uses-feature-element.jd revision 33baa5ad7d8cdcc89ce4fbc3bc8cd537d5f5d639
1page.title=<uses-feature>
2page.tags=filtering,features,google play filters,permissions
3@jd:body
4
5<div id="qv-wrapper">
6<div id="qv">
7
8
9<h2>In this document</h2>
10<ol>
11  <li><a href="#market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</a>
12    <ol>
13      <li><a href="#declared">Filtering based on explicitly declared features</a></li>
14      <li><a href="#implicit">Filtering based on implicit features</a></li>
15      <li><a href="#bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</a></li>
16      <li><a href="#testing">Testing the features required by your application</a></li>
17    </ol>
18  </li>
19  <li><a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a>
20    <ol>
21      <li><a href="#hw-features">Hardware features</a></li>
22      <li><a href="#sw-features">Software features</a></li>
23      <li><a href="#permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</a></li>
24    </ol>
25  </li>
26</ol>
27</div>
28</div>
29
30 <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 
31 <div class="sidebox">
32    <img src="{@docRoot}assets/images/icon_play.png" style="float:left;margin:0;padding:0;"> 
33    <p style="color:#669999;padding-top:1em;">Google Play Filtering</p> 
34    <p style="padding-top:1em;">Google Play uses the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
35    elements declared in your app manifest to filter your app from devices 
36    that do not meet it's hardware and software feature requirements. </p>
37
38<p style="margin-top:1em;">By specifying the features that your application requires,
39you enable Google Play to present your application only to users whose
40devices meet the application's feature requirements, rather than presenting it
41to all users. </p>
42
43<p>For important information about how
44Google Play uses features as the basis for filtering, please read <a
45href="#market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</a>,
46below.</p>
47</div>
48</div>
49
50<dl class="xml">
51
52<dt>syntax:</dt>
53<dd>
54<pre class="stx">&lt;uses-feature
55  android:<a href="#name">name</a>="<em>string</em>"
56  android:<a href="#required">required</a>=["true" | "false"]
57  android:<a href="#glEsVersion">glEsVersion</a>="<em>integer</em>" /&gt;</pre>
58</dd>
59
60<dt>contained in:</dt>
61<dd><code><a
62href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element.html">&lt;manifest&gt;</a></code></dd>
63
64<dt>description:</dt>
65<dd>Declares a single hardware or software feature that is used by the
66application.
67
68<p>The purpose of a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declaration is to inform
69any external entity of the set of hardware and software features on which your
70application depends. The element offers a <code>required</code> attribute that
71lets you specify whether your application requires and cannot function without
72the declared feature, or whether it prefers to have the feature but can function
73without it. Because feature support can vary across Android devices, the
74<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element serves an important role in letting an
75application describe the device-variable features that it uses.</p>
76
77<p>The set of available features that your application declares corresponds to
78the set of feature constants made available by the Android {@link
79android.content.pm.PackageManager}, which are listed for
80convenience in the <a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a> tables
81at the bottom of this document.
82
83<p>You must specify each feature in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
84element, so if your application requires multiple features, it would declare
85multiple <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements. For example, an application
86that requires both Bluetooth and camera features in the device would declare
87these two elements:</p>
88
89<pre>
90&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" />
91&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
92</pre>
93
94<p>In general, you should always make sure to declare
95<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements for all of the features that your
96application requires.</p>
97
98<p>Declared <code>&lt;uses-feature></code> elements are informational only, meaning
99that the Android system itself does not check for matching feature support on
100the device before installing an application. However, other services
101(such as Google Play) or applications may check your application's 
102<code>&lt;uses-feature></code> declarations as part of handling or interacting
103with your application. For this reason, it's very important that you declare all of
104the features (from the list below) that your application uses. </p>
105
106<p>For some features, there may exist a specific attribute that allows you to define
107a version of the feature, such as the version of Open GL used (declared with
108<a href="#glEsVersion"><code>glEsVersion</code></a>). Other features that either do or do not
109exist for a device, such as a camera, are declared using the
110<a href="#name"><code>name</code></a> attribute.</p>
111
112
113<p>Although the <code>&lt;uses-feature></code> element is only activated for
114devices running API Level 4 or higher, it is recommended to include these
115elements for all applications, even if the <a href="uses-sdk-element.html#min"><code>minSdkVersion</code></a>
116is "3" or lower. Devices running older versions of the platform will simply
117ignore the element.</p>
118
119<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> When declaring a feature, remember
120that you must also request permissions as appropriate. For example, you must
121still request the {@link android.Manifest.permission#CAMERA}
122permission before your application can access the camera API. Requesting the
123permission grants your application access to the appropriate hardware and
124software, while declaring the features used by your application ensures proper
125device compatibility.</p>
126
127</dd> 
128
129
130<dt>attributes:</dt>
131
132<dd>
133<dl class="attr">
134
135  <dt><a name="name"></a><code>android:name</code></dt>
136  <dd>Specifies a single hardware or software feature used by the application,
137as a descriptor string. Valid descriptor values are listed in the <a
138href="#hw-features">Hardware features</a> and <a href="#sw-features">Software
139features</a> tables, below. </dd>
140
141  <dt><a name="required"></a><code>android:required</code></dt>  <!-- added in api level 5 -->
142  <dd>Boolean value that indicates whether the application requires
143  the feature specified in <code>android:name</code>.
