Targetting most android devices new and old

Questions
1

I have an app that i want to release to a wide audience. Last time i compiled,some people complained that they couldn’t install. I remember i only download api level 24.

What can i do to make my app be as installable in as many devices as possible?.

Its a simple with several forms and no fancy addons or permissions.

Thanks.

2

api-level 24 start from android 7.0
you can decrease to any number (start from 1)

just a few things:
until api-level 19 (android 4.4)
f7 will not work smoothly (i used crosswalk)

from api-level 21 (android 5.0)
f7 works perfectly

check this page:
you can see the relative number of devices
running a given version of the Android platform

#about api-level

3

Thanks for the reply.

If i edited my manifest like this

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="5.0"
          android:targetSdkVersion="8.1"
          android:maxSdkVersion="8.1" />

Will i be saying that my app can run from all devices from 5.0 to 8.1?

4

no
your code not going to work at all

if you want to start from 5.0
do it like this:

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="21" />

from the above link

Despite its name, this element is used to specify the API Level, 
not the version number of the SDK (software development kit) or Android platform. 
The API Level is always a single integer.

in 2 words:

  • api-level (not android version)
  • only integer (not float)
android:minSdkVersion

An integer designating the minimum API Level required for the application to run. 
The Android system will prevent the user from installing the application 
if the system's API Level is lower than the value specified in this attribute. 

You should always declare this attribute.

android:targetSdkVersion

An integer designating the API Level that the application targets. 
If not set, the default value equals that given to minSdkVersion.

android:maxSdkVersion

An integer designating the maximum API Level on which the application is designed to run.
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