One of the (several) complaints surrounding the release of Googles Nexus One device was the absence of a Software Development Kit (SDK). The Nexus One is the first, and currently only, device that runs on the latest version of Googles open source mobile operating system, Android 2.1. The SDK is an essential set of documents that allows developers to create apps for the device – and despite the phone already being available for sale, developers still didn’t have their SDK. Well, that particular problem was put to rest today, as the Android Developers site released all the documentation needed.
What’s the story?
Developers who download the SDK get a good selection of free and sample applications that come with the Kit, including and alarm clock, web browser, calculator and camera software. There are a lot more built-in apps, which not only serve as building blocks for developers but also examples of software they can use. The entire thing is available in English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish and Russian… in effect, Google is offering much better support to developers than to customers.
What are the main changes?
Live Wallpapers are probably the single biggest change. This feature allows developers to create animated and interactive wallpapers for the device. The SDK also contains numerous tweeks and bug fixes relating to network signal, web data, GeoLocation and updates to Chrome for handling video, browsing history and more.
For more detail, check out the blog itself
What we think?
Developers really were annoyed about this one. There was no way for them to test whether or not their Android applications would work on the most hotly desired Android device of the season. So I can only imagine their relief when this was finally launched. But I had to laugh as I looked through the release notes: after all the fuss, this is only a minor platform update. There’s a section called “PLATFORM HIGHLIGHTS” under which there is only entry: “Android 2.1 does not add significant user features”.
Awesome.