144
145<ul>
146<li>When you declare <code>"android:required="true"</code> for a feature,
147you are specifying that the application <em>cannot function, or is not
148designed to function</em>, when the specified feature is not present on the
149device. </li>
150
151<li>When you declare <code>"android:required="false"</code> for a feature, it
152means that the application <em>prefers to use the feature</em> if present on
153the device, but that it <em>is designed to function without the specified
154feature</em>, if necessary. </li>
155
156</ul>
157
158<p>The default value for <code>android:required</code> if not declared is
159<code>"true"</code>.</p>
160  </dd>
161
162  <dt><a name="glEsVersion"></a><code>android:glEsVersion</code></dt>
163  <dd>The OpenGL ES version required by the application. The higher 16 bits
164represent the major number and the lower 16 bits represent the minor number. For
165example, to specify OpenGL ES version 2.0, you would set the value as
166"0x00020000", or to specify OpenGL ES 3.0, you would set the value as "0x00030000".
167
168  <p>An application should specify at most one <code>android:glEsVersion</code>
169attribute in its manifest. If it specifies more than one, the
170<code>android:glEsVersion</code> with the numerically highest value is used and
171any other values are ignored.</p>
172
173  <p>If an application does not specify an <code>android:glEsVersion</code>
174attribute, then it is assumed that the application requires only OpenGL ES 1.0,
175which is supported by all Android-powered devices.</p>
176
177  <p>An application can assume that if a platform supports a given OpenGL ES
178version, it also supports all numerically lower OpenGL ES versions. Therefore,
179an application that requires both OpenGL ES 1.0 and OpenGL ES 2.0 must specify
180that it requires OpenGL ES 2.0.</p>
181
182  <p>An application that can work with any of several OpenGL ES versions should
183only specify the numerically lowest version of OpenGL ES that it requires. (It
184can check at run-time whether a higher level of OpenGL ES is available.)</p>
185
186  <p>For more information about using OpenGL ES, including how to check the supported OpenGL ES
187version at runtime, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/graphics/opengl.html">OpenGL ES</a>
188API guide.</p>
189  </dd>
190
191</dl>
192</dd>
193
194<!-- ##api level indication## -->
195<dt>introduced in:</dt>
196<dd>API Level 4</dd>
197
198<dt>see also:</dt>
199<dd>
200  <ul>
201    <li>{@link android.content.pm.PackageManager}</li>
202    <li>{@link android.content.pm.FeatureInfo}</li>
203    <li>{@link android.content.pm.ConfigurationInfo}</li>
204    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-permission-element.html"><code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code></a></li>
205    <li><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/filters.html">Filters on Google Play</a></li>
206  </ul>
207</dd>
208
209</dl>
210
211
212<h2 id="market-feature-filtering">Google Play and Feature-Based Filtering</h2>
213
214<p>Google Play filters the applications that are visible to users, so that
215users can see and download only those applications that are compatible with
216their devices. One of the ways it filters applications is by feature
217compatibility.</p>
218
219<p>To determine an application's feature compatibility with a given user's
220device, Google Play compares:</p>
221
222<ul>
223<li>Features required by the application &mdash; an application declares features in
224<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements in its manifest <br/>with...</li>
225<li>Features available on the device, in hardware or software &mdash;
226a device reports the features it supports as read-only system properties.</li>
227</ul>
228
229<p>To ensure an accurate comparison of features, the Android Package Manager
230provides a shared set of feature constants that both applications and devices
231use to declare feature requirements and support. The available feature constants
232are listed in the <a href="#features-reference">Features Reference</a> tables at
233the bottom of this document, and in the class documentation for {@link
234android.content.pm.PackageManager}.</p>
235
236<p>When the user launches Google Play, the application queries the
237Package Manager for the list of features available on the device by calling
238{@link android.content.pm.PackageManager#getSystemAvailableFeatures()}. The
239Store application then passes the features list up to Google Play
240when establishing the session for the user.</p>
241
242<p>Each time you upload an application to the Google Play Developer Console,
243Google Play scans the application's manifest file. It looks for
244<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements and evaluates them in combination
245with other elements, in some cases, such as <code>&lt;uses-sdk&gt;</code> and
246<code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements. After establishing the
247application's set of required features, it stores that list internally as
248metadata associated with the application <code>.apk</code> and the application
249version. </p>
250
251<p>When a user searches or browses for applications using the Google Play
252application, the service compares the features needed by each application with
253the features available on the user's device. If all of an application's required
254features are present on the device, Google Play allows the user to see the
255application and potentially download it. If any required feature is not
256supported by the device, Google Play filters the application so that it is
257not visible to the user and not available for download. </p>
258
259<p>Because the features you declare in <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
260elements directly affect how Google Play filters your application, it's
261important to understand how Google Play evaluates the application's manifest
262and establishes the set of required features. The sections below provide more
263information. </p>
264
265<h3 id="declared">Filtering based on explicitly declared features</h3>
266
267<p>An explicitly declared feature is one that your application declares in a
268<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. The feature declaration can include
269an <code>android:required=["true" | "false"]</code> attribute (if you are
270compiling against API level 5 or higher), which lets you specify whether the
271application absolutely requires the feature and cannot function properly without
272it (<code>"true"</code>), or whether the application prefers to use the feature
273if available, but is designed to run without it (<code>"false"</code>).</p>
274
275<p>Google Play handles explicitly declared features in this way: </p>
276
277<ul>
278<li>If a feature is explicitly declared as being required, Google Play adds
279the feature to the list of required features for the application. It then
280filters the application from users on devices that do not provide that feature.
