On Android's Support Package, use it or not?

Question

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of using Android's Support Package when targeting the latest API and setting the min SDK to 7, for example.

The Android documentation states "The goal is to simplify your development by offering more APIs that you can bundle with your application so you can worry less about platform versions"; however, I'm having some doubt on whether it will make it simpler.

Consider the TabActivity, which has been deprecated. The alternative to using TabActivity is through Fragments and by looking at the example to get a tabular view working, it doesn't look simpler. Besides, I have to use reflection anyways when deciding on to use the Fragments class versus the FragmentActivity class, so why not just use TabActivity. I was hoping to get your opinion on this. I'm leaning towards not using it, but I would like to know if I'm missing out on any benefits.

Answer 1

The alternative to using TabActivity is through Fragments

An alternative to using TabActivity is through Fragments, using the icky stuff in the example you cite. The better alternative to using TabActivity is to put your tabs in the action bar, perhaps using ActionBarSherlock's fork of the Android support library that offers a backwards-compatible action bar.

by looking at the example to get a tabular view working, it doesn't look simpler

It's not.

Besides, I have to use reflection anyways when deciding on to use the Fragments class versus the FragmentActivity class

If you are using the Android support library, you should not need this, as you always extend FragmentActivity.

I'm leaning towards not using it, but I would like to know if I'm missing out on any benefits.

If you plan on supporting tablets and/or TVs, you want to be using fragments. Fragments are useful even in phone-only apps, but not quite as visibly.