Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Device Types

2.1 Device Configurations

3. Software

3.1. Managed API Compatibility

3.2. Soft API Compatibility

3.2.1. Permissions

3.2.2. Build Parameters

3.2.3. Intent Compatibility

3.2.3.1. Core Application Intents

3.2.3.2. Intent Overrides

3.2.3.3. Intent Namespaces

3.2.3.4. Broadcast Intents

3.2.3.5. Default App Settings

3.3. Native API Compatibility

3.3.1. Application Binary Interfaces

3.3.2. 32-bit ARM Native Code Compatibility

3.4. Web Compatibility

3.4.1. WebView Compatibility

3.4.2. Browser Compatibility

3.5. API Behavioral Compatibility

3.6. API Namespaces

3.7. Runtime Compatibility

3.8. User Interface Compatibility

3.8.1. Launcher (Home Screen)

3.8.2. Widgets

3.8.3. Notifications

3.8.4. Search

3.8.5. Toasts

3.8.6. Themes

3.8.7. Live Wallpapers

3.8.8. Activity Switching

3.8.9. Input Management

3.8.10. Lock Screen Media Control

3.8.11. Dreams

3.8.12. Location

3.8.13. Unicode and Font

3.9. Device Administration

3.9.1 Device Provisioning

3.9.1.1 Device Owner provisioning

3.9.1.2 Managed profile provisioning

3.9.2. Managed Profile Support

3.10. Accessibility

3.11. Text-to-Speech

3.12. TV Input Framework

4. Application Packaging Compatibility

5. Multimedia Compatibility

5.1. Media Codecs

5.1.1. Audio Codecs

5.1.2. Image Codecs

5.1.3. Video Codecs

5.2. Video Encoding

5.3. Video Decoding

5.4. Audio Recording

5.4.1. Raw Audio Capture

5.4.2. Capture for Voice Recognition

5.4.3. Capture for Rerouting of Playback

5.5. Audio Playback

5.5.1. Raw Audio Playback

5.5.2. Audio Effects

5.5.3. Audio Output Volume

5.6. Audio Latency

5.7. Network Protocols

5.8. Secure Media

5.9. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)

5.10. Professional Audio

6. Developer Tools and Options Compatibility

6.1. Developer Tools

6.2. Developer Options

7. Hardware Compatibility

7.1. Display and Graphics

7.1.1. Screen Configuration

7.1.1.1. Screen Size

7.1.1.2. Screen Aspect Ratio

7.1.1.3. Screen Density

7.1.2. Display Metrics

7.1.3. Screen Orientation

7.1.4. 2D and 3D Graphics Acceleration

7.1.5. Legacy Application Compatibility Mode

7.1.6. Screen Technology

7.1.7. Secondary Displays

7.2. Input Devices

7.2.1. Keyboard

7.2.2. Non-touch Navigation

7.2.3. Navigation Keys

7.2.4. Touchscreen Input

7.2.5. Fake Touch Input

7.2.6. Game Controller Support

7.2.6.1. Button Mappings

7.2.7. Remote Control

7.3. Sensors

7.3.1. Accelerometer

7.3.2. Magnetometer

7.3.3. GPS

7.3.4. Gyroscope

7.3.5. Barometer

7.3.6. Thermometer

7.3.7. Photometer

7.3.8. Proximity Sensor

7.3.9. High Fidelity Sensors

7.3.10. Fingerprint Sensor

7.4. Data Connectivity

7.4.1. Telephony

7.4.2. IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi)

7.4.2.1. Wi-Fi Direct

7.4.2.2. Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup

7.4.3. Bluetooth

7.4.4. Near-Field Communications

7.4.5. Minimum Network Capability

7.4.6. Sync Settings

7.5. Cameras

7.5.1. Rear-Facing Camera

7.5.2. Front-Facing Camera

7.5.3. External Camera

7.5.4. Camera API Behavior

7.5.5. Camera Orientation

7.6. Memory and Storage

7.6.1. Minimum Memory and Storage

7.6.2. Application Shared Storage

7.7. USB

7.8. Audio

7.8.1. Microphone

7.8.2. Audio Output

7.8.2.1. Analog Audio Ports

7.8.3. Near-Ultrasound

8. Performance Compatibility

8.1. User Experience Consistency

8.2. Memory Performance

9. Security Model Compatibility

9.1. Permissions

9.2. UID and Process Isolation

9.3. Filesystem Permissions

9.4. Alternate Execution Environments

9.5. Multi-User Support

9.6. Premium SMS Warning

9.7. Kernel Security Features

9.8. Privacy

9.9. Full-Disk Encryption

9.10. Verified Boot

9.11. Keys and Credentials

10. Software Compatibility Testing

10.1. Compatibility Test Suite

10.2. CTS Verifier

11. Updatable Software

12. Document Changelog

13. Contact Us

14. Resources

1. Introduction

This document enumerates the requirements that must be met in order for devices to be compatible with Android ANDROID_VERSION.

The use of “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”,“SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” is per the IETF standard defined in RFC2119 [Resources, 1].

As used in this document, a “device implementer” or “implementer” is a person or organization developing a hardware/software solution running Android ANDROID_VERSION. A “device implementation” or “implementation is the hardware/software solution so developed.

To be considered compatible with Android ANDROID_VERSION, device implementations MUST meet the requirements presented in this Compatibility Definition, including any documents incorporated via reference.

Where this definition or the software tests described in section 10 is silent, ambiguous, or incomplete, it is the responsibility of the device implementer to ensure compatibility with existing implementations.

For this reason, the Android Open Source Project [Resources, 2] is both the reference and preferred implementation of Android. Device implementers are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to base their implementations to the greatest extent possible on the “upstream” source code available from the Android Open Source Project. While some components can hypothetically be replaced with alternate implementations this practice is strongly discouraged, as passing the software tests will become substantially more difficult. It is the implementer’s responsibility to ensure full behavioral compatibility with the standard Android implementation, including and beyond the Compatibility Test Suite. Finally, note that certain component substitutions and modifications are explicitly forbidden by this document.

Many of the resources listed in section 14 are derived directly or indirectly from the Android SDK, and will be functionally identical to the information in that SDK’s documentation. For any case where this Compatibility Definition or the Compatibility Test Suite disagrees with the SDK documentation, the SDK documentation is considered authoritative. Any technical details provided in the references included in section 14 are considered by inclusion to be part of this Compatibility Definition.

2. Device Types

While the Android Open Source Project has been used in the implementation of a variety of device types and form factors, many aspects of the architecture and compatibility requirements were optimized for handheld devices. Starting from Android 5.0, the Android Open Source Project aims to embrace a wider variety of device types as described in this section.

Android Handheld device refers to an Android device implementation that is typically used by holding it in the hand, such as mp3 players, phones, and tablets. Android Handheld device implementations:

Android Television device refers to an Android device implementation that is an entertainment interface for consuming digital media, movies, games, apps, and/or live TV for users sitting about ten feet away (a “lean back” or “10-foot user interface”). Android Television devices:

Android Watch device refers to an Android device implementation intended to be worn on the body, perhaps on the wrist, and:

Android Automotive implementation refers to a vehicle head unit running Android as an operating system for part or all of the system and/or infotainment functionality. Android Automotive implementations MUST support uiMode = UI_MODE_TYPE_CAR [Resources, 111].

All Android device implementations that do not fit into any of the above device types still MUST meet all requirements in this document to be Android ANDROID_VERSION compatible, unless the requirement is explicitly described to be only applicable to a specific Android device type from above.

2.1 Device Configurations

This is a summary of major differences in hardware configuration by device type. (Empty cells denote a “MAY”). Not all configurations are covered in this table; see relevant hardware sections for more detail.

Category Feature Section Handheld Television Watch Automotive Other
Input D-pad 7.2.2. Non-touch Navigation MUST
Touchscreen 7.2.4. Touchscreen input MUST MUST SHOULD
Microphone 7.8.1. Microphone MUST SHOULD MUST MUST SHOULD
Sensors Accelerometer 7.3.1 Accelerometer SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD
GPS 7.3.3. GPS SHOULD SHOULD
Connectivity Wi-Fi 7.4.2. IEEE 802.11 SHOULD MUST SHOULD SHOULD
Wi-Fi Direct 7.4.2.1. Wi-Fi Direct SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD
Bluetooth 7.4.3. Bluetooth SHOULD MUST MUST MUST SHOULD
Bluetooth Low Energy 7.4.3. Bluetooth SHOULD MUST SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD
USB peripheral/host mode 7.7. USB SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD
Output Speaker and/or Audio output ports 7.8.2. Audio Output MUST MUST MUST MUST

3. Software

3.1. Managed API Compatibility

The managed Dalvik bytecode execution environment is the primary vehicle for Android applications. The Android application programming interface (API) is the set of Android platform interfaces exposed to applications running in the managed runtime environment. Device implementations MUST provide complete implementations, including all documented behaviors, of any documented API exposed by the Android SDK [Resources, 5] or any API decorated with the “@SystemApi” marker in the upstream Android source code.

Device implementations MUST NOT omit any managed APIs, alter API interfaces or signatures, deviate from the documented behavior, or include no-ops, except where specifically allowed by this Compatibility Definition.

This Compatibility Definition permits some types of hardware for which Android includes APIs to be omitted by device implementations. In such cases, the APIs MUST still be present and behave in a reasonable way. See section 7 for specific requirements for this scenario.

3.2. Soft API Compatibility

In addition to the managed APIs from section 3.1, Android also includes a significant runtime-only “soft” API, in the form of such things as intents, permissions, and similar aspects of Android applications that cannot be enforced at application compile time.

3.2.1. Permissions

Device implementers MUST support and enforce all permission constants as documented by the Permission reference page [Resources, 6]. Note that section 9 lists additional requirements related to the Android security model.

3.2.2. Build Parameters

The Android APIs include a number of constants on the android.os.Build class [Resources, 7] that are intended to describe the current device. To provide consistent, meaningful values across device implementations, the table below includes additional restrictions on the formats of these values to which device implementations MUST conform.

Parameter Details
VERSION.RELEASE The version of the currently-executing Android system, in human-readable format. This field MUST have one of the string values defined in [Resources, 8].
VERSION.SDK The version of the currently-executing Android system, in a format accessible to third-party application code. For Android ANDROID_VERSION, this field MUST have the integer value ANDROID_VERSION_INT.
VERSION.SDK_INT The version of the currently-executing Android system, in a format accessible to third-party application code. For Android ANDROID_VERSION, this field MUST have the integer value ANDROID_VERSION_INT.
VERSION.INCREMENTAL A value chosen by the device implementer designating the specific build of the currently-executing Android system, in human-readable format. This value MUST NOT be reused for different builds made available to end users. A typical use of this field is to indicate which build number or source-control change identifier was used to generate the build. There are no requirements on the specific format of this field, except that it MUST NOT be null or the empty string ("").
BOARD A value chosen by the device implementer identifying the specific internal hardware used by the device, in human-readable format. A possible use of this field is to indicate the specific revision of the board powering the device. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$”.
BRAND A value reflecting the brand name associated with the device as known to the end users. MUST be in human-readable format and SHOULD represent the manufacturer of the device or the company brand under which the device is marketed. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$”.
SUPPORTED_ABIS The name of the instruction set (CPU type + ABI convention) of native code. See section 3.3. Native API Compatibility.
SUPPORTED_32_BIT_ABIS The name of the instruction set (CPU type + ABI convention) of native code. See section 3.3. Native API Compatibility.
SUPPORTED_64_BIT_ABIS The name of the second instruction set (CPU type + ABI convention) of native code. See section 3.3. Native API Compatibility.
CPU_ABI The name of the instruction set (CPU type + ABI convention) of native code. See section 3.3. Native API Compatibility.
CPU_ABI2 The name of the second instruction set (CPU type + ABI convention) of native code. See section 3.3. Native API Compatibility.
DEVICE A value chosen by the device implementer containing the development name or code name identifying the configuration of the hardware features and industrial design of the device. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$”.
FINGERPRINT A string that uniquely identifies this build. It SHOULD be reasonably human-readable. It MUST follow this template:

$(BRAND)/$(PRODUCT)/
    $(DEVICE):$(VERSION.RELEASE)/$(ID)/$(VERSION.INCREMENTAL):$(TYPE)/$(TAGS)

For example:

acme/myproduct/
    mydevice:ANDROID_VERSION/LMYXX/3359:userdebug/test-keys

The fingerprint MUST NOT include whitespace characters. If other fields included in the template above have whitespace characters, they MUST be replaced in the build fingerprint with another character, such as the underscore ("_") character. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII.

