IOS Dev Doing Android, Best Device to Dev For?

[drewlarsen]

I'm an iOS developer with an app about to launch in the iTunes App Store. Going to be building an Android version of the same app next, but I have no experience using or dev'ing Android at all.

I plan to get a used no-contract device in order to start understanding the platform.

What would HN'ers suggest as a good representative device that a typical 25-45 yr old Android user might have?

[edderly]

A relatively recent Nexus device is a good proposition, Google are pretty good at providing the latest OS revisions on the devices and if needed you can flash it to older versions of the OS.

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

[wavefunction]

I'd just download the SDK toolkit, it's got a decent emulator that supports host-GPU acceleration and you can at least get your feet wet.

A typical 25-45 year old Android user is a pretty wide open space dude. I have a HTC OneS but I also had to buy it out of contract.

[Zigurd]

There are two parts to the answer:

1. Get a device because you will need one for debugging. Some things can't be debugged in the emulator. The easy thing is to buy a Nexus 4 in the Play store. That's a great price for a really nice device. If you have the money, get a 10" tablet, too. Asus tablets are very nice.

2. Understand that no device is adequately representative of the devices you want to target. So don't assume anything about screen size or density, and don't assume that if it looks good on your device, you are done. Make lots of emulator configurations. Make very large screen configurations. Rotate the screens. Change the font size preference. You would be surprised how easy it is to break apps by changing the font size.

What you will learn form this is that you can't make a separate layout for every device. Don't try. Don't limit the user. Let them change screen orientation. Let them change font size. Let them run your app on a 22" landscape mode display connected to the HDMI port.