2.2. Handheld Requirements

An Android Handheld device refers to an Android device implementation that is typically used by holding it in the hand, such as an mp3 player, phone, or tablet.

Android device implementations are classified as a Handheld if they meet all the following criteria:

  • Have a power source that provides mobility, such as a battery.
  • Have a physical diagonal screen size in the range of 3.3 inches (or 2.5 inches for devices which launched on an API level earlier than Android 11) to 8 inches.

The additional requirements in the rest of this section are specific to Android Handheld device implementations.

2.2.1. Hardware

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.1.1.1/H-0-1] MUST have at least one Android-compatible display that meets all requirements described on this document.
  • [7.1.1.3/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to provide users an affordance to change the display size (screen density).

If Handheld device implementations support software screen rotation, they:

  • [7.1.1.1/H-1-1]* MUST make the logical screen that is made available for third party applications be at least 2 inches on the short edge(s) and 2.7 inches on the long edge(s). Devices which launched on an API level earlier than that of this document are exempted from this requirement.

If Handheld device implementations do not support software screen rotation, they:

  • [7.1.1.1/H-2-1]* MUST make the logical screen that is made available for third party applications be at least 2.7 inches on the short edge(s). Devices which launched on an API level earlier than that of this document are exempted from this requirement.

If Handheld device implementations claim support for high dynamic range displays through Configuration.isScreenHdr() , they:

  • [7.1.4.5/H-1-1] MUST advertise support for the EGL_EXT_gl_colorspace_bt2020_pq, EGL_EXT_surface_SMPTE2086_metadata, EGL_EXT_surface_CTA861_3_metadata, VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace, and VK_EXT_hdr_metadata extensions.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.1.4.6/H-0-1] MUST report whether the device supports the GPU profiling capability via a system property graphics.gpu.profiler.support.

If Handheld device implementations declare support via a system property graphics.gpu.profiler.support, they:

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.1.5/H-0-1] MUST include support for legacy application compatibility mode as implemented by the upstream Android open source code. That is, device implementations MUST NOT alter the triggers or thresholds at which compatibility mode is activated, and MUST NOT alter the behavior of the compatibility mode itself.
  • [7.2.1/H-0-1] MUST include support for third-party Input Method Editor (IME) applications.
  • [7.2.3/H-0-3] MUST provide the Home function on all the Android-compatible displays that provide the home screen.
  • [7.2.3/H-0-4] MUST provide the Back function on all the Android-compatible displays and the Recents function on at least one of the Android-compatible displays.
  • [7.2.3/H-0-2] MUST send both the normal and long press event of the Back function (KEYCODE_BACK) to the foreground application. These events MUST NOT be consumed by the system and CAN be triggered by outside of the Android device (e.g. external hardware keyboard connected to the Android device).
  • [7.2.4/H-0-1] MUST support touchscreen input.
  • [7.2.4/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to launch the user-selected assist app, in other words the app that implements VoiceInteractionService, or an activity handling the ACTION_ASSIST on long-press of KEYCODE_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE or KEYCODE_HEADSETHOOK if the foreground activity does not handle those long-press events.
  • [7.3.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to include a 3-axis accelerometer.

If Handheld device implementations include a 3-axis accelerometer, they:

  • [7.3.1/H-1-1] MUST be able to report events up to a frequency of at least 100 Hz.

If Handheld device implementations include a GPS/GNSS receiver and report the capability to applications through the android.hardware.location.gps feature flag, they:

  • [7.3.3/H-2-1] MUST report GNSS measurements, as soon as they are found, even if a location calculated from GPS/GNSS is not yet reported.
  • [7.3.3/H-2-2] MUST report GNSS pseudoranges and pseudorange rates, that, in open-sky conditions after determining the location, while stationary or moving with less than 0.2 meter per second squared of acceleration, are sufficient to calculate position within 20 meters, and speed within 0.2 meters per second, at least 95% of the time.

If Handheld device implementations include a 3-axis gyroscope, they:

  • [7.3.4/H-3-1] MUST be able to report events up to a frequency of at least 100 Hz.
  • [7.3.4/H-3-2] MUST be capable of measuring orientation changes up to 1000 degrees per second.

Handheld device implementations that can make a voice call and indicate any value other than PHONE_TYPE_NONE in getPhoneType:

  • [7.3.8/H] SHOULD include a proximity sensor.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.3.11/H-SR] Are RECOMMENDED to support pose sensor with 6 degrees of freedom.
  • [7.4.3/H] SHOULD include support for Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE.