HARDWARE The name of the hardware (from the kernel command line or /proc). It SHOULD be reasonably human-readable. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$”.
HOST A string that uniquely identifies the host the build was built on, in human-readable format. There are no requirements on the specific format of this field, except that it MUST NOT be null or the empty string ("").
ID An identifier chosen by the device implementer to refer to a specific release, in human-readable format. This field can be the same as android.os.Build.VERSION.INCREMENTAL, but SHOULD be a value sufficiently meaningful for end users to distinguish between software builds. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+$”.
MANUFACTURER The trade name of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the product. There are no requirements on the specific format of this field, except that it MUST NOT be null or the empty string ("").
MODEL A value chosen by the device implementer containing the name of the device as known to the end user. This SHOULD be the same name under which the device is marketed and sold to end users. There are no requirements on the specific format of this field, except that it MUST NOT be null or the empty string ("").
PRODUCT A value chosen by the device implementer containing the development name or code name of the specific product (SKU) that MUST be unique within the same brand. MUST be human-readable, but is not necessarily intended for view by end users. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$”.
SERIAL A hardware serial number, which MUST be available and unique across devices with the same MODEL and MANUFACTURER. The value of this field MUST be encodable as 7-bit ASCII and match the regular expression “^([a-zA-Z0-9]{6,20})$”.
TAGS A comma-separated list of tags chosen by the device implementer that further distinguishes the build. This field MUST have one of the values corresponding to the three typical Android platform signing configurations: release-keys, dev-keys, test-keys.
TIME A value representing the timestamp of when the build occurred.
TYPE A value chosen by the device implementer specifying the runtime configuration of the build. This field MUST have one of the values corresponding to the three typical Android runtime configurations: user, userdebug, or eng.
USER A name or user ID of the user (or automated user) that generated the build. There are no requirements on the specific format of this field, except that it MUST NOT be null or the empty string ("").

3.2.3. Intent Compatibility

Device implementations MUST honor Android’s loose-coupling intent system, as described in the sections below. By“honored ” it is meant that the device implementer MUST provide an Android Activity or Service that specifies a matching intent filter that binds to and implements correct behavior for each specified intent pattern.

3.2.3.1. Core Application Intents

Android intents allow application components to request functionality from other Android components. The Android upstream project includes a list of applications considered core Android applications, which implements several intent patterns to perform common actions. The core Android applications are:

Device implementations SHOULD include the core Android applications as appropriate but MUST include a component implementing the same intent patterns defined by all the “public” Activity or Service components of these core Android applications. Note that Activity or Service components are considered “public” when the attribute android:exported is absent or has the value true.

3.2.3.2. Intent Overrides

As Android is an extensible platform, device implementations MUST allow each intent pattern referenced in section 3.2.3.1 to be overridden by third-party applications. The upstream Android open source implementation allows this by default; device implementers MUST NOT attach special privileges to system applications' use of these intent patterns, or prevent third-party applications from binding to and assuming control of these patterns. This prohibition specifically includes but is not limited to disabling the“Chooser” user interface that allows the user to select between multiple applications that all handle the same intent pattern.

However, device implementations MAY provide default activities for specific URI patterns (eg. http://play.google.com) if the default activity provides a more specific filter for the data URI. For example, an intent filter specifying the data URI “http://www.android.com” is more specific than the browser filter for“http://”. Device implementations MUST provide a user interface for users to modify the default activity for intents.

3.2.3.3. Intent Namespaces

Device implementations MUST NOT include any Android component that honors any new intent or broadcast intent patterns using an ACTION, CATEGORY, or other key string in the android.* or com.android.* namespace. Device implementers MUST NOT include any Android components that honor any new intent or broadcast intent patterns using an ACTION, CATEGORY, or other key string in a package space belonging to another organization. Device implementers MUST NOT alter or extend any of the intent patterns used by the core apps listed in section 3.2.3.1. Device implementations MAY include intent patterns using namespaces clearly and obviously associated with their own organization. This prohibition is analogous to that specified for Java language classes in section 3.6.

3.2.3.4. Broadcast Intents

Third-party applications rely on the platform to broadcast certain intents to notify them of changes in the hardware or software environment. Android-compatible devices MUST broadcast the public broadcast intents in response to appropriate system events. Broadcast intents are described in the SDK documentation.

3.2.3.5. Default App Settings

Android includes settings that provide users an easy way to select their default applications, for example for Home screen or SMS. Where it makes sense, device implementations MUST provide a similar settings menu and be compatible with the intent filter pattern and API methods described in the SDK documentation as below.

Device implementations:

3.3. Native API Compatibility

3.3.1. Application Binary Interfaces

Managed Dalvik bytecode can call into native code provided in the application .apk file as an ELF .so file compiled for the appropriate device hardware architecture. As native code is highly dependent on the underlying processor technology, Android defines a number of Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs) in the Android NDK. Device implementations MUST be compatible with one or more defined ABIs, and MUST implement compatibility with the Android NDK, as below.

If a device implementation includes support for an Android ABI, it:

The following native code APIs MUST be available to apps that include native code:

Note that future releases of the Android NDK may introduce support for additional ABIs. If a device implementation is not compatible with an existing predefined ABI, it MUST NOT report support for any ABIs at all.

Note that device implementations MUST include libGLESv3.so and it MUST symlink (symbolic link) to libGLESv2.so. in turn, MUST export all the OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android Extension Pack [Resources, 11] function symbols as defined in the NDK release android-21. Although all the symbols must be present, only the corresponding functions for OpenGL ES versions and extensions actually supported by the device must be fully implemented.

Device implementations MUST NOT include a native library with the name libvulkan.so.

Native code compatibility is challenging. For this reason, device implementers are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to use the implementations of the libraries listed above from the upstream Android Open Source Project.

3.3.2. 32-bit ARM Native Code Compatibility

The ARMv8 architecture deprecates several CPU operations, including some operations used in existing native code. On 64-bit ARM devices, the following deprecated operations MUST remain available to 32-bit native ARM code, either through native CPU support or through software emulation:

Legacy versions of the Android NDK used /proc/cpuinfo to discover CPU features from 32-bit ARM native code. For compatibility with applications built using this NDK, devices MUST include the following lines in /proc/cpuinfo when it is read by 32-bit ARM applications:

These requirements only apply when /proc/cpuinfo is read by 32-bit ARM applications. Devices SHOULD not alter /proc/cpuinfo when read by 64-bit ARM or non-ARM applications.

3.4. Web Compatibility

3.4.1. WebView Compatibility

Android Watch devices MAY, but all other device implementations MUST provide a complete implementation of the android.webkit.Webview API.

The platform feature android.software.webview MUST be reported on any device that provides a complete implementation of the android.webkit.WebView API, and MUST NOT be reported on devices without a complete implementation of the API. The Android Open Source implementation uses code from the Chromium Project to implement the android.webkit.WebView [Resources, 12]. Because it is not feasible to develop a comprehensive test suite for a web rendering system, device implementers MUST use the specific upstream build of Chromium in the WebView implementation. Specifically:

The WebView component SHOULD include support for as many HTML5 features as possible and if it supports the feature SHOULD conform to the HTML5 specification [Resources, 14].

3.4.2. Browser Compatibility

Android Television, Watch, and Android Automotive implementations MAY omit a browser application, but MUST support the public intent patterns as described in section 3.2.3.1. All other types of device implementations MUST include a standalone Browser application for general user web browsing.

The standalone Browser MAY be based on a browser technology other than WebKit. However, even if an alternate Browser application is used, the android.webkit.WebView component provided to third-party applications MUST be based on WebKit, as described in section 3.4.1.

Implementations MAY ship a custom user agent string in the standalone Browser application.

The standalone Browser application (whether based on the upstream WebKit Browser application or a third-party replacement) SHOULD include support for as much of HTML5 [Resources, 14] as possible. Minimally, device implementations MUST support each of these APIs associated with HTML5:

Additionally, device implementations MUST support the HTML5/W3C webstorage API [Resources, 18], and SHOULD support the HTML5/W3C IndexedDB API [Resources, 19]. Note that as the web development standards bodies are transitioning to favor IndexedDB over webstorage, IndexedDB is expected to become a required component in a future version of Android.

3.5. API Behavioral Compatibility

The behaviors of each of the API types (managed, soft, native, and web) must be consistent with the preferred implementation of the upstream Android Open Source Project [Resources, 2]. Some specific areas of compatibility are:

The above list is not comprehensive. The Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) tests significant portions of the platform for behavioral compatibility, but not all. It is the responsibility of the implementer to ensure behavioral compatibility with the Android Open Source Project. For this reason, device implementers SHOULD use the source code available via the Android Open Source Project where possible, rather than re-implement significant parts of the system.

3.6. API Namespaces

Android follows the package and class namespace conventions defined by the Java programming language. To ensure compatibility with third-party applications, device implementers MUST NOT make any prohibited modifications (see below) to these package namespaces:

Prohibited modifications include:

A “publicly exposed element” is any construct which is not decorated with the“@hide” marker as used in the upstream Android source code. In other words, device implementers MUST NOT expose new APIs or alter existing APIs in the namespaces noted above. Device implementers MAY make internal-only modifications, but those modifications MUST NOT be advertised or otherwise exposed to developers.

Device implementers MAY add custom APIs, but any such APIs MUST NOT be in a namespace owned by or referring to another organization. For instance, device implementers MUST NOT add APIs to the com.google.* or similar namespace: only Google may do so. Similarly, Google MUST NOT add APIs to other companies' namespaces. Additionally, if a device implementation includes custom APIs outside the standard Android namespace, those APIs MUST be packaged in an Android shared library so that only apps that explicitly use them (via the lt;uses-librarygt; mechanism) are affected by the increased memory usage of such APIs.

If a device implementer proposes to improve one of the package namespaces above (such as by adding useful new functionality to an existing API, or adding a new API), the implementer SHOULD visit source.android.com and begin the process for contributing changes and code, according to the information on that site.

Note that the restrictions above correspond to standard conventions for naming APIs in the Java programming language; this section simply aims to reinforce those conventions and make them binding through inclusion in this Compatibility Definition.

3.7. Runtime Compatibility

Device implementations MUST support the full Dalvik Executable (DEX) format and Dalvik bytecode specification and semantics [Resources, 20]. Device implementers SHOULD use ART, the reference upstream implementation of the Dalvik Executable Format, and the reference implementation’s package management system.

Device implementations MUST configure Dalvik runtimes to allocate memory in accordance with the upstream Android platform, and as specified by the following table. (See section 7.1.1 for screen size and screen density definitions.)

Note that memory values specified below are considered minimum values and device implementations MAY allocate more memory per application.

Screen Layout Screen Density Minimum Application Memory
Android Watch 120 dpi (ldpi) 32MB
160 dpi (mdpi)
213 dpi (tvdpi)
240 dpi (hdpi) 36MB
280 dpi (280dpi)
320 dpi (xhdpi) 48MB
360 dpi (360dpi)
400 dpi (400dpi) 56MB
420 dpi (420dpi) 64MB
480 dpi (xxhdpi) 88MB
560 dpi (560dpi) 112MB
640 dpi (xxxhdpi) 154MB
small/normal 120 dpi (ldpi) 32MB
160 dpi (mdpi)
213 dpi (tvdpi) 48MB
240 dpi (hdpi)
280 dpi (280dpi)
320 dpi (xhdpi) 80MB
360 dpi (360dpi)
400 dpi (400dpi) 96MB
420 dpi (420dpi) 112MB
480 dpi (xxhdpi) 128MB
560 dpi (560dpi) 192MB
640 dpi (xxxhdpi) 256MB
large 120 dpi (ldpi) 32MB
160 dpi (mdpi) 48MB
213 dpi (tvdpi) 80MB
240 dpi (hdpi)
280 dpi (280dpi) 96MB
320 dpi (xhdpi) 128MB
360 dpi (360dpi) 160MB
400 dpi (400dpi) 192MB
420 dpi (420dpi) 228MB
480 dpi (xxhdpi) 256MB
560 dpi (560dpi) 384MB
640 dpi (xxxhdpi) 512MB
xlarge 120 dpi (ldpi) 48MB
160 dpi (mdpi) 80MB
213 dpi (tvdpi) 96MB
240 dpi (hdpi)
280 dpi (280dpi) 144MB
320 dpi (xhdpi) 192MB
360 dpi (360dpi) 240MB
400 dpi (400dpi) 288MB
420 dpi (420dpi) 336MB
480 dpi (xxhdpi) 384MB
560 dpi (560dpi) 576MB
640 dpi (xxxhdpi) 768MB

3.8. User Interface Compatibility

3.8.1. Launcher (Home Screen)

Android includes a launcher application (home screen) and support for third-party applications to replace the device launcher (home screen). Device implementations that allow third-party applications to replace the device home screen MUST declare the platform feature android.software.home_screen.

3.8.2. Widgets

Widgets are optional for all Android device implementations, but SHOULD be supported on Android Handheld devices.

Android defines a component type and corresponding API and lifecycle that allows applications to expose an “AppWidget” to the end user [Resources, 21] a feature that is strongly RECOMMENDED to be supported on Handheld Device implementations. Device implementations that support embedding widgets on the home screen MUST meet the following requirements and declare support for platform feature android.software.app_widgets.

3.8.3. Notifications

Android includes APIs that allow developers to notify users of notable events [Resources, 22], using hardware and software features of the device.

Some APIs allow applications to perform notifications or attract attention using hardware—specifically sound, vibration, and light. Device implementations MUST support notifications that use hardware features, as described in the SDK documentation, and to the extent possible with the device implementation hardware. For instance, if a device implementation includes a vibrator, it MUST correctly implement the vibration APIs. If a device implementation lacks hardware, the corresponding APIs MUST be implemented as no-ops. This behavior is further detailed in section 7.

