Android HTC Hero not reporting back correct FeatureInfo

Question

I'm having a strange problem with my HTC Hero 2.1
model=HERO200
manufacturer=HTC
APILevel=7

It is not reporting back that it has a hardware microphone. Here is my code to check for Features.

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);
    Context context = this;
    PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
    FeatureInfo[] foo = pm.getSystemAvailableFeatures();
    for (FeatureInfo bar : foo) {
        if (bar.name != null) {
            System.out.println(bar.toString());
            if (bar.name.equalsIgnoreCase("android.hardware.microphone"))
                System.out.println("Booyah!");
        }
    }
}

It does report back these features:
android.hardware.camera
android.hardware.wifi
android.hardware.location.network
android.hardware.bluetooth
android.hardware.sensor.light
android.hardware.location
android.hardware.location.gps
android.hardware.camera.autofocus
android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch
android.hardware.touchscreen
android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer
android.hardware.sensor.compass

Some are API Level 8 like compass and gps, and others are level 7. Is there another way I can search for features? Something else I can use besides getSystemAvailableFeatures()? Maybe a lower level system call? Why is my phone not reporting back that it has a hardware microphone? Help please :) Thanks!

Answer 1

I guess if this phone is set for Android API Level 7... then I just can't set a requirement that was designed for API Level 8 (Like microphone).

This is the proper way to request features of the phone from Android.

So... this sucks... oh well. But still weird that this phone does report back some features from API Level 8, but you shouldn't rely upon that.