How to define supported BlackBerry OS versions and models for application?

Question

After company wins a project it is usual to mention in contract what devices are supported and what OS versions are supported.

But taking into account BlackBerry it appears sometimes to be tricky, as you can have the same device model, but two and(or) more different OS versions (or within same OS different package versions). And in this situation application may need to be updated.

So the main question here is what is expected to be mentioned in contract? Could you please share some your experience of resolving such problems?

So as a good example can be case of video playback issue on Storm: some issue exists on 5.0.0.XXX (network provider A) and doesn't exist on 5.0.0.YYY (network provider B), or could be following: 5.0.0.XXX1 (network provider A) - issue exist 5.0.0.XXX2 (network provider A) - issue doesn't exist

The point here is to define some boundaries of development company responsibility

Answer 1

I would suggest keeping it simple and specify both the models you agree to support (by model number - Storm 9530, Storm 9550, Bold 9000, etc.) and then for each model which major OS versions you intend to support. For Storm it could be 4.7 and 5.0. I wouldn't go down into the actual build level - even though there may be bugs or differences between minor builds, it's best to just account for that in your app and have the contract agree on the major OS versions. Otherwise you'll get bogged down in the details and find that your contract needs to be continually updated as RIM and the carriers release new minor OS updates.