Additionally, the implementation MUST correctly render all resources (icons, animation files etc.) provided for in the APIs [Resources, 23], or in the Status/System Bar icon style guide [Resources, 24], which in the case of an Android Television device includes the possibility to not display the notifications. Device implementers MAY provide an alternative user experience for notifications than that provided by the reference Android Open Source implementation; however, such alternative notification systems MUST support existing notification resources, as above.

Android includes support for various notifications, such as:

Android device implementations, when such notifications are made visible, MUST properly execute Rich and Heads-up notifications and include the title/name, icon, text as documented in the Android APIs [Resources, 25].

Android includes Notification Listener Service APIs that allow apps (once explicitly enabled by the user) to receive a copy of all notifications as they are posted or updated. Device implementations MUST correctly and promptly send notifications in their entirety to all such installed and user-enabled listener services, including any and all metadata attached to the Notification object.

Android includes APIs [Resources, 26] that allow developers to incorporate search into their applications, and expose their application’s data into the global system search. Generally speaking, this functionality consists of a single, system-wide user interface that allows users to enter queries, displays suggestions as users type, and displays results. The Android APIs allow developers to reuse this interface to provide search within their own apps, and allow developers to supply results to the common global search user interface.

Android device implementations SHOULD include global search, a single, shared, system-wide search user interface capable of real-time suggestions in response to user input. Device implementations SHOULD implement the APIs that allow developers to reuse this user interface to provide search within their own applications. Device implementations that implement the global search interface MUST implement the APIs that allow third-party applications to add suggestions to the search box when it is run in global search mode. If no third-party applications are installed that make use of this functionality, the default behavior SHOULD be to display web search engine results and suggestions.

3.8.5. Toasts

Applications can use the “Toast” API to display short non-modal strings to the end user, that disappear after a brief period of time [Resources, 27]. Device implementations MUST display Toasts from applications to end users in some high-visibility manner.

3.8.6. Themes

Android provides “themes” as a mechanism for applications to apply styles across an entire Activity or application.

Android includes a “Holo” theme family as a set of defined styles for application developers to use if they want to match the Holo theme look and feel as defined by the Android SDK [Resources, 28]. Device implementations MUST NOT alter any of the Holo theme attributes exposed to applications [Resources, 29].

Android includes a “Material” theme family as a set of defined styles for application developers to use if they want to match the design theme’s look and feel across the wide variety of different Android device types. Device implementations MUST support the “Material” theme family and MUST NOT alter any of the Material theme attributes or their assets exposed to applications [Resources, 30].

Android also includes a “Device Default” theme family as a set of defined styles for application developers to use if they want to match the look and feel of the device theme as defined by the device implementer. Device implementations MAY modify the Device Default theme attributes exposed to applications [Resources, 29].

Android supports a variant theme with translucent system bars, which allows application developers to fill the area behind the status and navigation bar with their app content. To enable a consistent developer experience in this configuration, it is important the status bar icon style is maintained across different device implementations. Therefore, Android device implementations MUST use white for system status icons (such as signal strength and battery level) and notifications issued by the system, unless the icon is indicating a problematic status or an app requests a light status bar using the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LIGHT_STATUS_BAR flag. When an app requests a light status bar, Android device implementations MUST change the color of the system status icons to black [Resources, 29].

3.8.7. Live Wallpapers

Android defines a component type and corresponding API and lifecycle that allows applications to expose one or more “Live Wallpapers” to the end user [Resources, 31]. Live wallpapers are animations, patterns, or similar images with limited input capabilities that display as a wallpaper, behind other applications.

Hardware is considered capable of reliably running live wallpapers if it can run all live wallpapers, with no limitations on functionality, at a reasonable frame rate with no adverse effects on other applications. If limitations in the hardware cause wallpapers and/or applications to crash, malfunction, consume excessive CPU or battery power, or run at unacceptably low frame rates, the hardware is considered incapable of running live wallpaper. As an example, some live wallpapers may use an OpenGL 2.0 or 3.x context to render their content. Live wallpaper will not run reliably on hardware that does not support multiple OpenGL contexts because the live wallpaper use of an OpenGL context may conflict with other applications that also use an OpenGL context.

Device implementations capable of running live wallpapers reliably as described above SHOULD implement live wallpapers, and when implemented MUST report the platform feature flag android.software.live_wallpaper.

3.8.8. Activity Switching

As the Recent function navigation key is OPTIONAL, the requirements to implement the overview screen is OPTIONAL for Android Television devices and Android Watch devices.

The upstream Android source code includes the overview screen [Resources, 32], a system-level user interface for task switching and displaying recently accessed activities and tasks using a thumbnail image of the application’s graphical state at the moment the user last left the application. Device implementations including the recents function navigation key as detailed in section 7.2.3, MAY alter the interface but MUST meet the following requirements:

Device implementations are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to use the upstream Android user interface (or a similar thumbnail-based interface) for the overview screen.

3.8.9. Input Management

Android includes support for Input Management and support for third-party input method editors [Resources, 34]. Device implementations that allow users to use third-party input methods on the device MUST declare the platform feature android.software.input_methods and support IME APIs as defined in the Android SDK documentation.

Device implementations that declare the android.software.input_methods feature MUST provide a user-accessible mechanism to add and configure third-party input methods. Device implementations MUST display the settings interface in response to the android.settings.INPUT_METHOD_SETTINGS intent.

3.8.10. Lock Screen Media Control

The Remote Control Client API is deprecated from Android 5.0 in favor of the Media Notification Template that allows media applications to integrate with playback controls that are displayed on the lock screen [Resources, 35]. Device implementations that support a lock screen, unless an Android Automotive or Watch implementation, MUST display the Lockscreen Notifications including the Media Notification Template.

3.8.11. Dreams

Android includes support for interactive screensavers called Dreams [Resources, 36]. Dreams allows users to interact with applications when a device connected to a power source is idle or docked in a desk dock. Android Watch devices MAY implement Dreams, but other types of device implementations SHOULD include support for Dreams and provide a settings option for users to configure Dreams in response to the android.settings.DREAM_SETTINGS intent.

3.8.12. Location

When a device has a hardware sensor (e.g. GPS) that is capable of providing the location coordinates, location modes MUST be displayed in the Location menu within Settings [Resources, 37].

3.8.13. Unicode and Font

Android includes support for color emoji characters. When Android device implementations include an IME, devices SHOULD provide an input method to the user for the Emoji characters defined in Unicode 6.1 [Resources, 38]. All devices MUST be capable of rendering these emoji characters in color glyph.

Android includes support for Roboto 2 font with different weights—sans-serif-thin, sans-serif-light, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif-black, sans-serif-condensed, sans-serif-condensed-light—which MUST all be included for the languages available on the device and full Unicode 7.0 coverage of Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic, including the Latin Extended A, B, C, and D ranges, and all glyphs in the currency symbols block of Unicode 7.0.

3.9. Device Administration

Android includes features that allow security-aware applications to perform device administration functions at the system level, such as enforcing password policies or performing remote wipe, through the Android Device Administration API [Resources, 39]. Device implementations MUST provide an implementation of the DevicePolicyManager class [Resources, 40]. Device implementations that include support for PIN (numeric) or PASSWORD (alphanumeric) based lock screens MUST support the full range of device administration policies defined in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 39] and report the platform feature android.software.device_admin.

3.9.1 Device Provisioning

3.9.1.1 Device owner provisioning

If a device implementation declares the android.software.device_admin feature, the out of box setup flow MUST make it possible to enroll a Device Policy Controller (DPC) application as the Device Owner app [ Resources, XX]. Device implementations MAY have a preinstalled application performing device administration functions but this application MUST NOT be set as the Device Owner app without explicit consent or action from the user or the administrator of the device.

The device owner provisioning process (the flow initiated by android.app.action.PROVISION_MANAGED_DEVICE [ Resources, XX]) user experience MUST align with the AOSP implementation

If the device implementation reports android.hardware.nfc, it MUST have NFC enabled, even during the out-of-box setup flow, in order to allow for NFC provisioning of Device owners [Resources, XX].

3.9.1.2 Managed profile provisioning

If a device implementation declares the android.software.managed_users, it MUST be possible to enroll a Device Policy Controller (DPC) application as the owner of a new Managed Profile [ Resources, XX]

The managed profile provisioning process (the flow initiated by android.app.action.PROVISION_MANAGED_PROFILE [ Resources, XX]) user experience MUST align with the AOSP implementation

3.9.2 Managed Profile Support

Managed profile capable devices are those devices that:

Managed profile capable devices MUST:

3.10. Accessibility

Android provides an accessibility layer that helps users with disabilities to navigate their devices more easily. In addition, Android provides platform APIs that enable accessibility service implementations to receive callbacks for user and system events and generate alternate feedback mechanisms, such as text-to-speech, haptic feedback, and trackball/d-pad navigation [Resources, 42].

Device implementations include the following requirements:

Additionally, device implementations SHOULD provide an implementation of an accessibility service on the device, and SHOULD provide a mechanism for users to enable the accessibility service during device setup. An open source implementation of an accessibility service is available from the Eyes Free project [Resources, 44].

3.11. Text-to-Speech

Android includes APIs that allow applications to make use of text-to-speech (TTS) services and allows service providers to provide implementations of TTS services [Resources, 45]. Device implementations reporting the feature android.hardware.audio.output MUST meet these requirements related to the Android TTS framework.

Android Automotive implementations:

All other device implementations:

3.12. TV Input Framework

The Android Television Input Framework (TIF) simplifies the delivery of live content to Android Television devices. TIF provides a standard API to create input modules that control Android Television devices. Android Television device implementations MUST support Television Input Framework [Resources, 46].

Device implementations that support TIF MUST declare the platform feature android.software.live_tv.

4. Application Packaging Compatibility

Device implementations MUST install and run Android “.apk” files as generated by the “aapt” tool included in the official Android SDK [Resources, 47].

Devices implementations MUST NOT extend either the .apk [Resources, 48], Android Manifest [Resources, 49], Dalvik bytecode [Resources, 20], or RenderScript bytecode formats in such a way that would prevent those files from installing and running correctly on other compatible devices.

5. Multimedia Compatibility

5.1. Media Codecs

Device implementations MUST support the core media formats specified in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 50] except where explicitly permitted in this document. Specifically, device implementations MUST support the media formats, encoders, decoders, file types, and container formats defined in the tables below and reported via MediaCodecList [Resources,112]. Device implementations MUST also be able to decode all profiles reported in its CamcorderProfile [Resources, 113]. All of these codecs are provided as software implementations in the preferred Android implementation from the Android Open Source Project.

Please note that neither Google nor the Open Handset Alliance make any representation that these codecs are free from third-party patents. Those intending to use this source code in hardware or software products are advised that implementations of this code, including in open source software or shareware, may require patent licenses from the relevant patent holders.

5.1.1. Audio Codecs

Format/Codec Encoder Decoder Details Supported File Types/Container Formats
MPEG-4 AAC Profile
(AAC LC)
REQUIRED1 REQUIRED Support for mono/stereo/5.0/5.12 content with standard sampling rates from 8 to 48 kHz.
  • 3GPP (.3gp)
  • MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4a)
  • ADTS raw AAC (.aac, decode in Android 3.1+, encode in Android 4.0+, ADIF not supported)
  • MPEG-TS (.ts, not seekable, Android 3.0+)
MPEG-4 HE AAC Profile (AAC+) REQUIRED1
(Android 4.1+)
REQUIRED Support for mono/stereo/5.0/5.12 content with standard sampling rates from 16 to 48 kHz.
MPEG-4 HE AACv2
Profile (enhanced AAC+)
REQUIRED Support for mono/stereo/5.0/5.12 content with standard sampling rates from 16 to 48 kHz.
AAC ELD (enhanced low delay AAC) REQUIRED1
(Android 4.1+)
REQUIRED
(Android 4.1+)
Support for mono/stereo content with standard sampling rates from 16 to 48 kHz.
AMR-NB REQUIRED3 REQUIRED3 4.75 to 12.2 kbps sampled @ 8 kHz 3GPP (.3gp)
AMR-WB REQUIRED3 REQUIRED3 9 rates from 6.60 kbit/s to 23.85 kbit/s sampled @ 16 kHz
FLAC REQUIRED
(Android 3.1+)
Mono/Stereo (no multichannel). Sample rates up to 48 kHz (but up to 44.1 kHz is RECOMMENDED on devices with 44.1 kHz output, as the 48 to 44.1 kHz downsampler does not include a low-pass filter). 16-bit RECOMMENDED; no dither applied for 24-bit. FLAC (.flac) only
MP3 REQUIRED Mono/Stereo 8-320Kbps constant (CBR) or variable bitrate (VBR) MP3 (.mp3)
MIDI REQUIRED MIDI Type 0 and 1. DLS Version 1 and 2. XMF and Mobile XMF. Support for ringtone formats RTTTL/RTX, OTA, and iMelody
  • Type 0 and 1 (.mid, .xmf, .mxmf)
  • RTTTL/RTX (.rtttl, .rtx)
  • OTA (.ota)
  • iMelody (.imy)
Vorbis REQUIRED
  • Ogg (.ogg)
  • Matroska (.mkv, Android 4.0+)
PCM/WAVE REQUIRED4
(Android 4.1+)
REQUIRED 16-bit linear PCM (rates up to limit of hardware). Devices MUST support sampling rates for raw PCM recording at 8000, 11025, 16000, and 44100 Hz frequencies. WAVE (.wav)
Opus REQUIRED
(Android 5.0+)
Matroska (.mkv)

1 Required for device implementations that define android.hardware.microphone but optional for Android Watch device implementations.

