
Ask HN: Writing my first Android app – should I use Material Design? - flamtik
It seems like a big PITA, but I&#x27;m being told it&#x27;s worth it.<p>I understand that if I use a MD style, I also need to create a backup &lt;v21 style for older devices. It seems like a lot of work for a beginner.<p>So, is MD worth it?
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smartician
Use AppCompat, and you'll get native MD on >= SDK 21, and an emulated MD on <
SDK 21 devices.

[http://android-
developers.blogspot.com/2014/10/appcompat-v21...](http://android-
developers.blogspot.com/2014/10/appcompat-v21-material-design-for-pre.html)

It's a bit of a hassle (you'll need to use compatibility facades vs the real
thing, which are sometimes a bit inconsistent), but it's not too bad.

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hgarg
Don't worry about MD right now. Get your first version out there, asap first.

MD can be adopted later.

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Zigurd
Yes.

It's in the app templates you should start with in the SDK, and, as kpgx
points out on this thread, you can use the Support Libraries for back-
compatibility.

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kpgx
MD is not that hard to implement. And you can use Support Libraries to
maintain the compatibility for older devices.