If Handheld device implementations include a metered connection, they:

  • [7.4.7/H-1-1] MUST provide the data saver mode.

If Handheld device implementations include a logical camera device that lists capabilities using CameraMetadata.REQUEST_AVAILABLE_CAPABILITIES_LOGICAL_MULTI_CAMERA, they:

  • [7.5.4/H-1-1] MUST have normal field of view (FOV) by default and it MUST be between 50 and 90 degrees.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.6.1/H-0-1] MUST have at least 4 GB of non-volatile storage available for application private data (a.k.a. “/data” partition).
  • [7.6.1/H-0-2] MUST return “true” for ActivityManager.isLowRamDevice() when there is less than 1GB of memory available to the kernel and userspace.

If Handheld device implementations declare support of only a 32-bit ABI:

  • [7.6.1/H-1-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 416MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to qHD (e.g. FWVGA).

  • [7.6.1/H-2-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 592MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to HD+ (e.g. HD, WSVGA).

  • [7.6.1/H-3-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 896MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to FHD (e.g. WSXGA+).

  • [7.6.1/H-4-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 1344MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to QHD (e.g. QWXGA).

If Handheld device implementations declare support of 32-bit and 64-bit ABIs:

  • [7.6.1/H-5-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 816MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to qHD (e.g. FWVGA).

  • [7.6.1/H-6-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 944MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to HD+ (e.g. HD, WSVGA).

  • [7.6.1/H-7-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 1280MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to FHD (e.g. WSXGA+).

  • [7.6.1/H-8-1] The memory available to the kernel and userspace MUST be at least 1824MB if the default display uses framebuffer resolutions up to QHD (e.g. QWXGA).

Note that the “memory available to the kernel and userspace” above refers to the memory space provided in addition to any memory already dedicated to hardware components such as radio, video, and so on that are not under the kernel’s control on device implementations.

If Handheld device implementations include less than or equal to 1GB of memory available to the kernel and userspace, they:

  • [7.6.1/H-9-1] MUST declare the feature flag android.hardware.ram.low.
  • [7.6.1/H-9-2] MUST have at least 1.1 GB of non-volatile storage for application private data (a.k.a. “/data” partition).

If Handheld device implementations include more than 1GB of memory available to the kernel and userspace, they:

  • [7.6.1/H-10-1] MUST have at least 4GB of non-volatile storage available for application private data (a.k.a. “/data” partition).
  • SHOULD declare the feature flag android.hardware.ram.normal.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.6.2/H-0-1] MUST NOT provide an application shared storage smaller than 1 GiB.
  • [7.7.1/H] SHOULD include a USB port supporting peripheral mode.

If handheld device implementations include a USB port supporting peripheral mode, they:

  • [7.7.1/H-1-1] MUST implement the Android Open Accessory (AOA) API.

If Handheld device implementations include a USB port supporting host mode, they:

  • [7.7.2/H-1-1] MUST implement the USB audio class as documented in the Android SDK documentation.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [7.8.1/H-0-1] MUST include a microphone.
  • [7.8.2/H-0-1] MUST have an audio output and declare android.hardware.audio.output.

If Handheld device implementations are capable of meeting all the performance requirements for supporting VR mode and include support for it, they:

  • [7.9.1/H-1-1] MUST declare the android.hardware.vr.high_performance feature flag.
  • [7.9.1/H-1-2] MUST include an application implementing android.service.vr.VrListenerService that can be enabled by VR applications via android.app.Activity#setVrModeEnabled.

If Handheld device implementations include one or more USB-C port(s) in host mode and implement (USB audio class), in addition to requirements in section 7.7.2, they:

  • [7.8.2.2/H-1-1] MUST provide the following software mapping of HID codes:
  • [7.8.2.2/H-1-2] MUST trigger ACTION_HEADSET_PLUG upon a plug insert, but only after the USB audio interfaces and endpoints have been properly enumerated in order to identify the type of terminal connected.

When the USB audio terminal types 0x0302 is detected, they:

  • [7.8.2.2/H-2-1] MUST broadcast Intent ACTION_HEADSET_PLUG with “microphone” extra set to 0.

When the USB audio terminal types 0x0402 is detected, they:

  • [7.8.2.2/H-3-1] MUST broadcast Intent ACTION_HEADSET_PLUG with “microphone” extra set to 1.

