Date: January 2010
API Level: 7
Android 2.1 is a minor platform release deployable to Android-powered handsets starting in January 2010. This release includes new API changes and bug fixes. For information on changes, see the Framework API section.
For developers, the Android 2.1 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 includes no external libraries.
To get started developing or testing against the Android 2.1 platform, use the Android SDK and AVD Manager tool to download the platform into your Android SDK. For more information, see Adding SDK Components.
Android 2.1 does not add significant user features, see the Android 2.0 Platform Highlights document for the latest user features.
The system image included in the downloadable platform provides these built-in applications:
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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 2.1 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.
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:
For more information about how to develop an application that displays and functions properly on all Android-powered devices, see Supporting Multiple Screens.
The sections below provide information about changes made to the application framework API provided by the Android 2.1 platform.
The Android 2.1 platform delivers an updated version of the framework API. The Android 2.1 API is assigned an integer identifier — 7 — 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 2.1 in your
application, you need to set the proper value, "7", in the
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.
The following is a summary of some notable changes to the framework APIs.
The following additions provide APIs for you to develop animated wallpapers:
android.service.wallpaper package.WallpaperInfo class.WallpaperManager.SignalStrength class provides information
about the device's current network signal. This can be acquired from the
new onSignalStrengthsChanged(SignalStrength)
callback.onDataConnectionStateChanged(int, int)
callback.View methods isOpaque()
and onDrawScrollBars(Canvas).RemoteViews methods addView(int, RemoteViews) and removeAllViews(int).ViewGroup methods isChildrenDrawingOrderEnabled() and setChildrenDrawingOrderEnabled(boolean).WebStorage methods to manipulate web
storage databases.GeolocationPermissions methods to
get Geolocation permissions from, and set them on the WebView.WebSettings methods to manage settings for
app cache, web storage, and zooming based on screen density.WebChromeClient methods for handling video,
browsing history, custom Views, app cache limits, and more.For a detailed view of all API changes in Android 2.1 (API Level 7), as compared to API Level 6, see the API Differences Report.