Apps Tab Views Require API 11 or Higher? (Eclipse)

[anathematized1]

Yeah so I decided maybe a tab view for a particular part of an app I am making would be best.

From everything I can read or find anywhere, Android 2.3.6 uses API level 10 and that the minimum for tab views is API level 11...

Then why is it that my phone, STOCK Android 2.3.6, has tons of apps with tab views, and the tab views work?

So what's the deal because, I need the app I am developing to work on my phone (I'm mostly making it for myself anyway) so I need to use minimum API 10, but Eclipse won't let me use tab views unless I switch to minimum API of 11...

 

[GeorgeN]

Before API 11 apps used the TabWidget (which is supported since API 1), but now this has been replaced by the ActionBar which also supports tabs.

If you want to use the ActionBar before API 11 you can use ActionBar Sherlock.

 

[anathematized1]

Before API 11 apps used the TabWidget (which is supported since API 1), but now this has been replaced by the ActionBar which also supports tabs.

If you want to use the ActionBar before API 11 you can use ActionBar Sherlock.

I don't want to use the action bar, though I will have one made that will come up for phones that lack dedicated "home/back/options" buttons.

What I mean is in Eclipse, I click to add a new activity in my API 10 minimum project.

Optionally, select navigation type: Fixed Tabs + Swipe

The image it shows looks just like all the other tab views I've seen and nothing like the action bar view.

Also something I noticed is that when adding lists and such, there's all sort of options in Eclipse to just fill in what you need so you don't have to manually program java back-code, yet for the tab widget there is not really anything you can edit via the properties. Why is that?

Unrelated but:
Also, is there like an Android java code generator of some kind that's pretty much set up where you select what you want to do and it figures out the basic general code? It's hard searching the reference for the actual name of the code when all you know is what it does and don't even know if there's a thing for that specifically or you're going to have to string together several pieces of code to do a single action?

 

[GeorgeN]

The Fixed tabs + swipe template does use the ActionBar which is why it is API 11 only. The ActionBar does a lot, there are some screenshots here Action Bar | Android Developers

 

[anathematized1]

Ah, I see, thanks.