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Does Android version matter when learning Android development?

I am going to enrol on a course to learning Android Development. There it says it "write apps for Android 8 Oreo with Kotlin"

But Android 11 is already out there. So is the course worth it in 2021. Or Android version does not matter.

It will be really helpful if you can share your advice. If you have any confusion feel free to ask.

Solution

  • well, the answer to your question is yes it will be helpful.

    at the end of the day, it depends upon your app's target audience. For example, if you go to Android Studio and make a new project, they ask you to select a minimum SDK. So for comparison's sake let me give you the list.

    • Android 4.1 (Your app will run on approximately 99.8% of devices)
    • Android 4.4 (Your app will run on approximately 98.1% of devices)
    • Android 5.0 (Your app will run on approximately 94.1% of devices)
    • Android 5.1 (Your app will run on approximately 92.3% of devices)
    • Android 6.0 (Your app will run on approximately 84.9% of devices)
    • Android 7.0 (Your app will run on approximately 73.7% of devices)
    • Android 8.0 (Your app will run on approximately 60.8% of devices)
    • Android 9.0 (Your app will run on approximately 39.5% of devices)
    • Android 10.0 (Your app will run on approximately 8.2% of devices)
    • Android 11.0 (Your app will run on approximately < 1% of devices)

    So, it's a trade-off, with a newer version you'll get more features and you can offer more features but at the same time, you'll lose users.

    As of Android 8.0, all the features in 8.0 will be, I guess, included in the Android 11.0. So, you can learn 8.0 and shift to 11.0 as per your needs.

    Also, on May 7, 2019, Google announced Kotlin as its official programming language for Android Development. Many apps such as Zomato, dropbox, weChat, Netflix, Trello, Slacks, etc have shifted to Kotlin.

    key features would be view-model, Kotlin Coroutines, Live-data, Room Database, and Flows are all included in Android 8 as well as 11.

    So, as far as basics are concerned it's a THUMBS UP for the course. Also, if you are keener on learning Android, go through Android Kotlin Fundamentals