[Android] Should there be open betas?

[ds84182]

There are a lot of different versions of Android in existence right now. Since the current SDK min version is API 16 we support 95.7% of all the devices that use the Google Play store. There are 6 different screen densities and 6 different architectures that need to be supported, too. (Hell, even OS modifications (Samsung, <insert Android roms from XDA here>) can break apps) The fact is I don't have enough devices to properly test on.

Beta releases will be release builds signed with a debug key. Proguard will also obfuscate and remove unused code and resources.

[endrift]

I definitely want there to be beta releases before the upstreaming/release, but I'm not sure if they should be open or behind a Patreon (at least for the latest). It won't really be relevant for a while, but open betas and Patreon nightlies might be the way to go.

[hahahafr]

There are a lot of different versions of Android in existence right now. Since the current SDK min version is API 16 we support 95.7% of all the devices that use the Google Play store. There are 6 different screen densities and 6 different architectures that need to be supported, too. (Hell, even OS modifications (Samsung, <insert Android roms from XDA here>) can break apps) The fact is I don't have enough devices to properly test on.

Beta releases will be release builds signed with a debug key. Proguard will also obfuscate and remove unused code and resources.

Obfuscating code is lame. Please use free software licence.

[endrift]

Once the Android version is eminently usable, the code will be upstreamed at which point it will be using the same license as the rest of the project. Until then, it's behind closed doors just to keep people from releasing quick knockoffs on the play store. It's not like it's very far along yet anyway.