Managing Android Fragmentation

Fragmentation at Twitter Scale explores what it takes to ship an Android app to hundreds of millions of users many of which are in remote corners of the world. The app needs to run a wide variety of devices, over slow or expensive connections, yet still take advantage of the latest features of Android.

In this talk, we’ll look at building different versions of the app, a light version for underpowered devices and the other one that takes advantage of the latest hardware. You will learn how Twitter automates testing across many different devices, and how to deal with edge cases with respect to NDK on different hardware.

Transcript

1. Managing Android Fragmentation Saud Khan! @bidyut
3. Agenda • Various fragmentation points • Battles we fought at Twitter • Steps to take to make life easier • Q&A
4. Devices Courtesy: OpenSignal.com
5. Screen Sizes Courtesy: OpenSignal.com
6. Manufacturers Courtesy: OpenSignal.com
7. Hardware • Hardware buttons • Hardware keyboard • Camera support • Various sensors
8. Android Stack Courtesy: developer.android.com
9. Twitter Users 11/11/11 11:11
10. Twitter Android Users
11. Global Town Square
12. How do we manage?
13. 3 Questions • What are the key features of the app? • What minimum API level are these features available at? • What legacy devices are you comfortable leaving behind?
14. Twitter Android Users
15. Who do we support? • Froyo and up • Eclair in maintenance
16. Android for All • Target MDPI (medium density) • Only include assets for MDPI • No support for photo filters
17. Android for All APK size of around 4 MB
18. Where do we start?
19. Quick Wins • Screen sizes and orientation • Density-independent pixel (dp) • Scale-independent pixel (sp)
20. 1080p 720p
21. Quick wins • Screen sizes and orientation • Density-independent pixel (dp) • Scale-independent pixel (sp) • Multiple languages
22. Multiple Languages Courtesy: UNESCO
23. Example Tweet <style name="UserImage"> <item name="android:layout_width">@dimen/user_image_size</item> <item name="android:layout_height">@dimen/user_image_size</item> <item name="android:layout_marginRight">@dimen/list_row_padding</item> <item name="android:layout_alignParentLeft">true</item> </style>
24. Example Tweet <style name="UserImage.RTL"> <item name="android:layout_marginRight">0dp</item> <item name="android:layout_marginLeft">@dimen/list_row_padding</item> <item name="android:layout_alignParentLeft">false</item> <item name="android:layout_alignParentRight">true</item> </style>
25. layout/user_info.xml <?xml  version="1.0"  encoding="utf-­‐8"?>   <merge  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">          <ImageView  android:id="@id/user_image"                                style="@style/UserImage"/>          <RelativeLayout  android:layout_toRightOf="@id/user_image"                                          android:layout_toLeftOf="@id/action_button"                                          android:layout_centerVertical="true"                                          android:layout_width="wrap_content"                                          android:layout_height="wrap_content">                  <include  layout="@layout/user_info_name"/>                  <com.twitter.library.widget.TypefacesTextView                                  android:id="@+id/screenname_item"                                  android:layout_below="@id/name_layout"                                  style="@style/Username"/>          </RelativeLayout>   </merge>
26. layout-ar-v15/user_info.xml <?xml  version="1.0"  encoding="utf-­‐8"?>   <merge  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">          <ImageView  android:id="@id/user_image"                                style="@style/UserImage.RTL"/>          <RelativeLayout  android:layout_toLeftOf="@id/user_image"                                          android:layout_toRightOf="@id/action_button"                                          android:layout_centerVertical="true"                                          android:layout_width="wrap_content"                                          android:layout_height="wrap_content">                  <include  layout="@layout/user_info_name"/>                  <com.twitter.library.widget.TypefacesTextView                                  android:id="@+id/screenname_item"                                  android:layout_below="@id/name_layout"                                  style="@style/Username"/>          </RelativeLayout>   </merge>
27. Right-To-Left • Jellybean and newer • Different language codes • Arabic (ar) • Farsi (fa) • Hebrew (iw, he)
28. Debug mode
29. Quick wins • Screen sizes and orientation • Density-independent pixel (dp) • Scale-independent pixel (sp) • Multiple languages • Android Support libraries
30. ViewPager
31. Let the tools do the heavy lifting
32. ActionBar
33. ActionBar • No support in Gingerbread • No expansion in Honeycomb • Differences in Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean
34. Jellybean • Utilizing ActionBar
35. Gingerbread • Old title bar look • Custom expanded look
36. Honeycomb • Utilizing ActionBar • Native Android search
37. public  static  ActionBarHelper  newInstance(Activity  activity)  {          if  (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT  <  Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB)  {                  return  new  ActionBarHelperCompat(activity);          }  else  if  (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT  <                                Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)  {                  return  new  ActionBarHelperHoneycomb(activity);          }  else  {                  return  new  ActionBarHelperICS(activity);          }   }
38. Hardware buttons • Search button vs Action Bar • Menu button vs Overflow menu
39. Database • Different versions of SQLite • Test with the lowest supporting API
40. • Improving DB queries by joining tables instead of views • Wasn’t a good idea for complicated joins under Eclair
41. Native Libraries • A set for each architecture • Size vs Complexity
42. Photo filters • Issues with different photos • Random failures in native code • Exceptions for various unique devices
43. What’s next?
44. Testing • Multi API level testing • Multiple languages • Various OEM devices • UI automation
45. Support • Crashlytics • Listen to the feed
46. Crashlytics
47. Build Tools • Android for All • Beta, Release • Gradle flavors
48. Versioning • Numeric name spacing • OOSSDDVVV • OS API level • Screen size • Display Density • Version Courtesy: developer.android.com
49. Versioning • 070001050 • 100000050 • 140000050 • 070001054! • 100000075! • 140000051
50. Thank you @bidyut