Developing specifically for HTC Android devices is about to get a lot easier thanks to a new programme from the Taiwanese manufacturer.

Today HTC has soft-launched HTCdev.com, a portal designed to support developers interested in developing specifically for HTC devices. Initially the programme is designed to support high-end devices such as the HTC Sensation or HTC Evo 3D, with the aim of expanding to support all HTC devices in the future.

Phil Blair, vice president, Product and Operations, told Pocket-lint that the idea was to enable development of “compelling applications” for HTC devices, calling HTCdev a “genuine industry initiative”.

Blair outlined that the development portal will offer SDK, tutorials, sample code, binaries, kernel source code, and specific HTC APIs for, as an example, the HTC Flyer “Magic Pen”, which would allow you to develop apps to take advantage of that accessory. 

In addition to providing the tools for development for HTC devices, the programme will also be supported by what HTC is calling “evangelists”. The idea is that development evangelists will provide a direct line of contact to the development community, effectively providing technical support.

We questioned as to whether there would be any restrictions on who could access the content and what was developed, and HTC’s Blair informed us that “they were not going to start policing what people do”. You’ll have to register for the service, but it will be free to use. 

We also questioned whether the resources would be restricted to HTC-only devices and we were informed that although the programme was aimed at its hardware, the nature of Android means that you’ll be able to develop on a wider scale.

The launch of HTCdev is an interesting move. With HTC employing one of the most heavily customised skins on Android, creating a specific development portal could potentially shift some of the development work from HTC’s own teams to the external community.

With the high-end Android device market becoming increasingly competitive, a service like HTCdev could mean it becomes much easier to tweak HTC Sense to incorporate new products and services without having to wait for HTC to make those changes themselves.

Of course, we wouldn't expect the average consumer to be that interested in tinkering with code, but look out for apps specifically made for your HTC device in the future.

You can take a look at HTCdev yourself on the website: HTCdev.com