Delta Chat Version for Android 4.1

1

As there has been a discussion in a closed issue about this topic at github, which is more or less invisible for most users, I want to reveal that discussion here.

This is the issue at github:

And here is a Delta Chat fork existing which targets DC’s main features for Android 4.1:

Please see changes and enhancements of this version in changelog.

Due to my own needs I did this fork. But as an outcome of the discussion it would be very interesting for developers how many users would still need a DC version with minimal requirement for Android 4.1 (sdk16)?

So

  1. We want to make a survey and everyone who’s interesting in an Android 4.1 version should speak up here to get an overview.

  2. Current official DC version meanwhile upgraded some few parts of the code to a minimum requirement of Android 4.4 (sdk19). These parts are not working any more at a 4.1 device. If you use it an error message toast is shown, but no function.
    Examples are a) image editing b) video recoding (video attachment) c) badge counter at start screen icon.

( c) may be a problem at other Android versions too)

I can imagine to support an Android 4.1 fork with main features for a certain time.

All comments welcome now!

2

I like to have as many devices supported as possible, but I also know that we (deltachat/merlinux team) have not enough resources currently to maintain it.
If you maintain it and probably optimize it for android 4.1 we could put it up on our download page as in-official version optimized for older android versions.

3

Hi Simon,
maybe that’s a way.

In any case for me it’s not possible too, to merge all changes of official version to the fork but what I can do is, to merge some single important bug fixes into the fork and if really useful sync the fork’s changes into official version.

As You said, resources are a problem and I don’t want to waste them.

In any case: Sometimes endless discussions cost more resources (without result) than implementing something :wink:

4

often, the implementation is not a problem of resources. but maintenance and reliability is.

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5

I vote to add support for older devices and operating systems (such as Anroid 4.0+ or Windows 32 bits).

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6

yeah, it is a pity that Facebook Messenger works in pretty old devices and DC don’t but maintaining that development has a high cost for the Delta Chat devs and unlike Facebook, they aren’t making a lot of money selling user data :wink:

7

Changing the code only if there is really a serious technical reason is IMHO the way to support older devices.
Changes because of supporting new features for newest or current devices forces code changes in existing functions which need recoding for these existing features again and again. This blows up maintenance!

8

IMHO a fork is necessary here which guarantees basic features and bugfixes only.

I think this is what many users with old devices are expecting/waiting for.

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9

Next feature I want to attack is the backupj/restore code which consumes less memory (old PR for c core).