

The APK-file is a container, holding all parts of the app together. To follow this tutorial, we need to understand some basic concepts. While (appreciated) 99% of all tutorials on the internet explain the "Google-Android only" - way of setting up a project and running a Hello World App, this tutorial will highlight build features called “build types” and ”build flavors”. Others, like BlackBerry, don’t offer any map solution for the Android apps.

Luckily, some of those platforms offer own solutions like HERE maps for Nokia / Kindle Fire. Unfortunately, some features are incompatible between these Android Platforms, even though all the mentioned companies claimed that 75% of all apps are 100% compatible.

We can find a lot of other examples in other countries like russia or china.

With Nokia X, Nokia was releasing a phone based on Android as well.īelow: "Nokia Android", BlackBerry 10 with Android Runtime, Kindle Fire with FireOS and Google Android Next to native developed apps (written in C++ / QML), the device was able to run Android apps as well.Īnother big player to mention is Nokia. Amazon put its own services on the devices: Amazon App Store, Maps powered by HERE maps (also known as Nokia maps), and a lot more.īlackBerry on the other hand was still using their own operating system, but they combined it with Android. No Google Maps, no Gmail client, no Play Store. The look and feel was completely different and a lot of pre-loaded apps have been replaced. The first FireOS devices were based on Android 2.2.3. But it might have benefits as well: While an app can be unsuccessful on the "Android Play Store" (because there are tons of similar apps) it can be successful on other markets. Developing for Android now brings a little bit more complexity, at least if you want to take this step. But around two years ago, the first non-google commercial fork of Android was released - The Amazon FireOS. Most people get in touch with Android when they buy a new phone or tablet. This is extremely handy if you have multiple variations (or build - "flavors") of your app. This article is part of the Android Tutorial Contest, Round 1 - Article 3Įven though we will just develop a "Hello World" - Android application, you will learn how to adjust the build-process to have more than just 1 file as an output of your build process.