When API AudioManager.getDevices() is called while the USB peripheral is connected they:

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-1] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_HEADSET and role isSink() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x0302.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-2] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_HEADSET and role isSink() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x0402.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-3] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_HEADSET and role isSource() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x0402.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-4] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_DEVICE and role isSink() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x603.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-5] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_DEVICE and role isSource() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x604.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-6] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_DEVICE and role isSink() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x400.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-4-7] MUST list a device of type AudioDeviceInfo.TYPE_USB_DEVICE and role isSource() if the USB audio terminal type field is 0x400.

  • [7.8.2.2/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED upon connection of a USB-C audio peripheral, to perform enumeration of USB descriptors, identify terminal types and broadcast Intent ACTION_HEADSET_PLUG in less than 1000 milliseconds.

If Handheld device implementations include at least one haptic actuator, they:

Linear resonant actuator (LRA) is a single mass spring system which has a dominant resonant frequency where the mass translates in the direction of desired motion.

If Handheld device implementations include at least one linear resonant actuator, they:

  • [7.10/H]* SHOULD move the haptic actuator in the X-axis of portrait orientation.

If Handheld device implementations have a haptic actuator which is X-axis Linear resonant actuator (LRA), they:

  • [7.10/H-SR]* Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to have the resonant frequency of the X-axis LRA be under 200 Hz.

If handheld device implementations follow haptic constants mapping, they:

2.2.2. Multimedia

Handheld device implementations MUST support the following audio encoding and decoding formats and make them available to third-party applications:

  • [5.1/H-0-1] AMR-NB
  • [5.1/H-0-2] AMR-WB
  • [5.1/H-0-3] MPEG-4 AAC Profile (AAC LC)
  • [5.1/H-0-4] MPEG-4 HE AAC Profile (AAC+)
  • [5.1/H-0-5] AAC ELD (enhanced low delay AAC)

Handheld device implementations MUST support the following video encoding formats and make them available to third-party applications:

  • [5.2/H-0-1] H.264 AVC
  • [5.2/H-0-2] VP8

Handheld device implementations MUST support the following video decoding formats and make them available to third-party applications:

  • [5.3/H-0-1] H.264 AVC
  • [5.3/H-0-2] H.265 HEVC
  • [5.3/H-0-3] MPEG-4 SP
  • [5.3/H-0-4] VP8
  • [5.3/H-0-5] VP9

2.2.3. Software

Handheld device implementations:

  • [3.2.3.1/H-0-1] MUST have an application that handles the ACTION_GET_CONTENT, ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT, ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE, and ACTION_CREATE_DOCUMENT intents as described in the SDK documents, and provide the user affordance to access the document provider data by using DocumentsProvider API.
  • [3.2.3.1/H-0-2]* MUST preload one or more applications or service components with an intent handler, for all the public intent filter patterns defined by the following application intents listed here.
  • [3.2.3.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to preload an email application which can handle ACTION_SENDTO or ACTION_SEND or ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE intents to send an email.
  • [3.4.1/H-0-1] MUST provide a complete implementation of the android.webkit.Webview API.
  • [3.4.2/H-0-1] MUST include a standalone Browser application for general user web browsing.
  • [3.8.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to implement a default launcher that supports in-app pinning of shortcuts, widgets and widgetFeatures.
  • [3.8.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to implement a default launcher that provides quick access to the additional shortcuts provided by third-party apps through the ShortcutManager API.
  • [3.8.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to include a default launcher app that shows badges for the app icons.
  • [3.8.2/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to support third-party app widgets.
  • [3.8.3/H-0-1] MUST allow third-party apps to notify users of notable events through the Notification and NotificationManager API classes.
  • [3.8.3/H-0-2] MUST support rich notifications.
  • [3.8.3/H-0-3] MUST support heads-up notifications.
  • [3.8.3/H-0-4] MUST include a notification shade, providing the user the ability to directly control (e.g. reply, snooze, dismiss, block) the notifications through user affordance such as action buttons or the control panel as implemented in the AOSP.
  • [3.8.3/H-0-5] MUST display the choices provided through RemoteInput.Builder setChoices() in the notification shade.
  • [3.8.3/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to display the first choice provided through RemoteInput.Builder setChoices() in the notification shade without additional user interaction.
  • [3.8.3/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to display all the choices provided through RemoteInput.Builder setChoices() in the notification shade when the user expands all notifications in the notification shade.
  • [3.8.3.1/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to display actions for which Notification.Action.Builder.setContextual is set as true in-line with the replies displayed by Notification.Remoteinput.Builder.setChoices.
  • [3.8.4/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to implement an assistant on the device to handle the Assist action.