281For example:
282<pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="true" /&gt;</pre></li>
283<li>If a feature is explicitly declared as <em>not</em> being required, Google
284Play <em>does not</em> add the feature to the list of required features. For
285that reason, an explicitly declared non-required feature is never considered when
286filtering the application. Even if the device does not provide the declared
287feature, Google Play will still consider the application compatible with the
288device and will show it to the user, unless other filtering rules apply. For
289example:
290<pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre></li>
291<li>If a feature is explicitly declared, but without an
292<code>android:required</code> attribute, Google Play assumes that the feature
293is required and sets up filtering on it. </li>
294</ul>
295
296<p>In general, if your application is designed to run on Android 1.6 and earlier
297versions, the <code>android:required</code> attribute is not available in the
298API and Google Play assumes that any and all
299<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations are required. </p>
300
301<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> By declaring a feature explicitly and
302including an <code>android:required="false"</code> attribute, you can
303effectively disable all filtering on Google Play for the specified feature.
304</p>
305
306
307<h3 id="implicit">Filtering based on implicit features</h3>
308
309<p>An <em>implicit</em> feature is one that an application requires in order to
310function properly, but which is <em>not</em> declared in a
311<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element in the manifest file. Strictly
312speaking, every application should <em>always</em> declare all features that it
313uses or requires, so the absence of a declaration for a feature used by an
314application should be considered an error. However, as a safeguard for users and
315developers, Google Play looks for implicit features in each application and
316sets up filters for those features, just as it would do for an explicitly
317declared feature. </p>
318
319<p>An application might require a feature but not declare it because: </p>
320
321<ul>
322<li>The application was compiled against an older version of the Android library
323(Android 1.5 or earlier) and the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element was
324not available.</li>
325<li>The developer incorrectly assumed that the feature would be present on all
326devices and a declaration was unnecessary.</li>
327<li>The developer omitted the feature declaration accidentally.</li>
328<li>The developer declared the feature explicitly, but the declaration was not
329valid. For example, a spelling error in the <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code>
330element name or an unrecognized string value for the
331<code>android:name</code> attribute would invalidate the feature declaration.
332</li>
333</ul>
334
335<p>To account for the cases above, Google Play attempts to discover an
336application's implied feature requirements by examining <em>other elements</em>
337declared in the manifest file, specifically,
338<code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements.</p>
339
340<p>If an application requests hardware-related permissions, Google Play
341<em>assumes that the application uses the underlying hardware features and
342therefore requires those features</em>, even though there might be no
343corresponding to <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations. For such
344permissions, Google Play adds the underlying hardware features to the
345metadata that it stores for the application and sets up filters for them.</p>
346
347<p>For example, if an application requests the <code>CAMERA</code> permission
348but does not declare a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element for
349<code>android.hardware.camera</code>, Google Play considers that the
350application requires a camera and should not be shown to users whose devices do
351not offer a camera.</p>
352
353<p>If you don't want Google Play to filter based on a specific implied
354feature, you can disable that behavior. To do so, declare the feature explicitly
355in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element and include an 
356<code>android:required="false"</code> attribute. For example, to disable
357filtering derived from the <code>CAMERA</code> permission, you would declare
358the feature as shown below.</p>
359
360<pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre>
361
362<p class="caution">It's important to understand that the permissions that you
363request in <code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> elements can directly affect how
364Google Play filters your application. The reference section <a
365href="#permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</a>,
366below, lists the full set of permissions that imply feature requirements and
367therefore trigger filtering.</p>
368
369<h3 id="bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</h3>
370
371<p>Google Play applies slightly different rules than described above, when
372determining filtering for Bluetooth.</p>
373
374<p>If an application declares a Bluetooth permission in a
375<code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> element, but does not explicitly declare
376the Bluetooth feature in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element, Google
377Play checks the version(s) of the Android platform on which the application is
378designed to run, as specified in the <code>&lt;uses-sdk&gt;</code> element. </p>
379
380<p>As shown in the table below, Google Play enables filtering for the
381Bluetooth feature only if the application declares its lowest or targeted
382platform as Android 2.0 (API level 5) or higher. However, note that Google
383Play applies the normal rules for filtering when the application explicitly
384declares the Bluetooth feature in a <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.