2 Only downmix of 5.0/5.1 content is required; recording or rendering more than 2 channels is optional.

3 Required for Android Handheld device implementations.

4 Required for device implementations that define android.hardware.microphone, including Android Watch device implementations.

5.1.2. Image Codecs

Format/Codec Encoder Decoder Details Supported File Types/Container Formats
JPEG REQUIRED REQUIRED Base+progressive JPEG (.jpg)
GIF REQUIRED GIF (.gif)
PNG REQUIRED REQUIRED PNG (.png)
BMP REQUIRED BMP (.bmp)
WebP REQUIRED REQUIRED WebP (.webp)

5.1.3. Video Codecs

Format/Codec Encoder Decoder Details Supported File Types/
Container Formats
H.263 REQUIRED1 REQUIRED2
  • 3GPP (.3gp)
  • MPEG-4 (.mp4)
H.264 AVC REQUIRED2 REQUIRED2 See section 5.2 and 5.3 for details
  • 3GPP (.3gp)
  • MPEG-4 (.mp4)
  • MPEG-2 TS (.ts, AAC audio only, not seekable, Android 3.0+)
H.265 HEVC REQUIRED5 See section 5.3 for details MPEG-4 (.mp4)
MPEG-2 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED6 Main Profile MPEG2-TS
MPEG-4 SP REQUIRED2 3GPP (.3gp)
VP83 REQUIRED2
(Android 4.3+)
REQUIRED2
(Android 2.3.3+)
See section 5.2 and 5.3 for details
VP9 REQUIRED2
(Android 4.4+)
See section 5.3 for details

1 Required for device implementations that include camera hardware and define android.hardware.camera or android.hardware.camera.front.

2 Required for device implementations except Android Watch devices.

3 For acceptable quality of web video streaming and video-conference services, device implementations SHOULD use a hardware VP8 codec that meets the requirements in [Resources, 51].

4 Device implementations SHOULD support writing Matroska WebM files.

5 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for Android Automotive, optional for Android Watch, and required for all other device types.

6 Applies only to Android Television device implementations.

5.2. Video Encoding

Video codecs are optional for Android Watch device implementations.

Android device implementations with H.263 encoders, MUST support Baseline Profile Level 45.

Android device implementations with H.264 codec support, MUST support Baseline Profile Level 3 and the following SD (Standard Definition) video encoding profiles and SHOULD support Main Profile Level 4 and the following HD (High Definition) video encoding profiles. Android Television devices are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to encode HD 1080p video at 30 fps.

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p1
Video resolution 320 x 240 px 720 x 480 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px
Video frame rate 20 fps 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps
Video bitrate 384 Kbps 2 Mbps 4 Mbps 10 Mbps

1 When supported by hardware, but STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for Android Television devices.

Android device implementations with VP8 codec support MUST support the SD video encoding profiles and SHOULD support the following HD (High Definition) video encoding profiles.

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p1
Video resolution 320 x 180 px 640 x 360 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px
Video frame rate 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps
Video bitrate 800 Kbps 2 Mbps 4 Mbps 10 Mbps

1 When supported by hardware.

5.3. Video Decoding

Video codecs are optional for Android Watch device implementations.

Device implementations MUST support dynamic video resolution switching within the same stream for all VP8, VP9, H.264, and H.265 codecs exposed through the standard Android APIs.

Android device implementations with H.263 decoders, MUST support Baseline Profile Level 30.

Android device implementations with MPEG-4 decoders, MUST support Simple Profile Level 3.

Android device implementations with H.264 decoders, MUST support Main Profile Level 3 and the following SD video decoding profiles and SHOULD support the HD decoding profiles. Android Television devices MUST support High Profile Level 4.2 and the HD 1080p decoding profile.

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p1
Video resolution 320 x 240 px 720 x 480 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px
Video frame rate 30 fps 30 fps 60 fps 30 fps / 60 fps2
Video bitrate 800 Kbps 2 Mbps 8 Mbps 20 Mbps

1 Required for Android Television device implementations, but for other device types only when supported by hardware.

2 Required for Android Television device implementations.

Android device implementations when supporting VP8 codec as described in section 5.1.3, MUST support the following SD decoding profiles and SHOULD support the HD decoding profiles. Android Television devices MUST support the HD 1080p decoding profile.

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p1
Video resolution 320 x 180 px 640 x 360 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px
Video frame rate 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps / 60 fps2 30 / 60 fps2
Video bitrate 800 Kbps 2 Mbps 8 Mbps 20 Mbps

1 Required for Android Television device implementations, but for other type of devices only when supported by hardware.

2 Required for Android Television device implementations.

Android device implementations, when supporting VP9 codec as described in section 5.1.3, MUST support the following SD video decoding profiles and SHOULD support the HD decoding profiles. Android Television devices are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to support the HD 1080p decoding profile and SHOULD support the UHD decoding profile. When the UHD video decoding profile is supported, it MUST support 8-bit color depth and SHOULD support VP9 Profile 2 (10-bit).

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p2 UHD2
Video resolution 320 x 180 px 640 x 360 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px 3840 x 2160 px
Video frame rate 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps 60 fps 60 fps
Video bitrate 600 Kbps 1.6 Mbps 4 Mbps 10 Mbps 20 Mbps

1 Required for Android Television device implementations, but for other type of devices only when supported by hardware.

2 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for existing Android Television device implementations when supported by hardware.

Android device implementations, when supporting H.265 codec as described in section 5.1.3, MUST support the Main Profile Level 3 Main tier and the following SD video decoding profiles and SHOULD support the HD decoding profiles. Android Television devices MUST support the Main Profile Level 4.1 Main tier and the HD 1080p decoding profile and SHOULD support Main10 Level 5 Main Tier profile and the UHD decoding profile.

SD (Low quality) SD (High quality) HD 720p1 HD 1080p1 UHD2
Video resolution 352 x 288 px 640 x 360 px 1280 x 720 px 1920 x 1080 px 3840 x 2160 px
Video frame rate 30 fps 30 fps 30 fps 60 fps2 60 fps
Video bitrate 600 Kbps 1.6 Mbps 4 Mbps 10 Mbps 20 Mbps

1 Required for Android Television device implementations, but for other type of devices only when supported by hardware.

2 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for existing Android Television device implementations when supported by hardware.

5.4. Audio Recording

While some of the requirements outlined in this section are stated as SHOULD since Android 4.3, the Compatibility Definition for a future version is planned to change these to MUST. Existing and new Android devices are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to meet these requirements, or they will not be able to attain Android compatibility when upgraded to the future version.

5.4.1. Raw Audio Capture

Device implementations that declare android.hardware.microphone MUST allow capture of raw audio content with the following characteristics:

The capture for the above sample rates MUST be done without up-sampling, and any down-sampling MUST include an appropriate anti-aliasing filter.

Device implementations that declare android.hardware.microphone SHOULD allow capture of raw audio content with the following characteristics:

If capture for the above sample rates is supported, then the capture MUST be done without up-sampling at any ratio higher than 16000:22050 or 44100:48000. Any up-sampling or down-sampling MUST include an appropriate anti-aliasing filter.

5.4.2. Capture for Voice Recognition

In addition to the above recording specifications, when an application has started recording an audio stream using the android.media.MediaRecorder.AudioSource.VOICE_RECOGNITION audio source:

If the platform supports noise suppression technologies tuned for speech recognition, the effect MUST be controllable from the android.media.audiofx.NoiseSuppressor API. Moreover, the UUID field for the noise suppressor’s effect descriptor MUST uniquely identify each implementation of the noise suppression technology.

5.4.3. Capture for Rerouting of Playback

The android.media.MediaRecorder.AudioSource class includes the REMOTE_SUBMIX audio source. Devices that declare android.hardware.audio.output MUST properly implement the REMOTE_SUBMIX audio source so that when an application uses the android.media.AudioRecord API to record from this audio source, it can capture a mix of all audio streams except for the following:

5.5. Audio Playback

Device implementations that declare android.hardware.audio.output MUST conform to the requirements in this section.

5.5.1. Raw Audio Playback

The device MUST allow playback of raw audio content with the following characteristics:

The device SHOULD allow playback of raw audio content with the following characteristics:

5.5.2. Audio Effects

Android provides an API for audio effects for device implementations [Resources, 52]. Device implementations that declare the feature android.hardware.audio.output:

5.5.3. Audio Output Volume

Android Television device implementations MUST include support for system Master Volume and digital audio output volume attenuation on supported outputs, except for compressed audio passthrough output (where no audio decoding is done on the device).

5.6. Audio Latency

Audio latency is the time delay as an audio signal passes through a system. Many classes of applications rely on short latencies, to achieve real-time sound effects.

For the purposes of this section, use the following definitions:

Device implementations that declare android.hardware.audio.output are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to meet or exceed these audio output requirements:

If a device implementation meets the requirements of this section after any initial calibration when using the OpenSL ES PCM buffer queue API, for continuous output latency and cold output latency over at least one supported audio output device, it MAY report support for low-latency audio, by reporting the feature android.hardware.audio.low_latency via the android.content.pm.PackageManager class [Resources, 53]. Conversely, if the device implementation does not meet these requirements it MUST NOT report support for low-latency audio.

Device implementations that include android.hardware.microphone are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to meet these input audio requirements:

5.7. Network Protocols

Devices MUST support the media network protocols for audio and video playback as specified in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 50]. Specifically, devices MUST support the following media network protocols:

5.8. Secure Media

Device implementations that support secure video output and are capable of supporting secure surfaces MUST declare support for Display.FLAG_SECURE. Device implementations that declare support for Display.FLAG_SECURE, if they support a wireless display protocol, MUST secure the link with a cryptographically strong mechanism such as HDCP 2.x or higher for Miracast wireless displays. Similarly if they support a wired external display, the device implementations MUST support HDCP 1.2 or higher. Android Television device implementations MUST support HDCP 2.2 for devices supporting 4K resolution and HDCP 1.4 or above for lower resolutions. The upstream Android open source implementation includes support for wireless (Miracast) and wired (HDMI) displays that satisfies this requirement.

5.9. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)

If a device implementation supports the inter-app MIDI software transport (virtual MIDI devices), and it supports MIDI over all of the following MIDI-capable hardware transports for which it provides generic non-MIDI connectivity, it MAY report support for feature android.software.midi via the android.content.pm.PackageManager class [Resources, 53].

The MIDI-capable hardware transports are:

Conversely, if the device implementation provides generic non-MIDI connectivity over a particular MIDI-capable hardware transport listed above, but does not support MIDI over that hardware transport, it MUST NOT report support for feature android.software.midi.

MIDI over Bluetooth LE acting in central role (section 7.4.3 Bluetooth) is in trial use status. A device implementation that reports feature android.software.midi, and which provides generic non-MIDI connectivity over Bluetooth LE, SHOULD support MIDI over Bluetooth LE.

5.10. Professional Audio

If a device implementation meets all of the following requirements, it MAY report support for feature android.hardware.audio.pro via the android.content.pm.PackageManager class [Resources, 53].

6. Developer Tools and Options Compatibility

6.1. Developer Tools

Device implementations MUST support the Android Developer Tools provided in the Android SDK. Android compatible devices MUST be compatible with:

Device implementations MUST support all adb functions as documented in the Android SDK including dumpsys [Resources, 56]. The device-side adb daemon MUST be inactive by default and there MUST be a user-accessible mechanism to turn on the Android Debug Bridge. If a device implementation omits USB peripheral mode, it MUST implement the Android Debug Bridge via local-area network (such as Ethernet or 802.11).

Android includes support for secure adb. Secure adb enables adb on known authenticated hosts. Device implementations MUST support secure adb.

Device implementations MUST support all ddms features as documented in the Android SDK. As ddms uses adb, support for ddms SHOULD be inactive by default, but MUST be supported whenever the user has activated the Android Debug Bridge, as above.

Device implementations MUST include the Monkey framework, and make it available for applications to use.

Device implementations MUST support systrace tool as documented in the Android SDK. Systrace must be inactive by default, and there MUST be a user-accessible mechanism to turn on Systrace.

