Android App Builder
Android App Builder provides invaluable advice, tips, and tutorials for mobile app developers who are coding, packaging, and marketing top-notch apps for today's cutting edge smartphones and tablets.
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Control Android's LCD backlight programmatically
In this Android tutorial, William J. Francis demonstrates how to read and write to the LCD backlight brightness control.
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Why fragmentation is great for Android developers and users
It would be bad form to delve into the world of Android fragmentation wearing a pair of rose-colored glasses, but also don't overlook the upsides to the OS's segmentation.
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Theming toast messages with the Android SDK
A toast message is a warm and fuzzy way to alert users about what is happening in your Android app without interrupting the UX. Learn how to build custom toast messages.
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Remote test your Android apps with these services
Samsung Remote Test Lab, Vodafone Handset Cloud, and Apkudo are just three of the services you might want to check out when remote testing your Android apps.
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Essential elements to use from the Android Support Library
The Android Support Library makes several of the operating system's important new features available to apps for older versions of Android.
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Jelly Bean's ConnectivityManager has a new goodie
Android developer William J. Francis demonstrates how to determine if a connection is metered, as well as some other handy information that can be gleaned from the ConnectivityManager.
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Using Android UI kit for programmatic layouts
Everything that can be done using an XML layout can also be done programmatically in Android. Follow this Android development tutorial on creating a dynamic user interface.
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Selecting an Android tablet for testing your apps
There are so many Android tablet options that app developers can't possibly purchase them all for testing purposes. Here are tips on making your Android tablet selection.
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A developer's guide to copyright and trademark in Google Play
Android app developer William J. Francis interviews attorney Suzy Fulton, an IP and due diligence specialist, about trademarks, copyrights, and patents. She advises app developers to maintain a sense of integrity.
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Generate graphic assets with the Android Asset Studio wizard
The Asset Studio wizard can help simplify your efforts to manage icon assets for your Android apps. Learn more about Asset Studio, as well as when automatic image generation is not the best option.
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Get social: Using Android intents to share a link
Social media is a great way to promote your Android app. Learn how to implement link sharing via social networking from within your app.
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Juggling in-app purchasing from multiple markets
You have several options to handle in-app billing for multiple app markets: build your own, use a service, or do nothing. See which option might be right for your Android app.
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Transforming bitmaps via Android's ImageView widget
Learn how to apply an alpha transformation, scale a bitmap, and rotate a bitmap, all using Android's ImageView widget.
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Android gives developers direct I/O to the SD card
Follow this tutorial on how to access the SD card on an Android device, and perform simple read and write operations.
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Understanding Android app permissions
Android's permission mechanism enforces that each app can only perform actions that it declared it could do. Learn how to add permissions to your app's manifest.
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Protect your Android apps with obfuscation
The simplest way to protect an app is to enable the obfuscation in ProGuard, which can remove unused code and make it harder to read the decompiled code. Also learn about DexGuard.
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The ABCs of Android game development: Detect collisions
In the fourth installment of his five-part app developer series, William J. Francis provides the code to be able to detect when the asteroid and the ship collide in this Android game.
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More fun with Android's property animation class
Learn how to create a button in your Android app that transforms between two background colors over a period of time to create a pulsing effect.
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Android library projects: Use common code in multiple apps
Android library projects allow you to easily create reusable code and resources. Learn more about library projects, including how to implement and use them.
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Tips on starting an app development business
If you plan to launch a business based on your app development efforts, Tim Mackenzie advises on what to consider about the endeavor before quitting your full-time job.
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Building a slot machine in Android: ViewFlipper meet gesture detector
William Francis combines Android's ViewFlipper class with the gesture detector to simulate the spinning wheel on a game of chance. Follow the steps or download this fun project.
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The ABCs of Android game development: User input
William J. Francis concludes his Android game development series with this tutorial on how to derive input from a user and how to use the input to influence the on-screen action.
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Capture the flag: A tutorial on Android's Canvas class and Touch event handler
Android developer William Francis takes a break from writing business apps and shows how to code a simple electronic game of capture the flag.
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Get more positive ratings for your app in Google Play
Android developer William J. Francis shares a proof-of-concept algorithm that attempts to address various issues with Google Play's user-centric rating schema.
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Combining the Android ViewPager widget and the ActionBar Fragment tabs
Kyle Miller describes how he combined the Android ViewPager widget and the ActionBar Fragment tabs to create a UI that would allow a user to swipe through tabs.
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A developer's guide to copyright and trademark in Google Play
Android app developer William J. Francis interviews attorney Suzy Fulton, an IP and due diligence specialist, about trademarks, copyrights, and patents. She advises app developers to maintain a sense of integrity.
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Integrate Google Analytics into your Android app
Google Analytics data about your Android app will help you see if your design is logical and may lead you to think of ways to increase user engagement.
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Using the WP7 progress bar objects
Justin James looks at the methods and properties of Windows Phone 7 progress bar controls, and explores how to use the objects.
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A universal back key override for Android SDK
A good example of keeping your target base as broad as possible can be seen when handling the back key. Android developer William J. Francis provides more details in this demo.
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Theming toast messages with the Android SDK
A toast message is a warm and fuzzy way to alert users about what is happening in your Android app without interrupting the UX. Learn how to build custom toast messages.