385</p>
386
387<p class="caption"><strong>Table 1.</strong> How Google Play determines the
388Bluetooth feature requirement for an application that requests a Bluetooth
389permission but does not declare the Bluetooth feature in a
390<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.</p>
391
392<table style="margin-top:1em;">
393<tr>
394<th><nobr>If <code>minSdkVersion</code> is ...</nobr></th>
395<th><nobr>or <code>targetSdkVersion</code> is</nobr></th>
396<th>Result</th>
397</tr>
398<tr>
399<td><nobr>&lt;=4 (or uses-sdk is not declared)</nobr></td>
400<td>&lt;=4</td>
401<td>Google Play <em>will not</em> filter the application from any devices
402based on their reported support for the <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code>
403feature.</td>
404</tr>
405<tr>
406<td>&lt;=4</td>
407<td>&gt;=5</td>
408<td rowspan="2">Google Play filters the application from any devices that
409do not support the <code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature (including
410older releases).</td>
411</tr>
412<tr>
413<td>&gt;=5</td>
414<td>&gt;=5</td>
415</tr>
416</table>
417
418<p>The examples below illustrate the different filtering effects, based on how
419Google Play handles the Bluetooth feature. </p>
420
421<dl>
422<dt>In first example, an application that is designed to run on older API levels
423declares a Bluetooth permission, but does not declare the Bluetooth feature in a
424<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element.</dt>
425<dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play does not filter the application from any device.</dd>
426</dl>
427
428<pre>&lt;manifest ...>
429    &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
430    &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" />
431    ...
432&lt;/manifest></pre>
433
434<dl>
435<dt>In the second example, below, the same application also declares a target
436API level of "5". </dt>
437<dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play now assumes that the feature is required and
438will filter the application from all devices that do not report Bluetooth support,
439including devices running older versions of the platform. </dd>
440</dl>
441
442<pre>&lt;manifest ...>
443    &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
444    &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
445    ...
446&lt;/manifest></pre>
447
448<dl>
449<dt>Here the same application now specifically declares the Bluetooth feature.</dt>
450<dd><em>Result:</em> Identical to the previous example (filtering is applied).</dd>
451</dl>
452
453<pre>&lt;manifest ...>
454    &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" />
455    &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
456    &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
457    ...
458&lt;/manifest></pre>
459
460<dl>
461<dt>Finally, in the case below, the same application adds an
462<code>android:required="false"</code> attribute.</dt>
463<dd><em>Result:</em> Google Play disables filtering based on Bluetooth
464feature support, for all devices.</dd>
465</dl>
466
467<pre>&lt;manifest ...>
468    &lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth" android:required="false" />
469    &lt;uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />
470    &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" android:targetSdkVersion="5" />
471    ...
472&lt;/manifest></pre>
473
474
475
476<h3 id="testing">Testing the features required by your application</h3>
477
478<p>You can use the <code>aapt</code> tool, included in the Android SDK, to
479determine how Google Play will filter your application, based on its declared
480features and permissions. To do so, run  <code>aapt</code> with the <code>dump
481badging</code> command. This causes <code>aapt</code> to parse your
482application's manifest and apply the same rules as used by Google Play to
483determine the features that your application requires. </p>
484
485<p>To use the tool, follow these steps: </p>
486
487<ol>
488<li>First, build and export your application as an unsigned <code>.apk</code>.
489If you are developing in Eclipse with ADT, right-click the project and select
490<strong>Android Tools</strong> &gt; <strong>Export Unsigned Application
491Package</strong>. Select a destination filename and path and click
492<strong>OK</strong>. </li>
493<li>Next, locate the <code>aapt</code> tool, if it is not already in your PATH.
494If you are using SDK Tools r8 or higher, you can find <code>aapt</code> in the
495<code>&lt;<em>SDK</em>&gt;/platform-tools/</code> directory.
496<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> You must use the version of
497<code>aapt</code> that is provided for the latest Platform-Tools component available. If
498you do not have the latest Platform-Tools component, download it using the <a
499href="{@docRoot}sdk/exploring.html">Android SDK Manager</a>.
