Hi there, I have an app on Android Market right now with a minSdkVersion corresponding to Android 1.6. I'd like to make an update that is only visible to users of Android 2.2 and higher (there is a good reason for this, which I will explain below). So I have two questions:
- First, if I publish an update with a higher minSdkVersion than the one it replaces, will existing users still be able to see and download the old version if their device is not >= that minSdkVersion? - Secondly, if so, would it be possible to publish updates to that older version branch? Or would it become a fossil relic, but at least always there for downlevel users? Now for the background. My apps use a large amount of resource files-- about 15MB for the Lite version, and about 55 for the Full version. Prior to Android 2.2, it was not possible to install an app on the SD card, so my solution to this was to have the app contain the bare essentials, and simply download the other resources from my web servers at first-run. However, this means that I must maintain external infrastructure, and it's also a bad experience for users who must download the app, then start another download sequence (I already have had several complaints about this in my user comments). What I would like to do is to keep the app as it is for users with Android OS < 2.2. I'd like to publish an update that is only visible to users with Android OS >= 2.2 which packages everything into the app and allows it to be stored on the SD card. And I'd like to be able to perform maintenance on both versions as needed. Why can't I just do the update as described above to a single branch of the app? Because it would mean that users with Android OS < 2.2 would have to download a massive application to their internal memory, which could be a deal-breaker for devices with only 128MB or 256MB, which is shared with the OS. Since I already have paying customers, I don't think I can ethically create an update that would potentially consume most of a user's internal memory, when the version they purchased was only a couple MB. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and replies. Brian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
