Basic knowledge about Android 17: FAQs about Android devices and test Essentials

Android device FAQ risks

Why do we need to discuss the risks of Android first? According to an astonishing data, the number of Android OS bugs reported by hardware manufacturers (ihvs), developers, and users has reached 0.12 million, this includes all kinds of problems, big and small. Some of them only affect the smoothness of the job, some may cause data leakage, or the critical bug of the system. As a result, Android, as an open system, must be integrated with hardware vendors and applications. Therefore, many designs must be well-rounded, currently, the following Android FAQs are known and discussed:

I. Security

Recently, several messages have prompted the public to question intelligence.Mobile phoneOf
Security, such as IOS and Android systems, which can record users' geographical locations and be used by people to track their whereabouts (involving personal privacy ); it is also like a security vulnerability earlier than Android 2.3.4: when using an unencrypted Wi-Fi network (open Wi-Fi), leakage may include contacts, calendars, personal albums, and othersGoogleServices and other personal information are stolen by hackers. What's more, because android
The market does not have a clear and rigorous content specification for review of application shelving, resulting in user-plagued phishing and virus problems also migrated from PC to Android devices, in addition to affecting the operating efficiency of the device, these malicious programs containing viruses (malware) may also enable people with high interest to steal user data and conduct illegal theft through remote control.

It is worth noting that these security issues are likely to be a potential threat to personal privacy and security. In this era, users have begun to store various private messages, personal photos, and important meeting data in mobile phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, more specifically, we will use these devices to conduct stock and securities trading or login to various website platforms. However, the biggest concern is that once these users' account passwords are copied and stolen, the consequences can be said to be unimaginable. The vast majority of consumers naturally do not want such doubts to persist, so that they can only passively scan the virus through the mobile phone anti-virus software that has sprung up recently. What consumers expect is, is the active role of relevant vendors to eliminate these security concerns. Therefore, how to identify problems to enhance the missing Android devices and avoid malicious program intrusion is the primary task of Android devices and a major challenge that manufacturers have to face.

Ii. Integration of vendor customized UI

Looking at the products of major Android mobile phone manufacturers on the market, it is not difficult to find that several large mobile phone manufacturers will package the user interface (userinterface) dedicated to their own products under the Native Android software architecture during product design, UI), including HTC's Sense UI, Samsung's touchwizui, and Motorola's motoblur UI, are all rooted in Android's further development of a distinctive customized UI. The purpose of developing these independent UIS is to provide consumers with more convenient and diverse ways of use, and consolidate their own niche through product differentiation. For example, HTC's Sense UI allows users to set Desktop shortcuts by PAGE, community website content aggregation, convenient time and weather widget presentation, etc. Samsung's touchwizui also provides users' desktops
Widget shortcut settings and drag-and-pull touch feedback.

Why are problems with interfaces independently designed by these vendors? Because these devicesOperating SystemI
The root cause is Android. Any detailed changes must be compatible with the original Android framework. Therefore, how to skillfully combine the features pursued by the vendor with the android native architecture, maintaining the smoothness of use is a major learning. How to avoid losing one another and avoid the possibility of using the pool due to blockage or incorrect changes is the key of detail and verification.

Iii. Supporting Measures for Version Upgrade

Unlike the version of the operating system that the iPhone can update from the client, the operating system of the Android device is pre-installed with a single Android version when the mobile phone leaves the factory, as to whether subsequent upgrades are provided, it depends on whether the mobile phone manufacturer releases updates for each type of device, some manufacturers will provide update and upgrade as soon as possible, some manufacturers will require several months of development time, and even some manufacturers will directly decide not to provide the upgrade. In this case, it is very likely that Android 2.3 has been released, but users can only use the Android 2.2 operating system, this is not only equivalent to the fact that users cannot enjoy vulnerability fixes or feature extensions for updated versions, but also greatly affects users' perception. This is a continuous extension of the Android device market.
It will definitely have a negative impact.

