor user experience.

As for the screens size to support, This link is very helpful (and whenever you have a question about android development the official website should always be your first destination). I think that the question is not really here are the screen sizes, let’s make a layout for each one of them, but the contrary : here is how I want to display my app on a standard size phone (around 4.2″ inches I would say), at which point in terms of dp do I need another layout because mine is either too cramped or has too much whitespace ?

If you really want to know what sizes to consider, somewhere between 4 and 4.5 inches is where you will find most high end smartphones of 2012. You will maybe need another layout for 3.5″ or smaller screens.
In the superior dimensions, I would focus on 7″ (Nexus 7, kindle, galaxy tab 7) and 10″.