Most Linux-based systems and Apple Macintosh systems recognize Android devices using the standard Android SDK tools, without additional support; however Microsoft Windows systems typically require a driver for new Android devices. (For instance, new vendor IDs and sometimes new device IDs require custom USB drivers for Windows systems.) If a device implementation is unrecognized by the adb tool as provided in the standard Android SDK, device implementers MUST provide Windows drivers allowing developers to connect to the device using the adb protocol. These drivers MUST be provided for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

6.2. Developer Options

Android includes support for developers to configure application development-related settings. Device implementations MUST honor the android.settings.APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT_SETTINGS intent to show application development-related settings [Resources, 60]. The upstream Android implementation hides the Developer Options menu by default and enables users to launch Developer Options after pressing seven (7) times on the Settings > About Device > Build Number menu item. Device implementations MUST provide a consistent experience for Developer Options. Specifically, device implementations MUST hide Developer Options by default and MUST provide a mechanism to enable Developer Options that is consistent with the upstream Android implementation.

7. Hardware Compatibility

If a device includes a particular hardware component that has a corresponding API for third-party developers, the device implementation MUST implement that API as described in the Android SDK documentation. If an API in the SDK interacts with a hardware component that is stated to be optional and the device implementation does not possess that component:

A typical example of a scenario where these requirements apply is the telephony API: even on non-phone devices, these APIs must be implemented as reasonable no-ops.

Device implementations MUST consistently report accurate hardware configuration information via the getSystemAvailableFeatures() and hasSystemFeature(String) methods on the android.content.pm.PackageManager class for the same build fingerprint. [Resources, 53]

7.1. Display and Graphics

Android includes facilities that automatically adjust application assets and UI layouts appropriately for the device, to ensure that third-party applications run well on a variety of hardware configurations [Resources, 61]. Devices MUST properly implement these APIs and behaviors, as detailed in this section.

The units referenced by the requirements in this section are defined as follows:

7.1.1. Screen Configuration

7.1.1.1. Screen Size

Android Watch devices (detailed in section 2) MAY have smaller screen sizes as described in this section.

The Android UI framework supports a variety of different screen sizes, and allows applications to query the device screen size (aka “screen layout") via android.content.res.Configuration.screenLayout with the SCREENLAYOUT_SIZE_MASK. Device implementations MUST report the correct screen size as defined in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 61] and determined by the upstream Android platform. Specifically, device implementations MUST report the correct screen size according to the following logical density-independent pixel (dp) screen dimensions.

In addition,

Devices MUST NOT change their reported screen size at any time.

Applications optionally indicate which screen sizes they support via the <supports-screens> attribute in the AndroidManifest.xml file. Device implementations MUST correctly honor applications' stated support for small, normal, large, and xlarge screens, as described in the Android SDK documentation.

7.1.1.2. Screen Aspect Ratio

Android Watch devices MAY have an aspect ratio of 1.0 (1:1).

The screen aspect ratio MUST be a value from 1.3333 (4:3) to 1.86 (roughly 16:9), but Android Watch devices MAY have an aspect ratio of 1.0 (1:1) because such a device implementation will use a UI_MODE_TYPE_WATCH as the android.content.res.Configuration.uiMode.

7.1.1.3. Screen Density

The Android UI framework defines a set of standard logical densities to help application developers target application resources. Device implementations MUST report only one of the following logical Android framework densities through the android.util.DisplayMetrics APIs, and MUST execute applications at this standard density and MUST NOT change the value at at any time for the default display.

Device implementations SHOULD define the standard Android framework density that is numerically closest to the physical density of the screen, unless that logical density pushes the reported screen size below the minimum supported. If the standard Android framework density that is numerically closest to the physical density results in a screen size that is smaller than the smallest supported compatible screen size (320 dp width), device implementations SHOULD report the next lowest standard Android framework density.

7.1.2. Display Metrics

Device implementations MUST report correct values for all display metrics defined in android.util.DisplayMetrics [Resources, 62] and MUST report the same values regardless of whether the embedded or external screen is used as the default display.

7.1.3. Screen Orientation

Devices MUST report which screen orientations they support (android.hardware.screen.portrait and/or android.hardware.screen.landscape) and MUST report at least one supported orientation. For example, a device with a fixed orientation landscape screen, such as a television or laptop, SHOULD only report android.hardware.screen.landscape.

Devices that report both screen orientations MUST support dynamic orientation by applications to either portrait or landscape screen orientation. That is, the device must respect the application’s request for a specific screen orientation. Device implementations MAY select either portrait or landscape orientation as the default.

Devices MUST report the correct value for the device’s current orientation, whenever queried via the android.content.res.Configuration.orientation, android.view.Display.getOrientation(), or other APIs.

Devices MUST NOT change the reported screen size or density when changing orientation.

7.1.4. 2D and 3D Graphics Acceleration

Device implementations MUST support both OpenGL ES 1.0 and 2.0, as embodied and detailed in the Android SDK documentations. Device implementations SHOULD support OpenGL ES 3.0 or 3.1 on devices capable of supporting it. Device implementations MUST also support Android RenderScript, as detailed in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 63].

Device implementations MUST also correctly identify themselves as supporting OpenGL ES 1.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 3.0 or OpenGL 3.1. That is:

In addition to OpenGL ES 3.1, Android provides an extension pack with Java interfaces [Resources, 64] and native support for advanced graphics functionality such as tessellation and the ASTC texture compression format. Android device implementations MAY support this extension pack, and—only if fully implemented—MUST identify the support through the android.hardware.opengles.aep feature flag.

Also, device implementations MAY implement any desired OpenGL ES extensions. However, device implementations MUST report via the OpenGL ES managed and native APIs all extension strings that they do support, and conversely MUST NOT report extension strings that they do not support.

Note that Android includes support for applications to optionally specify that they require specific OpenGL texture compression formats. These formats are typically vendor-specific. Device implementations are not required by Android to implement any specific texture compression format. However, they SHOULD accurately report any texture compression formats that they do support, via the getString() method in the OpenGL API.

Android includes a mechanism for applications to declare that they want to enable hardware acceleration for 2D graphics at the Application, Activity, Window, or View level through the use of a manifest tag android:hardwareAccelerated or direct API calls [Resources, 65].

Device implementations MUST enable hardware acceleration by default, and MUST disable hardware acceleration if the developer so requests by setting android:hardwareAccelerated="false” or disabling hardware acceleration directly through the Android View APIs.

In addition, device implementations MUST exhibit behavior consistent with the Android SDK documentation on hardware acceleration [Resources, 65].

Android includes a TextureView object that lets developers directly integrate hardware-accelerated OpenGL ES textures as rendering targets in a UI hierarchy. Device implementations MUST support the TextureView API, and MUST exhibit consistent behavior with the upstream Android implementation.

Android includes support for EGL_ANDROID_RECORDABLE, an EGLConfig attribute that indicates whether the EGLConfig supports rendering to an ANativeWindow that records images to a video. Device implementations MUST support EGL_ANDROID_RECORDABLE extension [Resources, 66].

7.1.5. Legacy Application Compatibility Mode

Android specifies a “compatibility mode” in which the framework operates in a 'normal' screen size equivalent (320dp width) mode for the benefit of legacy applications not developed for old versions of Android that pre-date screen-size independence.

7.1.6. Screen Technology

The Android platform includes APIs that allow applications to render rich graphics to the display. Devices MUST support all of these APIs as defined by the Android SDK unless specifically allowed in this document.

7.1.7. Secondary Displays

Android includes support for secondary display to enable media sharing capabilities and developer APIs for accessing external displays. If a device supports an external display either via a wired, wireless, or an embedded additional display connection then the device implementation MUST implement the display manager API as described in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 67].

7.2. Input Devices

Devices MUST support a touchscreen or meet the requirements listed in 7.2.2 for non-touch navigation.

7.2.1. Keyboard

Android Watch and Android Automotive implementations MAY implement a soft keyboard. All other device implementations MUST implement a soft keyboard and:

Device implementations:

7.2.2. Non-touch Navigation

Android Television devices MUST support D-pad.

Device implementations:

7.2.3. Navigation Keys

The availability and visibility requirement of the Home, Recents, and Back functions differ between device types as described in this section.

The Home, Recents, and Back functions (mapped to the key events KEYCODE_HOME, KEYCODE_APP_SWITCH, KEYCODE_BACK, respectively) are essential to the Android navigation paradigm and therefore:

These functions MAY be implemented via dedicated physical buttons (such as mechanical or capacitive touch buttons), or MAY be implemented using dedicated software keys on a distinct portion of the screen, gestures, touch panel, etc. Android supports both implementations. All of these functions MUST be accessible with a single action (e.g. tap, double-click or gesture) when visible.

Recents function, if provided, MUST have a visible button or icon unless hidden together with other navigation functions in full-screen mode. This does not apply to devices upgrading from earlier Android versions that have physical buttons for navigation and no recents key.

The Home and Back functions, if provided, MUST each have a visible button or icon unless hidden together with other navigation functions in full-screen mode or when the uiMode UI_MODE_TYPE_MASK is set to UI_MODE_TYPE_WATCH.

The Menu function is deprecated in favor of action bar since Android 4.0. Therefore the new device implementations shipping with Android ANDROID_VERSION and later MUST NOT implement a dedicated physical button for the Menu function. Older device implementations SHOULD NOT implement a dedicated physical button for the Menu function, but if the physical Menu button is implemented and the device is running applications with targetSdkVersion > 10, the device implementation:

For backwards compatibility, device implementations MUST make the Menu function available to applications when targetSdkVersion is less than 10, either by a physical button, a software key, or gestures. This Menu function should be presented unless hidden together with other navigation functions.

Android supports Assist action [Resources, 69]. Android device implementations except for Android Watch devices MUST make the Assist action available to the user at all times when running applications. The Assist action SHOULD be implemented as a long-press on the Home button or a swipe-up gesture on the software Home key. This function MAY be implemented via another physical button, software key, or gesture, but MUST be accessible with a single action (e.g. tap, double-click, or gesture) when other navigation keys are visible.

Device implementations MAY use a distinct portion of the screen to display the navigation keys, but if so, MUST meet these requirements:

7.2.4. Touchscreen Input

Android Handhelds and Watch Devices MUST support touchscreen input.

Device implementations SHOULD have a pointer input system of some kind (either mouse-like or touch). However, if a device implementation does not support a pointer input system, it MUST NOT report the android.hardware.touchscreen or android.hardware.faketouch feature constant. Device implementations that do include a pointer input system:

Android includes support for a variety of touchscreens, touch pads, and fake touch input devices. Touchscreen based device implementations are associated with a display [Resources, 70] such that the user has the impression of directly manipulating items on screen. Since the user is directly touching the screen, the system does not require any additional affordances to indicate the objects being manipulated. In contrast, a fake touch interface provides a user input system that approximates a subset of touchscreen capabilities. For example, a mouse or remote control that drives an on-screen cursor approximates touch, but requires the user to first point or focus then click. Numerous input devices like the mouse, trackpad, gyro-based air mouse, gyro-pointer, joystick, and multi-touch trackpad can support fake touch interactions. Android includes the feature constant android.hardware.faketouch, which corresponds to a high-fidelity non-touch (pointer-based) input device such as a mouse or trackpad that can adequately emulate touch-based input (including basic gesture support), and indicates that the device supports an emulated subset of touchscreen functionality. Device implementations that declare the fake touch feature MUST meet the fake touch requirements in section 7.2.5.

Device implementations MUST report the correct feature corresponding to the type of input used. Device implementations that include a touchscreen (single-touch or better) MUST report the platform feature constant android.hardware.touchscreen. Device implementations that report the platform feature constant android.hardware.touchscreen MUST also report the platform feature constant android.hardware.faketouch. Device implementations that do not include a touchscreen (and rely on a pointer device only) MUST NOT report any touchscreen feature, and MUST report only android.hardware.faketouch if they meet the fake touch requirements in section 7.2.5.

7.2.5. Fake Touch Input

Device implementations that declare support for android.hardware.faketouch:

Devices that declare support for android.hardware.faketouch.multitouch.distinct MUST meet the requirements for faketouch above, and MUST also support distinct tracking of two or more independent pointer inputs.

7.2.6. Game Controller Support

Android Television device implementations MUST support button mappings for game controllers as listed below. The upstream Android implementation includes implementation for game controllers that satisfies this requirement.

7.2.6.1. Button Mappings

Android Television device implementations MUST support the following key mappings:

Button HID Usage2 Android Button
A1 0x09 0x0001 KEYCODE_BUTTON_A (96)
B1 0x09 0x0002 KEYCODE_BUTTON_B (97)
X1 0x09 0x0004 KEYCODE_BUTTON_X (99)
Y1 0x09 0x0005 KEYCODE_BUTTON_Y (100)
D-pad up1
D-pad down1
0x01 0x00393 AXIS_HAT_Y4
D-pad left1
D-pad right1
0x01 0x00393 AXIS_HAT_X4
Left shoulder button1 0x09 0x0007 KEYCODE_BUTTON_L1 (102)
Right shoulder button1 0x09 0x0008 KEYCODE_BUTTON_R1 (103)
Left stick click1 0x09 0x000E KEYCODE_BUTTON_THUMBL (106)
Right stick click1 0x09 0x000F KEYCODE_BUTTON_THUMBR (107)
Home1 0x0c 0x0223 KEYCODE_HOME (3)
Back1 0x0c 0x0224 KEYCODE_BACK (4)

1 [Resources, 72]

2 The above HID usages must be declared within a Game pad CA (0x01 0x0005).

3 This usage must have a Logical Minimum of 0, a Logical Maximum of 7, a Physical Minimum of 0, a Physical Maximum of 315, Units in Degrees, and a Report Size of 4. The logical value is defined to be the clockwise rotation away from the vertical axis; for example, a logical value of 0 represents no rotation and the up button being pressed, while a logical value of 1 represents a rotation of 45 degrees and both the up and left keys being pressed.