In order to reduce the number of users generated at the time of purchase, "will upgrade be provided in the future ?" , "Wait for the upgrade version to see if it takes a long time" and other issues. How can the manufacturer design a complete software architecture at the initial stage of a product development, this requires careful consideration. All of this requires comprehensive software and hardware verification skills. After all, when the operating system (software) version is upgraded, the memory, processor, camera module, and other (hardware) on the device) it will not follow the upgrade, so from the beginning of product development, to the end of the new operating system supporting the response, to ensure that the software update can indeed cooperate with the hardware, it will be a step that manufacturers must strengthen.

In addition, Google puts forward a 18-month warranty Upgrade Plan in response to the problem that users are often unable to upgrade. The developer who joins the plan must provide any OS updates released by the consumer during this period, this plan is a good news for consumers, but for a variety of Android mobile device developers, the development of new products must still take into account the upgrade of old products, in this Compact development period and development resource pressure, you must pay more attention to the quality of upgrade and verification.

4. Application upward and downward compatibility

For developers of applications (also known as Apps), whenever the Android operating system is upgraded, you must re-check whether your application can run in the new OS version. However, the actual situation is that when the consumer's Android device version is upgraded, the original app on the device may not be compatible with the new version, and it is time-consuming to wait for the developer to release the updated version of the app; or the new app only supports the new Android operating system, and users using older operating system devices cannot use the new app on their own devices.

In addition to operating system versions, the compatibility of apps on different devices is also closely related to hardware specifications, such as OpenGL support, screen size, and resolution, the official website of Android specifically explains how developers can design apps compatible with different screen sizes. Even so, the differentiated design by various manufacturers for Android will still cause compatibility problems, only by verifying users on various Android devices can the app compatibility be ensured.

The longer it takes for a developer to update an app, the longer it takes for the user to wait. The more likely it will be to use apps of the same nature launched by other developers; the fewer operating system versions an app supports, the smaller the potential customer base. Therefore, in addition to whether the app attracts users and is used smoothly, when designing an app, taking into account the support for existing/previous versions, and considering how to respond in real time to upgrade the operating system version, it is naturally a key project that must be considered by application developers.

In addition to the aforementioned problems that are common to Android devices, these devices are characteristic of multiple features such as network browsing, audio and video multimedia, and game and entertainment, naturally, there are also many functional, compatibility, and reliability problems, such as the signal reception capability of the 3G and Wi-Fi modules, power consumption degree, and compatibility with external accessories. Because of the complexity and features of Android devices, detailed test and verification are required to ensure the device quality level. Based on years of professional experience and product features of Android devices, baijiatai has summarized the following verification architecture for reference by the industry. In this article, we propose several Android devices for testing and verification, you must pay attention to the collection of a set of testing and verification methods for the features of Android devices.
The architecture and test project are described as follows.

Android device verification architecture and key test items

The verification architecture can be divided into three major parts: hardware (hardware), operating system (OS), and application (APP ). Hardware verification includes the functionality of various components in the device, the suitability of new components and the compatibility between different modules; operating system verification includes the integration of the vendor's customized UI and the native Android system, the normal operation capability during version upgrade, and the elimination of the most important security threats; application verification includes the functionality and accessibility of the app, the upward/downward relationship between the app and the operating system, and the compatibility of various device hardware and screen specifications. Only when both of these three features can be considered as a comprehensive verification of Android devices. As for the actual testing focus, we can focus on the following aspects:

● Functional functionality

To ensure that Android devices can be used normally, functional verification is indispensable, from communication modules (wi-fi, 3G, GPS, FM, Bluetooth, etc) touch screen (including various sensing components), camera module, transmission interface (USB, HDMI, etc) audio/Video Playback, recording, expansion slots, system operation capabilities (multi-task operations, DRM functions, Security Protection), and other special functions such as gyroscope, magnetic force meter, etc, all must be covered.