500</p></li>
501<li>Run <code>aapt</code> using this syntax: </li>
502</ol>
503
504<pre>$ aapt dump badging &lt;<em>path_to_exported_.apk</em>&gt;</pre>
505
506<p>Here's an example of the command output for the second Bluetooth example, above: </p>
507
508<pre>$ ./aapt dump badging BTExample.apk
509package: name='com.example.android.btexample' versionCode='' versionName=''
510<strong>uses-permission:'android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN'</strong>
511<strong>uses-feature:'android.hardware.bluetooth'</strong>
512sdkVersion:'3'
513targetSdkVersion:'5'
514application: label='BT Example' icon='res/drawable/app_bt_ex.png'
515launchable activity name='com.example.android.btexample.MyActivity'label='' icon=''
516uses-feature:'android.hardware.touchscreen'
517main
518supports-screens: 'small' 'normal' 'large'
519locales: '--_--'
520densities: '160'
521</pre>
522
523
524<h2 id=features-reference>Features Reference</h2>
525
526<p>The tables below provide reference information about hardware and software
527features and the permissions that can imply them on Google Play. </p>
528
529<h3 id="hw-features">Hardware features</h3>
530
531<p>The table below describes the hardware feature descriptors supported by the
532most current platform release. To signal that your application uses or requires
533a hardware feature, declare each value in a <code>android:name</code> attribute
534in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. </p>
535
536  <table>
537    <tr>
538       <th>Feature Type</th>
539       <th>Feature Descriptor</th>
540       <th style="min-width:170px">Description</th>
541       <th>Comments</th>
542    </tr>
543    <tr>
544       <td>Audio</td>
545       <td><code>android.hardware.audio.low_latency</td>
546       <td>The application uses a low-latency audio pipeline on the device and
547is sensitive to delays or lag in sound input or output.</td>
548<td>
549</td>
550    </tr>
551    <tr>
552       <td>Bluetooth</td>
553       <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</td>
554       <td>The application uses Bluetooth radio features in the device.</td>
555       <td>If your app uses Bluetooth Low Energy, also declare
556       {@code android.software.bluetooth_le}.</td>
557    </tr>
558    <tr>
559       <td rowspan="5">Camera</td>
560       <td><code>android.hardware.camera</code></td>
561       <td>The application uses the device's camera. If the device supports
562           multiple cameras, the application uses the camera that facing
563           away from the screen.</td>
564       <td></td>
565    </tr>
566<tr>
567  <td><code>android.hardware.camera.autofocus</code></td>
568  <td>Subfeature. The application uses the device camera's autofocus capability.</td>
569  <td rowspan="3">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
570<code>android.hardware.camera</code> parent feature, unless declared with
571<code>android:required="false"</code>.</td>
572</tr>
573<tr>
574  <td><code>android.hardware.camera.flash</code></td>
575  <td>Subfeature. The application uses the device camera's flash.</td>
576</tr>
577<tr>
578  <td><code>android.hardware.camera.front</code></td>
579  <td>Subfeature. The application uses a front-facing camera on the device.</td>
580</tr>
581<tr>
582  <td><code>android.hardware.camera.any</code></td>
583  <td>The application uses at least one camera facing in any direction. Use this
584in preference to <code>android.hardware.camera</code> if a back-facing camera is
585not required.</td>
586</tr>
587
588<tr>
589  <td rowspan="3">Location</td>
590  <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
591  <td>The application uses one or more features on the device for determining
592location, such as GPS location, network location, or cell location.</td>
593  <td></td>
594</tr>
595<tr>
596  <td><code>android.hardware.location.network</code></td>
597  <td>Subfeature. The application uses coarse location coordinates obtained from
598a network-based geolocation system supported on the device.</td>
599  <td rowspan="2">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
600<code>android.hardware.location</code> parent feature, unless declared with
601<code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
602</tr>
603<tr>
604  <td><code>android.hardware.location.gps</code></td>
605  <td>Subfeature. The application uses precise location coordinates obtained
606from a Global Positioning System receiver on the device. </td>
607</tr>
608<tr>
609  <td>Microphone</td>
610  <td><code>android.hardware.microphone</code></td>
611  <td>The application uses a microphone on the device.
612  </td>
613  <td></td>
614</tr>
615<tr>
616  <td>NFC</td>
617  <td><code>android.hardware.nfc</td>
618  <td>The application uses Near Field Communications radio features in the device.</td>
619  <td></td>
620</tr>
621<tr>
622  <td rowspan="6">Sensors</td>
623  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer</code></td>
624  <td>The application uses motion readings from an accelerometer on the
625device.</td>
626  <td></td>
627</tr>
628<tr>
629  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.barometer</code></td>
630  <td>The application uses the device's barometer.</td>
631  <td></td>
632</tr>
633<tr>
634  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.compass</code></td>
635  <td>The application uses directional readings from a magnetometer (compass) on
636the device.</td>
637  <td></td>
638</tr>
639<tr>
640  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.gyroscope</code></td>
641  <td>The application uses the device's gyroscope sensor.</td>
642  <td></td>
643</tr>
644<tr>
645  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.light</code></td>
646  <td>The application uses the device's light sensor.</td>
647  <td></td>
648</tr>
649<tr>
650  <td><code>android.hardware.sensor.proximity</code></td>
651  <td>The application uses the device's proximity sensor.</td>
652  <td></td>
653</tr>
654
655<tr>
656  <td rowspan="2">Screen</td>
657  <td><code>android.hardware.screen.landscape</code></td>
658  <td>The application requires landscape orientation.</td>
659  <td rowspan="2">
660     <p>For example, if your app requires portrait orientation, you should declare
661<code>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.screen.portrait"/></code> so that only devices
662that support portrait orientation (whether always or by user choice) can install your app. If your
663application <em>supports</em> both orientations, then you don't need to declare either.</p>
664    <p>Both orientations are assumed <em>not required</em>, by default, so your app may be installed
665on devices that support one or both orientations. However, if any of your activities request that
666they run in a specific orientation, using the <a
667href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
668android:screenOrientation}</a> attribute, then this also declares that the application requires that
669orientation. For example, if you declare <a