4 [Resources, 71]

Analog Controls1 HID Usage Android Button
Left Trigger 0x02 0x00C5 AXIS_LTRIGGER
Right Trigger 0x02 0x00C4 AXIS_RTRIGGER
Left Joystick 0x01 0x0030
0x01 0x0031
AXIS_X
AXIS_Y
Right Joystick 0x01 0x0032
0x01 0x0035
AXIS_Z
AXIS_RZ

1 [Resources, 71]

7.2.7. Remote Control

Android Television device implementations SHOULD provide a remote control to allow users to access the TV interface. The remote control MAY be a physical remote or can be a software-based remote that is accessible from a mobile phone or tablet. The remote control MUST meet the requirements defined below.

7.3. Sensors

Android includes APIs for accessing a variety of sensor types. Devices implementations generally MAY omit these sensors, as provided for in the following subsections. If a device includes a particular sensor type that has a corresponding API for third-party developers, the device implementation MUST implement that API as described in the Android SDK documentation and the Android Open Source documentation on sensors [Resources, 73]. For example, device implementations:

The list above is not comprehensive; the documented behavior of the Android SDK and the Android Open Source Documentations on Sensors [Resources, 73] is to be considered authoritative.

Some sensor types are composite, meaning they can be derived from data provided by one or more other sensors. (Examples include the orientation sensor, and the linear acceleration sensor.) Device implementations SHOULD implement these sensor types, when they include the prerequisite physical sensors as described in [Resources, 76]. If a device implementation includes a composite sensor it MUST implement the sensor as described in the Android Open Source documentation on composite sensors [Resources, 76].

Some Android sensors support a “continuous” trigger mode, which returns data continuously [Resources, 77]. For any API indicated by the Android SDK documentation to be a continuous sensor, device implementations MUST continuously provide periodic data samples that SHOULD have a jitter below 3%, where jitter is defined as the standard deviation of the difference of the reported timestamp values between consecutive events.

Note that the device implementations MUST ensure that the sensor event stream MUST NOT prevent the device CPU from entering a suspend state or waking up from a suspend state.

Finally, when several sensors are activated, the power consumption SHOULD NOT exceed the sum of the individual sensor’s reported power consumption.

7.3.1. Accelerometer

Device implementations SHOULD include a 3-axis accelerometer. Android Handheld devices and Android Watch devices are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to include this sensor. If a device implementation does include a 3-axis accelerometer, it:

7.3.2. Magnetometer

Device implementations SHOULD include a 3-axis magnetometer (compass). If a device does include a 3-axis magnetometer, it:

7.3.3. GPS

Device implementations SHOULD include a GPS receiver. If a device implementation does include a GPS receiver, it SHOULD include some form of“assisted GPS” technique to minimize GPS lock-on time.

7.3.4. Gyroscope

Device implementations SHOULD include a gyroscope (angular change sensor). Devices SHOULD NOT include a gyroscope sensor unless a 3-axis accelerometer is also included. If a device implementation includes a gyroscope, it:

7.3.5. Barometer

Device implementations SHOULD include a barometer (ambient air pressure sensor). If a device implementation includes a barometer, it:

7.3.6. Thermometer

Device implementations MAY include an ambient thermometer (temperature sensor). If present, it MUST be defined as SENSOR_TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE and it MUST measure the ambient (room) temperature in degrees Celsius.

Device implementations MAY but SHOULD NOT include a CPU temperature sensor. If present, it MUST be defined as SENSOR_TYPE_TEMPERATURE, it MUST measure the temperature of the device CPU, and it MUST NOT measure any other temperature. Note the SENSOR_TYPE_TEMPERATURE sensor type was deprecated in Android 4.0.

7.3.7. Photometer

Device implementations MAY include a photometer (ambient light sensor).

7.3.8. Proximity Sensor

Device implementations MAY include a proximity sensor. Devices that can make a voice call and indicate any value other than PHONE_TYPE_NONE in getPhoneType SHOULD include a proximity sensor. If a device implementation does include a proximity sensor, it:

7.3.9. High Fidelity Sensors

Device implementations supporting a set of higher quality sensors that can meet all the requirements listed in this section MUST identify the support through the android.hardware.sensor.hifi_sensors feature flag.

A device declaring android.hardware.sensor.hifi_sensors MUST support all of the following sensor types meeting the quality requirements as below:

Also such a device MUST meet the following sensor subsystem requirements:

Note that all power consumption requirements in this section do not include the power consumption of the Application Processor. It is inclusive of the power drawn by the entire sensor chain - the sensor, any supporting circuitry, any dedicated sensor processing system, etc.

The following sensor types MAY also be supported on a device implementation declaring android.hardware.sensor.hifi_sensors, but if these sensor types are present they MUST meet the following minimum buffering capability requirement:

7.3.10. Fingerprint Sensor

Device implementations with a secure lock screen SHOULD include a fingerprint sensor. If a device implementation includes a fingerprint sensor and has a corresponding API for third-party developers, it:

7.4. Data Connectivity

7.4.1. Telephony

“Telephony” as used by the Android APIs and this document refers specifically to hardware related to placing voice calls and sending SMS messages via a GSM or CDMA network. While these voice calls may or may not be packet-switched, they are for the purposes of Android considered independent of any data connectivity that may be implemented using the same network. In other words, the Android “telephony” functionality and APIs refer specifically to voice calls and SMS. For instance, device implementations that cannot place calls or send/receive SMS messages MUST NOT report the android.hardware.telephony feature or any subfeatures, regardless of whether they use a cellular network for data connectivity.

Android MAY be used on devices that do not include telephony hardware. That is, Android is compatible with devices that are not phones. However, if a device implementation does include GSM or CDMA telephony, it MUST implement full support for the API for that technology. Device implementations that do not include telephony hardware MUST implement the full APIs as no-ops.

7.4.2. IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi)

Android Television device implementations MUST include Wi-Fi support.

Android Television device implementations MUST include support for one or more forms of 802.11 (b/g/a/n, etc.) and other types of Android device implementation SHOULD include support for one or more forms of 802.11. If a device implementation does include support for 802.11 and exposes the functionality to a third-party application, it MUST implement the corresponding Android API and:

7.4.2.1. Wi-Fi Direct

Device implementations SHOULD include support for Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi peer-to-peer). If a device implementation does include support for Wi-Fi Direct, it MUST implement the corresponding Android API as described in the SDK documentation [Resources, 80]. If a device implementation includes support for Wi-Fi Direct, then it:

Android Television device implementations MUST include support for Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS).

Android Television device implementations MUST include support for Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) and other types of Android device implementations SHOULD include support for Wi-Fi TDLS as described in the Android SDK Documentation [Resources, 81]. If a device implementation does include support for TDLS and TDLS is enabled by the WiFiManager API, the device:

7.4.3. Bluetooth

Android Watch and Automotive implementations MUST support Bluetooth. Android Television implementations MUST support Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE.

Android includes support for Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy [Resources, 82]. Device implementations that include support for Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy MUST declare the relevant platform features (android.hardware.bluetooth and android.hardware.bluetooth_le respectively) and implement the platform APIs. Device implementations SHOULD implement relevant Bluetooth profiles such as A2DP, AVCP, OBEX, etc. as appropriate for the device. Android Television device implementations MUST support Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE.

Device implementations including support for Bluetooth Low Energy:

7.4.4. Near-Field Communications

Device implementations SHOULD include a transceiver and related hardware for Near-Field Communications (NFC). If a device implementation does include NFC hardware and plans to make it available to third-party apps, then it:

(Note that publicly available links are not available for the JIS, ISO, and NFC Forum specifications cited above.)

Android includes support for NFC Host Card Emulation (HCE) mode. If a device implementation does include an NFC controller chipset capable of HCE and Application ID (AID) routing, then it:

Additionally, device implementations MAY include reader/writer support for the following MIFARE technologies.

Note that Android includes APIs for these MIFARE types. If a device implementation supports MIFARE in the reader/writer role, it:

If a device implementation does not include NFC hardware, it MUST NOT declare the android.hardware.nfc feature from the android.content.pm.PackageManager.hasSystemFeature() method [Resources, 53], and MUST implement the Android NFC API as a no-op.

As the classes android.nfc.NdefMessage and android.nfc.NdefRecord represent a protocol-independent data representation format, device implementations MUST implement these APIs even if they do not include support for NFC or declare the android.hardware.nfc feature.

7.4.5. Minimum Network Capability

Device implementations MUST include support for one or more forms of data networking. Specifically, device implementations MUST include support for at least one data standard capable of 200Kbit/sec or greater. Examples of technologies that satisfy this requirement include EDGE, HSPA, EV-DO, 802.11g, Ethernet, Bluetooth PAN, etc.

Device implementations where a physical networking standard (such as Ethernet) is the primary data connection SHOULD also include support for at least one common wireless data standard, such as 802.11 (Wi-Fi).

Devices MAY implement more than one form of data connectivity.

7.4.6. Sync Settings

Device implementations MUST have the master auto-sync setting on by default so that the method getMasterSyncAutomatically() returns “true” [Resources, 89].

7.5. Cameras

Device implementations SHOULD include a rear-facing camera and MAY include a front-facing camera. A rear-facing camera is a camera located on the side of the device opposite the display; that is, it images scenes on the far side of the device, like a traditional camera. A front-facing camera is a camera located on the same side of the device as the display; that is, a camera typically used to image the user, such as for video conferencing and similar applications.

If a device implementation includes at least one camera, it SHOULD be possible for an application to simultaneously allocate 3 bitmaps equal to the size of the images produced by the largest-resolution camera sensor on the device.

7.5.1. Rear-Facing Camera

Device implementations SHOULD include a rear-facing camera. If a device implementation includes at least one rear-facing camera, it:

7.5.2. Front-Facing Camera

Device implementations MAY include a front-facing camera. If a device implementation includes at least one front-facing camera, it:

7.5.3. External Camera

Device implementations with USB host mode MAY include support for an external camera that connects to the USB port. If a device includes support for an external camera, it:

Video compression (such as MJPEG) support is RECOMMENDED to enable transfer of high-quality unencoded streams (i.e. raw or independently compressed picture streams). Camera-based video encoding MAY be supported. If so, a simultaneous unencoded/ MJPEG stream (QVGA or greater resolution) MUST be accessible to the device implementation.

7.5.4. Camera API Behavior

Android includes two API packages to access the camera, the newer android.hardware.camera2 API expose lower-level camera control to the app, including efficient zero-copy burst/streaming flows and per-frame controls of exposure, gain, white balance gains, color conversion, denoising, sharpening, and more.

The older API package, android.hardware.Camera, is marked as deprecated in Android 5.0 but as it should still be available for apps to use Android device implementations MUST ensure the continued support of the API as described in this section and in the Android SDK.

Device implementations MUST implement the following behaviors for the camera-related APIs, for all available cameras:

Device implementations MUST still implement the full Camera API included in the Android SDK documentation [Resources, 91], regardless of whether the device includes hardware autofocus or other capabilities. For instance, cameras that lack autofocus MUST still call any registered android.hardware.Camera.AutoFocusCallback instances (even though this has no relevance to a non-autofocus camera.) Note that this does apply to front-facing cameras; for instance, even though most front-facing cameras do not support autofocus, the API callbacks must still be “faked” as described.

Device implementations MUST recognize and honor each parameter name defined as a constant on the android.hardware.Camera.Parameters class, if the underlying hardware supports the feature. If the device hardware does not support a feature, the API must behave as documented. Conversely, device implementations MUST NOT honor or recognize string constants passed to the android.hardware.Camera.setParameters() method other than those documented as constants on the android.hardware.Camera.Parameters. That is, device implementations MUST support all standard Camera parameters if the hardware allows, and MUST NOT support custom Camera parameter types. For instance, device implementations that support image capture using high dynamic range (HDR) imaging techniques MUST support camera parameter Camera.SCENE_MODE_HDR [Resources, 92].

Because not all device implementations can fully support all the features of the android.hardware.camera2 API, device implementations MUST report the proper level of support with the android.info.supportedHardwareLevel property as described in the Android SDK [Resources, 93] and report the appropriate framework feature flags [Resources, 94].

Device implementations MUST also declare its Individual camera capabilities of android.hardware.camera2 via the android.request.availableCapabilities property and declare the appropriate feature flags [Resources, 94]; a device must define the feature flag if any of its attached camera devices supports the feature.

Device implementations MUST broadcast the Camera.ACTION_NEW_PICTURE intent whenever a new picture is taken by the camera and the entry of the picture has been added to the media store.

Device implementations MUST broadcast the Camera.ACTION_NEW_VIDEO intent whenever a new video is recorded by the camera and the entry of the picture has been added to the media store.