If Handheld device implementations support Assist action, they:

  • [3.8.4/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to use long press on HOME key as the designated interaction to launch the assist app as described in section 7.2.3. MUST launch the user-selected assist app, in other words the app that implements VoiceInteractionService , or an activity handling the ACTION_ASSIST intent.

If Handheld device implementations support conversation notifications and group them into a separate section from alerting and silent non-conversation notifications, they:

  • [3.8.4/H-1-1]* MUST display conversation notifications ahead of non conversation notifications with the exception of ongoing foreground service notifications and importance:high notifications.

If Android Handheld device implementations support a lock screen, they:

  • [3.8.10/H-1-1] MUST display the Lock screen Notifications including the Media Notification Template.

If Handheld device implementations support a secure lock screen, they:

  • [3.9/H-1-1] MUST implement the full range of device administration policies defined in the Android SDK documentation.
  • [3.9/H-1-2] MUST declare the support of managed profiles via the android.software.managed_users feature flag, except when the device is configured so that it would report itself as a low RAM device or so that it allocates internal (non-removable) storage as shared storage.

If Handheld device implementations include support for ControlsProviderService and Control APIs and allow third-party applications to publish device controls, then they:

  • [3.8.16/H-1-1] MUST declare the feature flag android.software.controls and set it to true.
  • [3.8.16/H-1-2] MUST provide a user affordance with the ability to add, edit, select, and operate the user’s favorite device controls from the controls registered by the third-party applications through the ControlsProviderService and the Control APIs.
  • [3.8.16/H-1-3] MUST provide access to this user affordance within three interactions from a default Launcher.
  • [3.8.16/H-1-4] MUST accurately render in this user affordance the name and icon of each third-party app that provides controls via the ControlsProviderService API as well as any specified fields provided by the Control APIs.

Conversely, If Handheld device implementations do not implement such controls, they:

Handheld device implementations:

  • [3.10/H-0-1] MUST support third-party accessibility services.
  • [3.10/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to preload accessibility services on the device comparable with or exceeding functionality of the Switch Access and TalkBack (for languages supported by the preinstalled Text-to-speech engine) accessibility services as provided in the talkback open source project.
  • [3.11/H-0-1] MUST support installation of third-party TTS engines.
  • [3.11/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to include a TTS engine supporting the languages available on the device.
  • [3.13/H-SR] Are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to include a Quick Settings UI component.

If Android handheld device implementations declare FEATURE_BLUETOOTH or FEATURE_WIFI support, they:

  • [3.16/H-1-1] MUST support the companion device pairing feature.

If the navigation function is provided as an on-screen, gesture-based action:

  • [7.2.3/H] The gesture recognition zone for the Home function SHOULD be no higher than 32 dp in height from the bottom of the screen.

If Handheld device implementations provide a navigation function as a gesture from anywhere on the left and right edges of the screen:

  • [7.2.3/H-0-1] The navigation function's gesture area MUST be less than 40 dp in width on each side. The gesture area SHOULD be 24 dp in width by default.

2.2.4. Performance and Power

  • [8.1/H-0-1] Consistent frame latency. Inconsistent frame latency or a delay to render frames MUST NOT happen more often than 5 frames in a second, and SHOULD be below 1 frames in a second.
  • [8.1/H-0-2] User interface latency. Device implementations MUST ensure low latency user experience by scrolling a list of 10K list entries as defined by the Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) in less than 36 secs.
  • [8.1/H-0-3] Task switching. When multiple applications have been launched, re-launching an already-running application after it has been launched MUST take less than 1 second.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [8.2/H-0-1] MUST ensure a sequential write performance of at least 5 MB/s.
  • [8.2/H-0-2] MUST ensure a random write performance of at least 0.5 MB/s.
  • [8.2/H-0-3] MUST ensure a sequential read performance of at least 15 MB/s.
  • [8.2/H-0-4] MUST ensure a random read performance of at least 3.5 MB/s.