● Application

Whether it's a smartphone or tablet computer, an important selling point of Android devices is that in addition to the built-in basic app, users can freely download more apps of different function types. Generally, apps preset on this machine include Web browsers, audio and video players, notebooks, message sending and receiving, phone calls, contact books, and maps, the compatibility between these apps and the local machine must be ensured to be well operated before leaving the factory, so as to avoid problems such as system crash and data loss. Third-party apps available to users are varied, from a variety of games, e-books, productivity software, communication tools, real-time synchronization software and so on, we need to test one by one to ensure that these hundreds of thousands of apps are fully compatible with the user's device, therefore, filtering these apps and selecting the most representative and required apps
The app to be verified is the homework that must be done before verification.

● Interoperability

The third verification focuses on interoperability between different devices. Because Android devices provide functions like a microcomputer, they may need to be connected to many different electronic products in many use cases, such as accessing the Internet through Wireless AP, data transmission with other devices, external keyboard and mouse, wireless printing, etc, it verifies interoperability with a large number of mainstream external devices and consumer electronic products on the market to ensure normal functionality and avoid the negative impression that "android products of a certain brand are often unable to be detected and used, naturally, it is necessary to maintain a good user perception and maintain a good reputation of the product.

● Android compatibility androidcompatibility

To ensure the high compatibility between a wide variety of Android devices and operating systems on the market, Google has also designed an android compatibility Plan (androidcompatibilityprogram, only when the device under test is compatible with the Android operating system can the android trademark image be used and androidmarket be used. The so-called Android compatibility plan includes the CDD file (compatibilitydefinitiondocument, compatibility test outline) and the CTS Suite (compatibilitytestsuite
The device manufacturer must first comply with the specifications in the CDD documents, the Specification defines the functional items that must be included in different Android versions, as well as the software and hardware capabilities, performance levels, and security requirements to be supported, and then tests the CTS suite. All product errors during the CTS test must be corrected to be compatible with the Android operating system.

However, the current CDD file and CTS kit are only standards of the basic level and provide a test policy that can be applied in an integrated manner and cannot cover all kinds of certification-required targets, more advanced functional reviews still rely on internal self-verification by various vendors. In view of this, baijiatai has also begun cooperation with a number of major manufacturers, in addition to continuing to study the development of advanced automated testing tools and programs, it also provides exclusive test plans and product design suggestions for the features of Android devices in different manufacturers to meet the compatibility verification requirements of different manufacturers in various functional projects.

● Storage media storage

Android devices usually use embedded emmc as the storage media. However, although nandflash-based technology is suitable for mobile devices, however, data leakage, efficiency degradation, and tolerance are also more likely to occur than traditional storage methods. Imagine that a photo taken by a user, a temporary important note, or meeting data made on a tablet at any time disappears out of thin air, the loss to users and the reliability of products are even more serious. Therefore, ensuring the integrity of storage media data is also an indispensable prerequisite for Android device verification.

● Wirelessconnectivity

Smart phones and computers make mobile Internet access possible, and more attention is required for related devices, such as whether the compatibility of the network chip will cause signal reception failure or weak signal problems, whether the position of the module in the machine architecture design will cause mutual interference between different signal sources and affect the reception quality, the sensitivity of the receiver, and whether the signal can be shared normally as a Wi-Fi hotspot, etc, for users who may need to use the network at any time, whether the portable device can smoothly connect to the network is definitely the key to affecting the purchase.

● Audio quality

In addition to mobile surfing, listening to music and browsing movies at any time is also a major demand for Android devices. Therefore, whether they can provide good reading experience will greatly affect users' views. In the past, the masses generally did not have high requirements on the video playing capability through mobile phones or other portable devices, because we positioned the mobile phone role as a call and answer phone; however, when smartphones and tablets emerge, the high price and wide range of promotional slogans make consumers look forward to these products, there have also begun to be external speakers specially designed for mobile phones or tablet products. In this situation, ensuring sound quality has become a major incentive for consumers.

As mentioned in our previous articles, the original code of the Android operating system contains the re-sampling (re-sampling) Design for audio sources, this will lead to the design of the device to re-sample the 48 Khz audio source into 44 kHz, resulting in harmonic distortion affects the playing sound quality of the device. According to our actual test results, we found that this is a common problem for most Android devices. Although sound quality verification is not a sound quality-oriented device manufacturer in the past, it is not technical expertise, but also requires a high entry into the door, but if problems can be found and corrected in time, it is definitely a different advantage from other competitors.