7.5.5. Camera Orientation

Both front- and rear-facing cameras, if present, MUST be oriented so that the long dimension of the camera aligns with the screen’s long dimension. That is, when the device is held in the landscape orientation, cameras MUST capture images in the landscape orientation. This applies regardless of the device’s natural orientation; that is, it applies to landscape-primary devices as well as portrait-primary devices.

7.6. Memory and Storage

7.6.1. Minimum Memory and Storage

Android Television devices MUST have at least 5GB of non-volatile storage available for application private data.

The memory available to the kernel and userspace on device implementations MUST be at least equal or larger than the minimum values specified by the following table. (See section 7.1.1 for screen size and density definitions.)

Density and screen size 32-bit device 64-bit device
Android Watch devices (due to smaller screens) 416MB Not applicable
  • 280dpi or lower on small/normal screens
  • mdpi or lower on large screens
  • ldpi or lower on extra large screens
424MB 704MB
  • xhdpi or higher on small/normal screens
  • hdpi or higher on large screens
  • mdpi or higher on extra large screens
512MB 832MB
  • 400dpi or higher on small/normal screens
  • xhdpi or higher on large screens
  • tvdpi or higher on extra large screens
896MB 1280MB
  • 560dpi or higher on small/normal screens
  • 400dpi or higher on large screens
  • xhdpi or higher on extra large screens
1344MB 1824MB

The minimum memory values MUST be in addition to any memory space already dedicated to hardware components such as radio, video, and so on that is not under the kernel’s control.

Device implementations with less than 512MB of memory available to the kernel and userspace, unless an Android Watch, MUST return the value "true" for ActivityManager.isLowRamDevice().

Android Television devices MUST have at least 5GB and other device implementations MUST have at least 1.5GB of non-volatile storage available for application private data. That is, the /data partition MUST be at least 5GB for Android Television devices and at least 1.5GB for other device implementations. Device implementations that run Android are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to have at least 3GB of non-volatile storage for application private data so they will be able to upgrade to the future platform releases.

The Android APIs include a Download Manager that applications MAY use to download data files [Resources, 95]. The device implementation of the Download Manager MUST be capable of downloading individual files of at least 100MB in size to the default “cache" location.

7.6.2. Application Shared Storage

Device implementations MUST offer shared storage for applications also often referred as “shared external storage”.

Device implementations MUST be configured with shared storage mounted by default, “out of the box”. If the shared storage is not mounted on the Linux path /sdcard, then the device MUST include a Linux symbolic link from /sdcard to the actual mount point.

Device implementations MAY have hardware for user-accessible removable storage, such as a Secure Digital (SD) card slot. If this slot is used to satisfy the shared storage requirement, the device implementation:

Alternatively, device implementations MAY allocate internal (non-removable) storage as shared storage for apps as included in the upstream Android Open Source Project; device implementations SHOULD use this configuration and software implementation. If a device implementation uses internal (non-removable) storage to satisfy the shared storage requirement, that storage MUST be 1GB in size or larger and mounted on /sdcard (or /sdcard MUST be a symbolic link to the physical location if it is mounted elsewhere).

Device implementations MUST enforce as documented the android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission on this shared storage. Shared storage MUST otherwise be writable by any application that obtains that permission.

Device implementations that include multiple shared storage paths (such as both an SD card slot and shared internal storage) MUST NOT allow Android applications to write to the secondary external storage, except for their package-specific directories on the secondary external storage, but SHOULD expose content from both storage paths transparently through Android’s media scanner service and android.provider.MediaStore.

Regardless of the form of shared storage used, if the device implementation has a USB port with USB peripheral mode support, it MUST provide some mechanism to access the contents of shared storage from a host computer. Device implementations MAY use USB mass storage, but SHOULD use Media Transfer Protocol to satisfy this requirement. If the device implementation supports Media Transfer Protocol, it:

7.7. USB

Device implementations SHOULD support USB peripheral mode and SHOULD support USB host mode.

If a device implementation includes a USB port supporting peripheral mode:

If a device implementation includes a USB port supporting host mode, it:

7.8. Audio

7.8.1. Microphone

Android Handheld, Watch, and Automotive implementations MUST include a microphone.

Device implementations MAY omit a microphone. However, if a device implementation omits a microphone, it MUST NOT report the android.hardware.microphone feature constant, and MUST implement the audio recording API at least as no-ops, per section 7. Conversely, device implementations that do possess a microphone:

7.8.2. Audio Output

Android Watch devices MAY include an audio output.

Device implementations including a speaker or with an audio/multimedia output port for an audio output peripheral as a headset or an external speaker:

Conversely, if a device implementation does not include a speaker or audio output port, it MUST NOT report the android.hardware.audio output feature, and MUST implement the Audio Output related APIs as no-ops at least.

Android Watch device implementation MAY but SHOULD NOT have audio output, but other types of Android device implementations MUST have an audio output and declare android.hardware.audio.output.

7.8.2.1. Analog Audio Ports

In order to be compatible with the headsets and other audio accessories using the 3.5mm audio plug across the Android ecosystem [Resources, 101], if a device implementation includes one or more analog audio ports, at least one of the audio port(s) SHOULD be a 4 conductor 3.5mm audio jack. If a device implementation has a 4 conductor 3.5mm audio jack, it:

7.8.3. Near-Ultrasound

Near-Ultrasound audio is the 18.5 kHz to 20 kHz band. Device implementations MUST correctly report the support of near-ultrasound audio capability via the AudioManager.getProperty API as follows:

8. Performance Compatibility

Some minimum performance criterias are critical to the user experience and impacts the baseline assumptions developers would have when developing an app. Android Watch devices SHOULD and other type of device implementations MUST meet the following criteria:

8.1. User Experience Consistency

Device implementations MUST provide a smooth user interface by ensuring a consistent frame rate and response times for applications and games. Device implementations MUST meet the following requirements:

8.2. File I/O Access Performance

Device implementations MUST ensure internal storage file access performance consistency for read and write operations.

9. Security Model Compatibility

Device implementations MUST implement a security model consistent with the Android platform security model as defined in Security and Permissions reference document in the APIs [Resources, 102] in the Android developer documentation. Device implementations MUST support installation of self-signed applications without requiring any additional permissions/certificates from any third parties/authorities. Specifically, compatible devices MUST support the security mechanisms described in the follow subsections.

9.1. Permissions

Device implementations MUST support the Android permissions model as defined in the Android developer documentation [Resources, 102]. Specifically, implementations MUST enforce each permission defined as described in the SDK documentation; no permissions may be omitted, altered, or ignored. Implementations MAY add additional permissions, provided the new permission ID strings are not in the android.* namespace.

Permissions with a protection level of dangerous are runtime permissions. Applications with targetSdkVersion > 22 request them at runtime. Device implementations:

9.2. UID and Process Isolation

Device implementations MUST support the Android application sandbox model, in which each application runs as a unique Unixstyle UID and in a separate process. Device implementations MUST support running multiple applications as the same Linux user ID, provided that the applications are properly signed and constructed, as defined in the Security and Permissions reference [Resources, 102].

9.3. Filesystem Permissions

Device implementations MUST support the Android file access permissions model as defined in the Security and Permissions reference [Resources, 102].

9.4. Alternate Execution Environments

Device implementations MAY include runtime environments that execute applications using some other software or technology than the Dalvik Executable Format or native code. However, such alternate execution environments MUST NOT compromise the Android security model or the security of installed Android applications, as described in this section.

Alternate runtimes MUST themselves be Android applications, and abide by the standard Android security model, as described elsewhere in section 9.

Alternate runtimes MUST NOT be granted access to resources protected by permissions not requested in the runtime’s AndroidManifest.xml file via the <uses-permission> mechanism.

Alternate runtimes MUST NOT permit applications to make use of features protected by Android permissions restricted to system applications.

Alternate runtimes MUST abide by the Android sandbox model. Specifically, alternate runtimes:

The .apk files of alternate runtimes MAY be included in the system image of a device implementation, but MUST be signed with a key distinct from the key used to sign other applications included with the device implementation.

When installing applications, alternate runtimes MUST obtain user consent for the Android permissions used by the application. If an application needs to make use of a device resource for which there is a corresponding Android permission (such as Camera, GPS, etc.), the alternate runtime MUST inform the user that the application will be able to access that resource. If the runtime environment does not record application capabilities in this manner, the runtime environment MUST list all permissions held by the runtime itself when installing any application using that runtime.

9.5. Multi-User Support

This feature is optional for all device types.

Android includes support for multiple users and provides support for full user isolation [Resources, 103]. Device implementations MAY enable multiple users, but when enabled MUST meet the following requirements related to multi-user support [Resources, 104]:

9.6. Premium SMS Warning

Android includes support for warning users of any outgoing premium SMS message [Resources, 106] . Premium SMS messages are text messages sent to a service registered with a carrier that may incur a charge to the user. Device implementations that declare support for android.hardware.telephony MUST warn users before sending a SMS message to numbers identified by regular expressions defined in /data/misc/sms/codes.xml file in the device. The upstream Android Open Source Project provides an implementation that satisfies this requirement.

9.7. Kernel Security Features

The Android Sandbox includes features that use the Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) mandatory access control (MAC) system and other security features in the Linux kernel. SELinux or any other security features implemented below the Android framework:

If any API for configuration of policy is exposed to an application that can affect another application (such as a Device Administration API), the API MUST NOT allow configurations that break compatibility.

Devices MUST implement SELinux or, if using a kernel other than Linux, an equivalent mandatory access control system. Devices MUST also meet the following requirements, which are satisfied by the reference implementation in the upstream Android Open Source Project.

Device implementations:

Device implementations SHOULD retain the default SELinux policy provided in the external/sepolicy folder of the upstream Android Open Source Project and only further add to this policy for their own device-specific configuration. Device implementations MUST be compatible with the upstream Android Open Source Project.

9.8. Privacy

If the device implements functionality in the system that captures the contents displayed on the screen and/or records the audio stream played on the device, it MUST continuously notify the user whenever this functionality is enabled and actively capturing/recording.

If a device implementation has a mechanism that routes network data traffic through a proxy server or VPN gateway by default (for example, preloading a VPN service with android.permission.CONTROL_VPN granted), the device implementation MUST ask for the user's consent before enabling that mechanism.

If a device implementation has a USB port with USB peripheral mode support, it MUST present a user interface asking for the user's consent before allowing access to the contents of the shared storage over the USB port.

9.9. Full-Disk Encryption

Optional for Android device implementations without a lock screen.

If the device implementation supports a secure lock screen reporting "true" for KeyguardManager.isDeviceSecure() [Resources, XX], and is not a device with restricted memory as reported through the ActivityManager.isLowRamDevice() method, then the device MUST support full-disk encryption [Resources, 107] of the application private data (/data partition), as well as the application shared storage partition (/sdcard partition) if it is a permanent, non-removable part of the device.

For device implementations supporting full-disk encryption and with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) crypto performance above 50MiB/sec, the full-disk encryption MUST be enabled by default at the time the user has completed the out-of-box setup experience. If a device implementation is already launched on an earlier Android version with full-disk encryption disabled by default, such a device cannot meet the requirement through a system software update and thus MAY be exempted.

Encryption MUST use AES with a key of 128-bits (or greater) and a mode designed for storage (for example, AES-XTS, AES-CBC-ESSIV). The encryption key MUST NOT be written to storage at any time without being encrypted. Other than when in active use, the encryption key SHOULD be AES encrypted with the lockscreen passcode stretched using a slow stretching algorithm (e.g. PBKDF2 or scrypt). If the user has not specified a lockscreen passcode or has disabled use of the passcode for encryption, the system SHOULD use a default passcode to wrap the encryption key. If the device provides a hardware-backed keystore, the password stretching algorithm MUST be cryptographically bound to that keystore. The encryption key MUST NOT be sent off the device (even when wrapped with the user passcode and/or hardware bound key). The upstream Android Open Source project provides a preferred implementation of this feature based on the Linux kernel feature dm-crypt.

9.10. Verified Boot

Verified boot is a feature that guarantees the integrity of the device software. If a device implementation supports the feature, it MUST:

The upstream Android Open Source Project provides a preferred implementation of this feature based on the Linux kernel feature dm-verity.

Starting from Android 6.0, device implementations with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) crypto perfomance above 50MiB/seconds MUST support verified boot for device integrity. If a device implementation is already launched without supporting verified boot on an earlier version of Android, such a device can not add support for this feature with a system software update and thus are exempted from the requirement.

9.11. Keys and Credentials

The Android Keystore System [Resources, XX] allows app developers to store cryptographic keys in a container and use them in cryptographic operations through the KeyChain API [Resources, XX] or the Keystore API [Resources, XX].

All Android device implementations MUST meet the following requirements:

Note that if a device implementation is already launched on an earlier Android version and has not implemented a trusted operating system on the secure hardware, such a device cannot meet the above TEE-related requirements through a system software update and thus is exempted from these TEE-related requirements.

10. Software Compatibility Testing

Device implementations MUST pass all tests described in this section.

