Establishing a base

Not every mobile device supports every service and some people don't update their devices, meaning they could have an old version of the application programming interface (API) that doesn't support a new service you'd like to use.

You need to be aware of the various versions of devices your users will have and pick a minimum-supported API. You may recall reading in Chapter 4, Multiple Platforms, One Code Base, the minimum versions supported by Delphi for each platform. There are a lot of smartphones out there and while some people are constantly upgrading to the latest and greatest, a larger percentage hang on to their devices for several years. Additionally, not all devices support all features.

Instead of building a long list of devices and versions and which ones have which capabilities, there's a far simpler way to figure out what you can do on a device: just ask it! The FireMonkey platform has done all the hard work for you and provides...