670href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
671android:screenOrientation}</a> with either {@code "landscape"}, {@code "reverseLandscape"}, or
672{@code "sensorLandscape"}, then your application will be available only to devices that support
673landscape orientation. As a best practice, you should still declare your requirement for this
674orientation using a {@code &lt;uses-feature&gt;} element. If you declare an orientation for your
675activity using <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#screen">{@code
676android:screenOrientation}</a>, but don't actually <em>require</em> it, you can disable the
677requirement by declaring the orientation with a {@code &lt;uses-feature&gt;} element and include
678{@code android:required="false"}.</p>
679    <p>For backwards compatibility, any device running a platform version that supports only API
680level 12 or lower is assumed to support both landscape and portrait.</p>
681  </td>
682</tr>
683<tr>
684  <td><code>android.hardware.screen.portrait</code></td>
685  <td>The application requires portrait orientation.</td>
686</tr>
687
688<tr>
689  <td rowspan="3">Telephony</td>
690  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
691  <td>The application uses telephony features on the device, such as telephony
692radio with data communication services.</td>
693  <td></td>
694</tr>
695<tr>
696  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony.cdma</code></td>
697  <td>Subfeature. The application uses CDMA telephony radio features on the
698device. </td>
699  <td rowspan="2">These subfeatures implicitly declare the
700<code>android.hardware.telephony</code> parent feature, unless declared with
701<code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
702</tr>
703<tr>
704  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony.gsm</code></td>
705  <td>Subfeature. The application uses GSM telephony radio features on the
706device.</td>
707</tr>
708
709<tr>
710  <td>Television</td>
711  <td><code>android.hardware.type.television</code></td>
712  <td>The application is designed for a television user experience.</td>
713  <td>This feature defines "television" to be a typical living room television experience: 
714  displayed on a big screen, where the user is sitting far away and the dominant form of 
715  input is something like a d-pad, and generally not through touch or a 
716  mouse/pointer-device.</td>
717</tr>
718
719<tr>
720  <td rowspan="7">Touchscreen</td>
721  <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch</code></td>
722  <td>The application uses basic touch interaction events, such as "click down", "click
723up", and drag.</td>
724  <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
725only if it offers an emulated touchscreen ("fake touch" interface), or better. A device that offers
726a fake touch interface provides a user input system that emulates a subset of touchscreen
727capabilities. For example, a mouse or remote control that drives an on-screen cursor provides a fake
728touch interface. If your application requires basic point and click interaction (in other
729words, it won't work with <em>only</em> a d-pad controller), you should declare this feature.
730Because this is the minimum level of touch interaction, your app will also be compatible with
731devices that offer more complex touch interfaces.</p>
732  <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Because applications require the {@code
733android.hardware.touchscreen} feature by default, if you want your application to be available to
734devices that provide a fake touch interface, you must also explicitly declare that a touch screen is
735<em>not</em> required by declaring {@code &lt;uses-feature
736android:name="android.hardware.touchscreen" <strong>android:required="false"</strong>
737/&gt;}</p></td>
738</tr>
739
740<tr>
741  <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch.multitouch.distinct</code></td>
742  <td>The application performs distinct tracking of two or more "fingers" on a fake touch
743interface. This is a superset of the faketouch feature.</td>
744  <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
745only if it supports touch emulation for events that supports distinct tracking of two or more
746fingers, or better.</p>
747  <p>Unlike the distinct multitouch defined by {@code
748android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.distinct}, input devices that support distinct multi-touch
749with a fake touch interface will not support all two-finger gestures, because the input is
750being transformed to cursor movement on the screen. That is, single finger gestures on such a device
751move a cursor; two-finger swipes will result in single-finger touch events; other two-finger
752gestures will result in the corresponding two-finger touch event. An example device that supports
753distinct multi-touch with a fake touch interface is one that provides a trackpad for cursor movement
754which also supports two or more fingers.</p></td>
755</tr>
756
757<tr>
758  <td><code>android.hardware.faketouch.multitouch.jazzhand</code></td>
759  <td>The application performs distinct tracking of five or more "fingers" on a fake touch
760interface. This is a superset of the faketouch feature.</td>
761  <td><p>When declared as required, this indicates that the application is compatible with a device
762only if it supports touch emulation for events that supports distinct tracking of five or more
763fingers.</p>
764  <p>Unlike the distinct multitouch defined by {@code
765android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.jazzhand}, input devices that support jazzhand multi-touch
766with a fake touch interface will not support all five-finger gestures, because the input is being
767transformed to cursor movement on the screen. That is, single finger gestures on such a device move
768a cursor; multi-finger gestures will result in single-finger touch events; other multi-finger
769gestures will result in the corresponding multi-finger touch event. An example device that supports
770distinct multi-touch with a fake touch interface is one that provides a trackpad for cursor movement
771which also supports five or more fingers.</p></td>
772</tr>
773
774<tr>
775  <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen</code></td>
776  <td>The application uses touchscreen capabilities for gestures that are more interactive
777than basic touch events, such as a fling. This is a superset of the basic faketouch feature.</td>
778  <td><p>By default, your application requires this. As such, your application is <em>not</em>
779available to devices that provide only an emulated touch interface ("fake touch"), by default. If
780you want your application available to devices that provide a fake touch interface (or even devices
781that provide only a d-pad controller), you must explicitly declare that a touch screen is not
782required, by declaring {@code android.hardware.touchscreen} with {@code android:required="false"}.