However, note that no software test package is fully comprehensive. For this reason, device implementers are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to make the minimum number of changes as possible to the reference and preferred implementation of Android available from the Android Open Source Project. This will minimize the risk of introducing bugs that create incompatibilities requiring rework and potential device updates.

10.1. Compatibility Test Suite

Device implementations MUST pass the Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) [Resources, 108] available from the Android Open Source Project, using the final shipping software on the device. Additionally, device implementers SHOULD use the reference implementation in the Android Open Source tree as much as possible, and MUST ensure compatibility in cases of ambiguity in CTS and for any reimplementations of parts of the reference source code.

The CTS is designed to be run on an actual device. Like any software, the CTS may itself contain bugs. The CTS will be versioned independently of this Compatibility Definition, and multiple revisions of the CTS may be released for Android ANDROID_VERSION. Device implementations MUST pass the latest CTS version available at the time the device software is completed.

10.2. CTS Verifier

Device implementations MUST correctly execute all applicable cases in the CTS Verifier. The CTS Verifier is included with the Compatibility Test Suite, and is intended to be run by a human operator to test functionality that cannot be tested by an automated system, such as correct functioning of a camera and sensors.

The CTS Verifier has tests for many kinds of hardware, including some hardware that is optional. Device implementations MUST pass all tests for hardware that they possess; for instance, if a device possesses an accelerometer, it MUST correctly execute the Accelerometer test case in the CTS Verifier. Test cases for features noted as optional by this Compatibility Definition Document MAY be skipped or omitted.

Every device and every build MUST correctly run the CTS Verifier, as noted above. However, since many builds are very similar, device implementers are not expected to explicitly run the CTS Verifier on builds that differ only in trivial ways. Specifically, device implementations that differ from an implementation that has passed the CTS Verifier only by the set of included locales, branding, etc. MAY omit the CTS Verifier test.

11. Updatable Software

Device implementations MUST include a mechanism to replace the entirety of the system software. The mechanism need not perform “live” upgrades—that is, a device restart MAY be required.

Any method can be used, provided that it can replace the entirety of the software preinstalled on the device. For instance, any of the following approaches will satisfy this requirement:

However, if the device implementation includes support for an unmetered data connection such as 802.11 or Bluetooth PAN (Personal Area Network) profile:

The update mechanism used MUST support updates without wiping user data. That is, the update mechanism MUST preserve application private data and application shared data. Note that the upstream Android software includes an update mechanism that satisfies this requirement.

For device implementations that are launching with Android ANDROID_VERSION and later, the update mechanism SHOULD support verifying that the system image is binary identical to expected result following an OTA. The block-based OTA implementation in the upstream Android Open Source Project, added since Android 5.1, satisfies this requirement.

If an error is found in a device implementation after it has been released but within its reasonable product lifetime that is determined in consultation with the Android Compatibility Team to affect the compatibility of third-party applications, the device implementer MUST correct the error via a software update available that can be applied per the mechanism just described.

Android includes features that allow the Device Owner app (if present) to control the installation of system updates. To facilitate this, the system update subsystem for devices that report android.software.device_admin MUST implement the behavior described in the SystemUpdatePolicy class [ Resources, XX].

12. Document Changelog

The following table contains a summary of the changes to the Compatibility Definition in this release.

Section Summary of changes
Various Replaced instances of the "encouraged" term with "RECOMMENDED"
3.2.2. Build Parameters Addition regarding hardware serial number
3.3.1. Application Binary Interfaces Additions for Android ABI support; change related to Vulkan library name
3.4.1. WebView Compatibility Change for the user agent string reported by the WebView
3.8.6. Themes Added requirement to support black system icons when requested by the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LIGHT_STATUS_BAR flag
3.9.1. Device Provisioning Contains new sections for device owner provisioning and managed profile provisioning
3.9.2. Managed Profile Support New section with requirements for device support of managed profile functionality
5.1.3. Video Codecs Changes and additions related to Android Televisions
5.2. Video Encoding Changes for encoders
5.3. Video Decoding Changes for decoders
5.4. Audio Recording Additions related to audio capture
5.10. Professional Audio General updates for professional audio support; updates for mobile device (jack) specifications, USB audio host mode, and other updates
5.9 Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) Added new section on optional Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) support
6.1. Developer Tools Update for drivers supporting Windows 10
7.4.3. Bluetooth Addition related to Resolvable Private Address (RPA) for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
7.4.4. Near-Field Communications Additions to requirements for Near-Field Communications (NFC)
7.7. USB Requirement related to implementing the AOA specification
7.8.3. Near-Ultrasound Additions related to near-ultrasound recording, playback, and audio
9.1 Permissions Addition to Permissions requirements
9.8. Privacy Addition regarding user's consent for access to shared storage over a USB port
9.9. Full-Disk Encryption Requirements related to full disk encryption
9.10. Verified Boot Additional requirement for verified boot
11. Updatable Software Requirement related to the system update policy set by the device owner

13. Contact Us

You can join the android-compatibility forum [Resources, 109] and ask for clarifications or bring up any issues that you think the document does not cover.

14. Resources

1. IETF RFC2119 Requirement Levels: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt

2. Android Open Source Project: http://source.android.com/

3. Android Television features: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageManager.html#FEATURE_LEANBACK

4. Android Watch feature: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/res/Configuration.html#UI_MODE_TYPE_WATCH

5. API definitions and documentation: http://developer.android.com/reference/packages.html

6. Android Permissions reference: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html

7. android.os.Build reference: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Build.html

8. Android ANDROID_VERSION allowed version strings: http://source.android.com/compatibility/ANDROID_VERSION/versions.html

9. Telephony Provider: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Telephony.html

10. Host-based Card Emulation: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/hce.html

11. Android Extension Pack: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/graphics/opengl.html#aep

12. android.webkit.WebView class: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/WebView.html

13. WebView compatibility: http://www.chromium.org/

14. HTML5: http://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/

15. HTML5 offline capabilities: http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html#offline

16. HTML5 video tag: http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html#video

17. HTML5/W3C geolocation API: http://www.w3.org/TR/geolocation-API/

18. HTML5/W3C webstorage API: http://www.w3.org/TR/webstorage/

19. HTML5/W3C IndexedDB API: http://www.w3.org/TR/IndexedDB/

20. Dalvik Executable Format and bytecode specification: available in the Android source code, at dalvik/docs

21. AppWidgets: http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/widget_design.html

22. Notifications: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/notifiers/notifications.html

23. Application Resources: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/available-resources.html

24. Status Bar icon style guide: http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html

25. Notifications Resources: https://developer.android.com/design/patterns/notifications.html

26. Search Manager: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/SearchManager.html

27. Toasts: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/Toast.html

28. Themes: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/themes.html

29. R.style class: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/R.style.html

30. Material design: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/R.style.html#Theme_Material

31. Live Wallpapers: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/service/wallpaper/WallpaperService.html

32. Overview screen resources: http://developer.android.com/guide/components/recents.html

33. Screen pinning: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-5.0.html#ScreenPinning

34. Input methods: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/text/creating-input-method.html

35. Media Notification: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Notification.MediaStyle.html

36. Dreams: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/service/dreams/DreamService.html

37. Settings.Secure LOCATION_MODE:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.Secure.html#LOCATION_MODE

38. Unicode 6.1.0: http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.1.0/

39. Android Device Administration: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html

40. DevicePolicyManager reference: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html

41. Android Device Owner App:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html#isDeviceOwnerApp(java.lang.String)

XX. Android Device Owner Provisioning Flow:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html#ACTION_PROVISION_MANAGED_DEVICE

XX. Device Owner Provisioning via NFC:

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/admin/provision.html#device_owner_provisioning_via_nfc

XX. Android Managed Profile Provisioning flow:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html#ACTION_PROVISION_MANAGED_PROFILE

XX. Android Profile Owner App:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html#isProfileOwnerApp(java.lang.String)

XX. Managed profile provisioning intent

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/admin/DevicePolicyManager.html#ACTION_PROVISION_MANAGED_PROFILE

42. Android Accessibility Service APIs: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/accessibilityservice/AccessibilityService.html

43. Android Accessibility APIs: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/accessibility/package-summary.html

44. Eyes Free project: http://code.google.com/p/eyes-free

45. Text-To-Speech APIs: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/speech/tts/package-summary.html

46. Television Input Framework: https://source.android.com/devices/tv/index.html

47. Reference tool documentation (for adb, aapt, ddms, systrace): http://developer.android.com/tools/help/index.html

48. Android apk file description: http://developer.android.com/guide/components/fundamentals.html

49. Manifest files: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html

50. Android Media Formats: http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html

51. RTC Hardware Coding Requirements: http://www.webmproject.org/hardware/rtc-coding-requirements/

52. AudioEffect API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/audiofx/AudioEffect.html

53. Android android.content.pm.PackageManager class and Hardware Features List:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageManager.html

54. HTTP Live Streaming Draft Protocol: http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-03

55. ADB: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html

56. Dumpsys: https://source.android.com/devices/input/diagnostics.html

57. DDMS: http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/ddms.html

58. Monkey testing tool: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/monkey.html

59. SysyTrace tool: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/systrace.html

60. Android Application Development-Related Settings:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.html#ACTION_APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT_SETTINGS

61. Supporting Multiple Screens: http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html

62. android.util.DisplayMetrics: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/util/DisplayMetrics.html

63. RenderScript: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/renderscript/

64. Android extension pack for OpenGL ES: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/opengl/GLES31Ext.html

65. Hardware Acceleration: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/graphics/hardware-accel.html

66. EGL Extension-EGL_ANDROID_RECORDABLE:

http://www.khronos.org/registry/egl/extensions/ANDROID/EGL_ANDROID_recordable.txt

67. Display Manager: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/display/DisplayManager.html

68. android.content.res.Configuration: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/res/Configuration.html

69. Action Assist: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html#ACTION_ASSIST

70. Touch Input Configuration: http://source.android.com/devices/tech/input/touch-devices.html

71. Motion Event API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/MotionEvent.html

72. Key Event API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/KeyEvent.html

73. Android Open Source sensors: http://source.android.com/devices/sensors

74. android.hardware.SensorEvent: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/SensorEvent.html

75. Timestamp sensor event: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/SensorEvent.html#timestamp

76. Android Open Source composite sensors: https://source.android.com/devices/sensors/sensor-types.html#composite_sensor_type_summary

77. Continuous trigger mode: https://source.android.com/devices/sensors/report-modes.html#continuous

78. Accelerometer sensor: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Sensor.html#TYPE_ACCELEROMETER

79. Wi-Fi Multicast API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.MulticastLock.html

80. Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi P2P): http://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/wifi/p2p/WifiP2pManager.html

81. WifiManager API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/wifi/WifiManager.html

82. Bluetooth API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/bluetooth/package-summary.html

83. Bluetooth ScanFilter API: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/bluetooth/le/ScanFilter.html

84. NDEF Push Protocol: http://source.android.com/compatibility/ndef-push-protocol.pdf

85. Android Beam: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/nfc/nfc.html

86. Android NFC Sharing Settings:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.html#ACTION_NFCSHARING_SETTINGS

87. NFC Connection Handover: http://members.nfc-forum.org/specs/spec_list/#conn_handover

88. Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC: http://members.nfc-forum.org/apps/group_public/download.php/18688/NFCForum-AD-BTSSP_1_1.pdf

89. Content Resolver: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/ContentResolver.html

90. Camera orientation API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html#setDisplayOrientation(int)

91. Camera: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html

92. Camera: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.Parameters.html

93. Camera hardware level: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/camera2/CameraCharacteristics.html#INFO_SUPPORTED_HARDWARE_LEVEL

94. Camera version support: http://source.android.com/devices/camera/versioning.html

95. Android DownloadManager: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/DownloadManager.html

96. Android File Transfer: http://www.android.com/filetransfer

97. Android Open Accessories: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/accessory.html

98. Android USB Audio: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/usb/UsbConstants.html#USB_CLASS_AUDIO

99. USB Charging Specification: http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/devclass_docs/USB_Battery_Charging_1.2.pdf

100. USB Host API: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/host.html

101. Wired audio headset: http://source.android.com/accessories/headset-spec.html

102. Android Security and Permissions reference: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/security/permissions.html

103. UserManager reference: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/UserManager.html

104. External Storage reference: http://source.android.com/devices/storage

105. External Storage APIs: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Environment.html

106. SMS Short Code: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code

107. Android Open Source Encryption: http://source.android.com/devices/tech/security/encryption/index.html

108. Android Compatibility Program Overview: http://source.android.com/compatibility/index.html

109. Android Compatibility forum: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/android-compatibility

110. WebM project: http://www.webmproject.org/

111. Android UI_MODE_TYPE_CAR API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/res/Configuration.html#UI_MODE_TYPE_CAR

112. Android MediaCodecList API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaCodecList.html

113. Android CamcorderProfile API: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/CamcorderProfile.html

Many of these resources are derived directly or indirectly from the Android SDK, and will be functionally identical to the information in that SDK’s documentation. In any cases where this Compatibility Definition or the Compatibility Test Suite disagrees with the SDK documentation, the SDK documentation is considered authoritative. Any technical details provided in the references included above are considered by inclusion to be part of this Compatibility Definition.