Professional Android 4 Application Development, 3rd Edition

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Book description

Developers, build mobile Android apps using Android 4

The fast-growing popularity of Android smartphones and tablets creates a huge opportunities for developers. If you're an experienced developer, you can start creating robust mobile Android apps right away with this professional guide to Android 4 application development. Written by one of Google's lead Android developer advocates, this practical book walks you through a series of hands-on projects that illustrate the features of the Android SDK. That includes all the new APIs introduced in Android 3 and 4, including building for tablets, using the Action Bar, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC Beam, and more.

• Shows experienced developers how to create mobile applications for Android smartphones and tablets
• Revised and expanded to cover all the Android SDK releases including Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), including all updated APIs, and the latest changes to the Android platform.
• Explains new and enhanced features such as drag and drop, fragments, the action bar, enhanced multitouch support, new environmental sensor support, major improvements to the animation framework, and a range of new communications techniques including NFC and Wi-Fi direct.
• Provides practical guidance on publishing and marketing your applications, best practices for user experience, and more

This book helps you learn to master the design, lifecycle, and UI of an Android app through practical exercises, which you can then use as a basis for developing your own Android apps.

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Chapter 1: Hello, Android
   1. A Little Background
   2. What Android Isn't
   3. Android: An Open Platform for Mobile Development
   4. Native Android Applications
   5. Android SDK Features
   6. Introducing the Open Handset Alliance
   7. What Does Android Run On?
   8. Why Develop for Mobile?
   9. Why Develop for Android?
   10. Introducing the Development Framework
   1. Developing for Android
   2. Developing for Mobile and Embedded Devices
   3. Android Development Tools
   1. What Makes an Android Application?
   2. Introducing the Application Manifest File
   3. Using the Manifest Editor
   4. Externalizing Resources
   5. The Android Application Lifecycle
   6. Understanding an Application's Priority and Its Process' States
   7. Introducing the Android Application Class
   8. A Closer Look at Android Activities
   1. Fundamental Android UI Design
   2. Android User Interface Fundamentals
   3. Introducing Layouts
   4. To-Do List Example
   5. Introducing Fragments
   6. The Android Widget Toolbox
   7. Creating New Views
   8. Introducing Adapters
   1. Introducing Intents
   2. Creating Intent Filters and Broadcast Receivers
   1. Downloading and Parsing Internet Resources
   2. Using the Download Manager
   3. Using Internet Services
   4. Connecting to Google App Engine
   5. Best Practices for Downloading Data Without Draining the Battery
   1. Saving Simple Application Data
   2. Creating and Saving Shared Preferences
   3. Retrieving Shared Preferences
   4. Creating a Settings Activity for the Earthquake Viewer
   5. Introducing the Preference Framework and the Preference Activity
   6. Creating a Standard Preference Activity for the Earthquake Viewer
   7. Persisting the Application Instance State
   8. Including Static Files as Resources
   9. Working with the File System
   1. Introducing Android Databases
   2. Introducing SQLite
   3. Content Values and Cursors
   4. Working with SQLite Databases
   5. Creating Content Providers
   6. Using Content Providers
   7. Adding Search to Your Application
   8. Creating a Searchable Earthquake Content Provider
   9. Native Android Content Providers
   1. Introducing Services
   2. Using Background Threads
   3. Using Alarms
   4. Using the Intent Service to Simplify the Earthquake Update Service
   1. Introducing the Action Bar
   2. Adding an Action Bar to the Earthquake Monitor
   3. Creating and Using Menus and Action Bar Action Items
   4. Refreshing the Earthquake Monitor
   5. Going Full Screen
   6. Introducing Dialogs
   7. Let's Make a Toast
   8. Introducing Notifications
   9. Adding Notifications and Dialogs to the Earthquake Monitor
   1. Designing for Every Screen Size and Density
   2. Ensuring Accessibility
   3. Introducing Android Text-to-Speech
   4. Using Speech Recognition
   5. Controlling Device Vibration
   6. Working with Animations
   7. Enhancing Your Views
   8. Advanced Drawable Resources
   9. Copy, Paste, and the Clipboard
   1. Using Sensors and the Sensor Manager
   2. Monitoring a Device's Movement and Orientation
   3. Introducing the Environmental Sensors
   1. Using Location-Based Services
   2. Using the Emulator with Location-Based Services
   3. Selecting a Location Provider
   4. Finding Your Current Location
   5. Best Practice for Location Updates
   6. Using Proximity Alerts
   7. Using the Geocoder
   8. Creating Map-Based Activities
   9. Mapping Earthquakes Example
   1. Introducing Home Screen Widgets
   2. Creating App Widgets
   3. Creating an Earthquake Widget
   4. Introducing Collection View Widgets
   5. Introducing Live Folders
   6. Surfacing Application Search Results Using the Quick Search Box
   7. Creating Live Wallpaper
   1. Playing Audio and Video
   2. Manipulating Raw Audio
   3. Creating a Sound Pool
   4. Using Audio Effects
   5. Using the Camera for Taking Pictures
   6. Recording Video
   7. Using Media Effects
   8. Adding Media to the Media Store
   1. Using Bluetooth
   2. Managing Network and Internet Connectivity
   3. Managing Wi-Fi
   4. Transferring Data Using Wi-Fi Direct
   5. Near Field Communication
   1. Hardware Support for Telephony
   2. Using Telephony
   3. Introducing SMS and MMS
   4. Introducing SIP and VOIP
   1. Paranoid Android
   2. Introducing Cloud to Device Messaging
   3. Implementing Copy Protection Using the License Verification Library
   4. Introducing In-App Billing
   5. Using Wake Locks
   6. Using AIDL to Support Inter-Process Communication for Services
   7. Dealing with Different Hardware and Software Availability
   8. Optimizing UI Performance with Strict Mode
   1. Signing and Publishing Applications
   2. Distributing Applications
   3. An Introduction to Monetizing Your Applications
   4. Application Marketing, Promotion, and Distribution Strategies
   5. Analytics and Referral Tracking
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   Product information

   • Title: Professional Android 4 Application Development, 3rd Edition
   • Author(s): Reto Meier
   • Release date: May 2012
   • Publisher(s): Wrox
   • ISBN: 9781118237229