Android 2.2 Spreading Wide

We visited the sculptures
after Google IO 2010

Android 2.2 has been getting a lot of news lately. Instead of just being available on the Nexus One, it's now available on many devices, and even shipping on news ones like the Droid 2. A while back we wrote a few articles about Android 2.2 (aka FroYo!). These are relatively high level overviews, but for some they can serve as a reminder of some of the features that we were excited about yet forgot all about because it's been so long since the announcement.

Recall ten of the most anticipated items us developers were looking for in Top 10 Android 2.2 Features Developers Can't Wait to Use. Anticipated, but have they lived up to the hype? You tell us. Interestingly, Cloud to Device Messaging is still not widely available. And, although it's a user feature, we're definitely seeing that not all carriers are taking the Tethering option as it was developed. The Nexus One could very well be alone in it's implementation.

We took a look at past desserts of Android and compared them to the latest, FroYo (mmm, Frozen Yogurt!), in Android 2.2 and Its Previous Versions: A Sweet Developer Review. Although most of the full API level updates have been fairly minor (especially, for instance, API Level 6 to 7), when you look all the way back to API Level 1, the changes have been substantial. Not only have the APIs changed, but the tools have vastly improved. They started out being surprisingly good for a very young platform. Now they're better than even more mature platforms.

Lastly, we wrote an overview of Android 2.2 for users and developers alike, printed in Linux User & Developer magazine, a UK publication. Hey, Android is available worldwide, mates!  This one covers many of the same topics, naturally. (What, did you expect Android 2.2 to change?)

With Android FroYo old news now, what are you most looking forward to in Gingerbread, the next expected release of the SDK (presumably API Level 9)?

Android SDK 1.5r1 Available for Download

Release 1 of the Android 1.5 SDK is available for download now. Additionally, a system image for the ADP1 (Android Developer Phone from Google) is available for 1.5 now, as well.

This is the third full release of Android, corresponding to API Level 3 (Android 1.1r1 was Level 2 and Android 1.0r1 and 1.0r2 corresponded to Level 1).

This time, though, the Google map services are in an SDK add-on. A vanilla API Level 3 distribution may not contain these. Testing this is made possible through an emulator target that contains these services and one that doesn't, where even clicking on a map link from within an application won't work.

This capability opens the door to other third-party add-ons, a very exciting potential.