In this document
- Platform Highlights
- Revisions
- API Level
- Framework API Changes
- Built-in Applications
- Locales
- Emulator Skins
Reference
See Also
API Level: 3
Android 1.5 is a major platform release deployable to Android-powered handsets starting in May 2009. The release includes new features for users and developers, as well as changes in the Android framework API.
For developers, the Android 1.5 platform is available as a downloadable component for the Android SDK. The downloadable platform includes a fully compliant Android library and system image, as well as a set of emulator skins, sample applications, and more. The downloadable platform is fully compliant and includes no external libraries.
To get started developing or testing against the Android 1.5 platform, use the Android SDK and AVD Manager tool to download the platform into your Android 1.6 or later SDK. For more information, see Exploring the SDK.
Platform Highlights
For a list of new user features and platform highlights, see the Android 1.5 Platform Highlights document.
Revisions
The sections below provide notes about successive releases of the Android 1.5 platform component for the Android SDK, as denoted by revision number. To determine what revision(s) of the Android 1.5 platforms are installed in your SDK environment, refer to the "Installed Packages" listing in the Android SDK and AVD Manager.
- Dependencies:
-
Requires SDK Tools r6 or higher.
- Tools:
-
- Adds support for library projects in the Ant build system.
- Fixes test project build in the Ant build system.
- Dependencies:
-
Requires SDK Tools r3 or higher.
Not available as an SDK component — please use Android 1.5, r3 instead.
Not available as an SDK component — please use Android 1.5, r3 instead.
API Level
The Android 1.5 platform delivers an updated version of the framework API. The Android 1.5 API is assigned an integer identifier — 3 — that is stored in the system itself. This identifier, called the "API Level", allows the system to correctly determine whether an application is compatible with the system, prior to installing the application.
To use APIs introduced in Android 1.5 in your
application, you need to set the proper value, "3", in the
android:minSdkVersion
attributes of the <uses-sdk>
element in your application's manifest.
For more information about how to use API Level, see the API Levels document.
Framework API Changes
The sections below provide information about the application framework API provided by the Android 1.5 platform.
UI framework
- Framework for easier background/UI thread interaction
- New
SlidingDrawer
widget - New
HorizontalScrollview
widget
AppWidget framework
- APIs for creating secure home screen
AppWidgets
. For information about how to use AppWidgets, see the Developer's Guide AppWidgets documentation. Also see Introducing home screen widgets and the AppWidget framework on the Android Developer's Blog. - APIs for populating
Live Folders
with custom content.
Media framework
- Raw audio recording and playback APIs
- Interactive MIDI playback engine
- Video recording APIs for developers (3GP format)
- Video and photo sharing Intents
- Media search Intent
Input Method framework
Input Method Service
framework- Text-prediction engine
- Ability to provide downloadable IMEs to users
Application-defined hardware requirements
Applications can now use a new element in their manifest files, <uses-configuration>
to indicate to the Android system what hardware features
they require in order to function properly. For example, an application might
use the element to specify that it requires a physical keyboard or a particular
navigation device, such as a trackball. Prior to installing the application, the
Android system checks the attributes defined for the
<uses-configuration>
element and allows the installation to
continue only if the required hardware is present.
Speech recognition framework
- Support for using speech recognition libraries via Intent. See
RecognizerIntent
.
Miscellaneous API additions
- LocationManager - Applications can get location change updates via Intent
- WebView - Touch start/end/move/cancel DOM event support
- Redesigned
Sensor Manager APIs
- GLSurfaceView - convenience framework for creating OpenGL applications
- Broadcast Intent for app update install succeeded - for smoother app upgrade experience
API differences report
For a detailed view of API changes in Android 1.5 (API Level 3), as compared to the previous version, see the API Differences Report.
Built-in Applications
The system image included in the downloadable platform provides these built-in applications:
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Locales
The system image included in the downloadable platform provides a variety of built-in locales. In some cases, region-specific strings are available for the locales. In other cases, a default version of the language is used. The languages that are available in the Android 1.5 system image are listed below (with language_country/region locale descriptor).
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Localized UI strings match the locales that are accessible through Settings.
Emulator Skins
The downloadable platform includes a set of emulator skins that you can use for modeling your application in different screen sizes and resolutions. The emulator skins are:
- QVGA-P (240x320, low density, small screen)
- QVGA-L (320x480, low density, small screen)
- HVGA (320x480, medium density, normal screen)
- HVGA-P (320x480, medium density, normal screen)
- HVGA-L (320x480, medium density, normal screen)
For more information about how to develop an application that displays and functions properly on all Android-powered devices, see Supporting Multiple Screens.