● Performance

In addition to the features mentioned above, it must be able to operate normally. Another noteworthy verification item is performance. It is also an Android device with the same hardware specification. If one device starts the application for 20 seconds, and the other device only takes 10 seconds, taking it for granted that most consumers will choose the latter, or they will suddenly see the picture they want to capture on the road. Mobile phone a takes 6 seconds to enable the shooting mode, while mobile phone B only takes 2 seconds, naturally, you won't miss out on the Highlights when choosing mobile phone B. The same principle can also be applied in the speed of browsing the Web page, the time required for starting up, and so on, all need to be verified. At the same time, in order to understand the real performance of the product, you can also use benchmarktest to compare and analyze other products on the market, find out the strengths of your own products, and strengthen weaknesses, you can know yourself and know yourself.

● Reliability Reliability

The reliability of a product is related to the probability of product errors and the ability of the system to repair errors. For example, whether a warning window exists when an online exception occurs, and whether the multi-task processing can enable more than a dozen applications at the same time in case of background execution or program errors can avoid no response or crash, even after the host, can it be restarted through too many boot methods. When an error occurs more often, the user's goodwill for the product decreases, and may even affect the brand's quality trust. Therefore, it is necessary to simulate various possible user scenarios to identify possible product problems and conduct comprehensive error tests to ensure product reliability.

● Power consumption and battery power storage powerconsumption & batterylife

When talking about mobile devices, we cannot help but mention the power consumption level. Unlike desk computers or other fixed electronic products, mobile devices are designed based on the absence of continuous power supply. Therefore, the length of standby time becomes crucial. For a full-day meeting schedule, no one wants to use his or her portable device to contact customers, send and receive emails, or record work events, and suddenly consumes power. Therefore, reasonable and good standby capabilities have become a major selling point of the mobile device. The standby mode of the mobile device is related to the time available for various operations. Besides the battery capacity, the power consumption and software design of the hardware components are both possible sources of problems, for example, the recent iPhone 4S standby time is too short. In addition, the endurance after continuous charging, the number of recharged times, and the stability of the battery power supply from the perspective of safety are all important items in battery testing.

● Upgrade the operating system to osupgrade

The final verification item cannot be ignored is the integration verification during the operating system upgrade. When the Android version is upgraded, the vendor must make efforts to modify the firmware version, how to ensure that the original customized UI and all functions are normal, device efficiency is optimized, and the new version is upgraded at the same time is the focus of this verification project. The new operating system version often symbolizes the addition of new functions and the correction of errors. Therefore, to maintain these two prerequisites with existing hardware specifications and customized functions, we recommend that you maintain them as much as possible. The upgrade of the operating system actually means that the full functionality of the device needs to be fully verified, and it also needs to verify whether the upgrade will cause a case that has actually occurred: loss of original data and device status, in fact, it is more difficult than simply importing a new operating system into a product. Third-party assistance is also needed to avoid blind spots in verification.

Comprehensive verification pursuing high-quality Android devices

Looking at Android devices on the market, whether it is smartphones or tablets, it is a new product that has been developed quite recently. As for the current situation, there are still many problems that need to be overcome one by one. To help manufacturers develop products more smoothly and provide consumers with higher quality, baijiatai uses years of testing experience and verification capabilities in network communication, handheld devices, storage products, mobile computation, and software and hardware integration to create a testing solution most suitable for Android devices.

Different from pure functional verification, coupled with the necessary verification focus of all the aforementioned Android devices to avoid common risks, baijiatai collects and organizes the problem database, provides complete error analysis, and further assists in troubleshooting and quality improvement. This article only explores common problems and risks of Android devices from an open perspective, and shares our testing concepts to serve as the reference indicators of relevant manufacturers, we hope that, by continuously promoting the maturity and quality improvement of Android devices, consumers can enjoy better and better products.

References:

FAQs and test essentials of Android devices