783You should do so even if your application uses&mdash;but does not <em>require</em>&mdash;a real
784touch screen interface.</p>
785<p>If your application <em>does require</em> a touch interface (in order to perform touch
786gestures such as a fling), then you don't need to do anything, because this is required by default.
787However, it's best if you explicitly declare all features used by your application, so you should
788still declare this if your app uses it.</p>
789  <p>If you require more complex touch interaction, such as multi-finger gestures, you
790should declare the advanced touch screen features below.</p></td>
791</tr>
792<tr>
793  <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch</code></td>
794  <td>The application uses basic two-point multitouch capabilities on the device
795screen, such as for pinch gestures, but does not need to track touches independently. This
796is a superset of touchscreen feature.</td>
797  <td>This implicitly declares the <code>android.hardware.touchscreen</code> parent feature, unless
798declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
799</tr>
800<tr>
801  <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.distinct</code></td>
802  <td>Subfeature. The application uses advanced multipoint multitouch
803capabilities on the device screen, such as for tracking two or more points fully
804independently. This is a superset of multitouch feature.</td>
805  <td rowspan="2">This implicitly declares the <code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch</code>
806parent feature, unless declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>. </td>
807</tr>
808<tr>
809  <td><code>android.hardware.touchscreen.multitouch.jazzhand</code></td>
810  <td>The application uses advanced multipoint multitouch
811capabilities on the device screen, for tracking up to five points fully
812independently. This is a superset of distinct multitouch feature.</td>
813</tr>
814
815<tr>
816  <td rowspan="2">USB</td>
817  <td><code>android.hardware.usb.host</code></td>
818  <td>The application uses USB host mode features (behaves as the host and connects to USB
819devices).</td>
820  <td></td>
821</tr>
822
823<tr>
824  <td><code>android.hardware.usb.accessory</code></td>
825  <td>The application uses USB accessory features (behaves as the USB device and connects to USB
826hosts).</td>
827  <td></td>
828</tr>
829
830<tr>
831  <td>Wifi</td>
832  <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
833  <td>The application uses 802.11 networking (wifi) features on the device.</td>
834  <td></td>
835</tr>
836
837  </table>
838
839<h3 id="sw-features">Software features</h3>
840
841<p>The table below describes the software feature descriptors supported by the
842most current platform release. To signal that your application uses or requires
843a software feature, declare each value in a <code>android:name</code> attribute
844in a separate <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element. </p>
845
846
847  <table>
848<tr> 
849  <th>Feature</th>
850  <th>Attribute Value</th> 
851  <th>Description</th>
852</tr>
853<tr>
854  <td>App Widgets</td>
855  <td><code>android.software.app_widgets</code></td>
856  <td>The application uses or provides App Widgets and should be installed only on devices
857  that include a Home screen or similar location where users can embed App Widgets.</td>
858</tr>
859<tr>
860  <td>Bluetooth Low Energy</td>
861  <td><code>android.software.bluetooth_le</code></td>
862  <td><p>The application uses Bluetooth Low Energy APIs and should be installed only on devices
863  that are capable of communicating with other devices via Bluetooth Low Energy.
864   <p>This implicitly also declares the {@code android.hardware.bluetooth} feature.</td>
865</tr>
866<tr>
867  <td>Home Screen</td>
868  <td><code>android.software.home_screen</code></td>
869  <td>The application behaves as a Home screen replacement and should be installed only on
870  devices that support third-party Home screen apps.</td>
871</tr>
872<tr>
873  <td>Input Method</td>
874  <td><code>android.software.input_methods</code></td>
875  <td>The application provides a custom input method and should be installed only on devices that
876  support third-party input methods.</td>
877</tr>
878<tr>
879  <td>Live Wallpaper</td>
880  <td><code>android.software.live_wallpaper</code></td>
881  <td>The application uses or provides Live Wallpapers and should be installed only on devices that
882  support Live Wallpapers.</td>
883</tr>
884<tr>
885  <td rowspan="2">SIP/VOIP</td>
886  <td><code>android.software.sip</code></td>
887  <td>The application uses SIP service on the device and should be installed only on devices that
888  support SIP.
889  </td>
890</tr>
891<tr>
892  <td><code>android.software.sip.voip</code></td>
893  <td><p>Subfeature. The application uses SIP-based VOIP service on the device.