If Handheld device implementations include features to improve device power management that are included in AOSP or extend the features that are included in AOSP, they:

  • [8.3/H-1-1] MUST provide user affordance to enable and disable the battery saver feature.
  • [8.3/H-1-2] MUST provide user affordance to display all apps that are exempted from App Standby and Doze power-saving modes.

Handheld device implementations:

  • [8.4/H-0-1] MUST provide a per-component power profile that defines the current consumption value for each hardware component and the approximate battery drain caused by the components over time as documented in the Android Open Source Project site.
  • [8.4/H-0-2] MUST report all power consumption values in milliampere hours (mAh).
  • [8.4/H-0-3] MUST report CPU power consumption per each process's UID. The Android Open Source Project meets the requirement through the uid_cputime kernel module implementation.
  • [8.4/H-0-4] MUST make this power usage available via the adb shell dumpsys batterystats shell command to the app developer.
  • [8.4/H] SHOULD be attributed to the hardware component itself if unable to attribute hardware component power usage to an application.

If Handheld device implementations include a screen or video output, they:

2.2.5. Security Model

Handheld device implementations:

  • [9.1/H-0-1] MUST allow third-party apps to access the usage statistics via the android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS permission and provide a user-accessible mechanism to grant or revoke access to such apps in response to the android.settings.ACTION_USAGE_ACCESS_SETTINGS intent.

Handheld device implementations (* Not applicable for Tablet):

  • [9.11/H-0-2]* MUST back up the keystore implementation with an isolated execution environment.
  • [9.11/H-0-3]* MUST have implementations of RSA, AES, ECDSA, and HMAC cryptographic algorithms and MD5, SHA1, and SHA-2 family hash functions to properly support the Android Keystore system's supported algorithms in an area that is securely isolated from the code running on the kernel and above. Secure isolation MUST block all potential mechanisms by which kernel or userspace code might access the internal state of the isolated environment, including DMA. The upstream Android Open Source Project (AOSP) meets this requirement by using the Trusty implementation, but another ARM TrustZone-based solution or a third-party reviewed secure implementation of a proper hypervisor-based isolation are alternative options.
  • [9.11/H-0-4]* MUST perform the lock screen authentication in the isolated execution environment and only when successful, allow the authentication-bound keys to be used. Lock screen credentials MUST be stored in a way that allows only the isolated execution environment to perform lock screen authentication. The upstream Android Open Source Project provides the Gatekeeper Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and Trusty, which can be used to satisfy this requirement.
  • [9.11/H-0-5]* MUST support key attestation where the attestation signing key is protected by secure hardware and signing is performed in secure hardware. The attestation signing keys MUST be shared across large enough number of devices to prevent the keys from being used as device identifiers. One way of meeting this requirement is to share the same attestation key unless at least 100,000 units of a given SKU are produced. If more than 100,000 units of an SKU are produced, a different key MAY be used for each 100,000 units.

Note that if a device implementation is already launched on an earlier Android version, such a device is exempted from the requirement to have a keystore backed by an isolated execution environment and support the key attestation, unless it declares the android.hardware.fingerprint feature which requires a keystore backed by an isolated execution environment.

When Handheld device implementations support a secure lock screen, they:

  • [9.11/H-1-1] MUST allow the user to choose the shortest sleep timeout, that is a transition time from the unlocked to the locked state, as 15 seconds or less.
  • [9.11/H-1-2] MUST provide user affordance to hide notifications and disable all forms of authentication except for the primary authentication described in 9.11.1 Secure Lock Screen. The AOSP meets the requirement as lockdown mode.

2.2.6. Developer Tools and Options Compatibility

Handheld device implementations (* Not applicable for Tablet):

  • [6.1/H-0-1]* MUST support the shell command cmd testharness.

Handheld device implementations (* Not applicable for Tablet):

  • Perfetto * [6.1/H-0-2]* MUST expose a /system/bin/perfetto binary to the shell user which cmdline complies with the perfetto documentation. * [6.1/H-0-3]* The perfetto binary MUST accept as input a protobuf config that complies with the schema defined in the perfetto documentation. * [6.1/H-0-4]* The perfetto binary MUST write as output a protobuf trace that complies with the schema defined in the perfetto documentation. * [6.1/H-0-5]* MUST provide, through the perfetto binary, at least the data sources described in the perfetto documentation. * [6.1/H-0-6]* The perfetto traced daemon MUST be enabled by default (system property persist.traced.enable).