894  <p>This subfeature implicitly declares the <code>android.software.sip</code> parent feature,
895unless declared with <code>android:required="false"</code>.</td>
896</tr>
897  </table>
898
899
900<h3 id="permissions">Permissions that Imply Feature Requirements</h3>
901
902<p>Some feature constants listed in the tables above were made available to
903applications <em>after</em> the corresponding API; for example, the
904<code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature was added in Android 2.2 (API
905level 8), but the bluetooth API that it refers to was added in Android 2.0 (API
906level 5). Because of this, some apps were able to use the API before they had
907the ability to declare that they require the API via the
908<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> system. </p>
909
910<p>To prevent those apps from being made available unintentionally,  Google
911Play assumes that certain hardware-related permissions indicate that the
912underlying hardware features are required by default. For instance, applications
913that use Bluetooth must request the <code>BLUETOOTH</code> permission in a
914<code>&lt;uses-permission&gt;</code> element &mdash; for legacy apps, Google
915Play assumes that the permission declaration means that the underlying
916<code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code> feature is required by the application
917and sets up filtering based on that feature. </p>
918
919<p>The table below lists permissions that imply feature requirements
920equivalent to those declared in <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> elements. Note
921that <code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declarations, including any declared
922<code>android:required</code> attribute, always take precedence over features
923implied by the permissions below. </p>
924
925<p>For any of the permissions below, you can disable filtering based on the
926implied feature by explicitly declaring the implied feature explicitly, in a
927<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> element, with an
928<code>android:required="false"</code> attribute. For example, to disable any
929filtering based on the <code>CAMERA</code> permission, you would add this
930<code>&lt;uses-feature&gt;</code> declaration to the manifest file:</p>
931
932<pre>&lt;uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" /&gt;</pre>
933
934<table id="permissions-features" >
935  <tr> 
936    <th>Category</th>
937    <th>This Permission...</th>
938    <th>Implies This Feature Requirement</th>
939    <!-- <th>Comments</th> -->
940  </tr>
941
942
943<tr>
944  <td rowspan="2">Bluetooth</td>
945  <td><code>BLUETOOTH</code></td>
946  <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code>
947<p>(See <a href="#bt-permission-handling">Special handling for Bluetooth feature</a> for details.)</p></td>
948<!--  <td></td> -->
949</tr>
950<tr>
951  <td><code>BLUETOOTH_ADMIN</code></td>
952  <td><code>android.hardware.bluetooth</code></td>
953<!--  <td></td> -->
954</tr>
955
956<tr>
957  <td>Camera</td>
958  <td><code>CAMERA</code></td>
959  <td><code>android.hardware.camera</code> <em>and</em>
960<br><code>android.hardware.camera.autofocus</code></td>
961<!--  <td></td> -->
962</tr>
963
964<tr>
965  <td rowspan="5">Location</td>
966  <td><code>ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION</code></td>
967  <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
968<!--  <td></td> -->
969</tr>
970<tr>
971  <td><code>ACCESS_LOCATION_EXTRA_COMMANDS</code></td>
972  <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
973<!--  <td></td> -->
974</tr>
975<tr>
976  <td><code>INSTALL_LOCATION_PROVIDER</code></td>
977  <td><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
978<!--  <td></td> -->
979</tr>
980<tr>
981  <td><code>ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION</code></td>
982  <td><code>android.hardware.location.network</code> <em>and</em>
983<br><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
984<!--  <td></td> -->
985</tr>
986<tr>
987  <td><code>ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION</code></td>
988  <td><code>android.hardware.location.gps</code> <em>and</em>
989<br><code>android.hardware.location</code></td>
990<!--  <td></td> -->
991</tr>
992
993<tr>
994  <td>Microphone</td>
995  <td><code>RECORD_AUDIO</code></td>
996  <td><code>android.hardware.microphone</code></td>
997<!--  <td></td> -->
998</tr>
999
1000<tr>
1001  <td rowspan="11">Telephony</td>
1002  <td><code>CALL_PHONE</code></td>
1003  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1004<!--  <td></td> -->
1005</tr>
1006<tr>
1007  <td><code>CALL_PRIVILEGED</code></td>
1008  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1009<!--  <td></td> -->
1010</tr>
1011
1012<tr>
1013  <td><code>MODIFY_PHONE_STATE</code></td>
1014  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1015<!--  <td></td> -->
1016</tr>
1017<tr>
1018  <td><code>PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS</code></td>
1019  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1020<!--  <td></td> -->
1021</tr>
1022<tr>
1023  <td><code>READ_SMS</code></td>
1024  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1025<!--  <td></td> -->
1026</tr>
1027<tr>
1028  <td><code>RECEIVE_SMS</code></td>
1029  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1030<!--  <td></td> -->
1031</tr>
1032<tr>
1033  <td><code>RECEIVE_MMS</code></td>
1034  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1035<!--  <td></td> -->
1036</tr>
1037<tr>
1038  <td><code>RECEIVE_WAP_PUSH</code></td>
1039  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1040<!--  <td></td> -->
1041</tr>
1042<tr>
1043  <td><code>SEND_SMS</code></td>
1044  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1045<!--  <td></td> -->
1046</tr>
1047<tr>
1048  <td><code>WRITE_APN_SETTINGS</code></td>
1049  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1050<!--  <td></td> -->
1051</tr>
1052<tr>
1053  <td><code>WRITE_SMS</code></td>
1054  <td><code>android.hardware.telephony</code></td>
1055<!--  <td></td> -->
1056</tr>
1057
1058<tr>
1059  <td rowspan="3">Wifi</td>
1060  <td><code>ACCESS_WIFI_STATE</code></td>
1061  <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
1062<!--  <td></td> -->
1063</tr>
1064<tr>
1065  <td><code>CHANGE_WIFI_STATE</code></td>
1066  <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
1067<!--  <td></td> -->
1068</tr>
1069<tr>
1070  <td><code>CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE</code></td>
1071  <td><code>android.hardware.wifi</code></td>
1072<!--  <td></td> -->
1073</tr>
1074</table>
1075