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Android App Builder
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The legal basics of software licensing
Here's an overview of what app developers need to know about copyrights, licensing, and End User License Agreements.
Posted by Guest Contributor | March 1, 2013, 8:00 PM PST
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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.
Posted by William J. Francis | March 1, 2013, 11:02 AM PST | Latest comment by davidw32
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Check available networks for Android data
When developing Android apps, you can use your knowledge of available networks to improve the user experience. Here's how to acquire the necessary network information.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | February 22, 2013, 9:59 PM PST
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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.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 21, 2013, 11:55 AM PST
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Learning iOS as an Android developer
Android developer Chiu-Ki Chan learned iOS to develop her Heart Collage app on both platforms. Find out her overall impressions of iOS development.
Posted by Guest Contributor | February 14, 2013, 7:52 AM PST | Latest comment by frylock
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The ABCs of Android game development: Animate sprites
In the third installment of his five-part app developer series, William J. Francis walks through how to use both kinds of sprite animation when developing this Android game.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 13, 2013, 4:14 PM PST | Latest comment by johnbritto473
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Selecting a platform for initial app development
Developers should consider these factors when deciding which app platform will allow development to proceed quickly, and enable questions about customer needs, tech decisions, and more.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | February 7, 2013, 1:03 PM PST
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The ABCs of Android game development: Load and display sprites
In the second installment of his five-part app developer series, William J. Francis instructs you on how to load and display sprites when developing an Android game.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 4, 2013, 3:47 PM PST | Latest comment by os2baba
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The ABCs of Android game development: Prepare the canvas
In the first installment of his five-part app developer series, William J. Francis creates a drawing surface and a framework for controlling and updating the contents of an Android game.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 2, 2013, 9:52 AM PST | Latest comment by authorwjf
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The power of Qualcomm's Snapdragon Android SDK
Qualcomm's Snapdragon Android SDK is a series of tools and resources that enable developers to create more apps and user experiences with Snapdragon-powered devices.
Posted by Joseph Parker | January 28, 2013, 8:45 AM PST
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Essential SDKs for mobile app development
If you're just starting out in mobile app development, read this starter guide on what tools are available for building user-friendly apps.
Posted by Joseph Parker | January 25, 2013, 9:45 PM PST
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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.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | January 25, 2013, 10:22 AM PST
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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.
Posted by William J. Francis | January 16, 2013, 11:37 AM PST
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Take advantage of Android's GPS API
Android app developer William J. Francis walks you through the most basic of GPS usage scenarios in this tutorial.
Posted by William J. Francis | January 14, 2013, 10:34 AM PST | Latest comment by jwronski
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Investigating app frameworks for Android
If you're having trouble choosing the right framework for your Android app, these details about the advantages of native development and app frameworks might help.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | January 9, 2013, 3:30 PM PST
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Create slick transitions with Android's ObjectAnimator class
App developer William J. Francis explores Android's ObjectAnimator class, which manipulates object properties resulting in impressive animations that you can apply to any view or widget.
Posted by William J. Francis | January 8, 2013, 8:54 AM PST | Latest comment by clcictadm
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An easy hack to see if your Android code executes on the emulator
William J. Francis shares a handy tip for detecting whether an app is running on an actual Android device or the emulator.
Posted by William J. Francis | January 3, 2013, 1:52 PM PST | Latest comment by ProjectJourneyman
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Android resource types: from basic to advanced
App developers, read this overview of some of the basic and more advanced resource types that are commonly used in Android projects.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | January 1, 2013, 4:07 PM PST
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Introduction to Android native development
Android developer Tim Mackenzie notes that native code should be used only when necessary. Find out when it is needed.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | December 28, 2012, 11:08 AM PST
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Top 10 Android development posts in 2012
Here are the most-read posts from TechRepublic's Android App Builder blog in 2012.
Posted by Mary Weilage | December 20, 2012, 12:35 PM PST
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A quick tutorial on coding Android's accelerometer
The accelerometer is a hardware sensor used to detect a shake motion. William Francis shares the accelerometer code that he uses in his Android apps.
Posted by William J. Francis | September 16, 2011, 11:55 PM PDT
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A newbie's guide to Android development
William J. Francis covers Android development basics, such as the necessary tools to get started and a typical project hierarchy.
Posted by William J. Francis | May 11, 2012, 8:41 PM PDT | Latest comment by karla111
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Calling RESTful services from your Android app
Mobile developer William J. Francis demonstrates how easy it is to consume a RESTful service from your Android device.
Posted by William J. Francis | March 20, 2012, 7:55 AM PDT
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The ABCs of Android game development: Prepare the canvas
In the first installment of his five-part app developer series, William J. Francis creates a drawing surface and a framework for controlling and updating the contents of an Android game.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 2, 2013, 9:52 AM PST | Latest comment by authorwjf
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App store fees, percentages, and payouts: What developers need to know
Every app store takes a cut of a developer's sales. Find out how much of the earnings usually go to the app store and when you can expect a payment.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | May 7, 2012, 1:03 PM PDT | Latest comment by Andrew Huttle
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Samsung Galaxy S4 stirs questions about Android customization
Can the Android OS be so customizable through fragmentation and app development that it ceases to be Android? Let us know what you think.
Posted by Joseph Parker | May 10, 2013, 11:53 PM PDT | Latest comment by radleym
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Pros and cons of cross-platform mobile app development tools
If you want to use platforms that allow development for both iOS and Android apps, keep these potential benefits and drawbacks of such tools in mind.
Posted by Joseph Parker | March 15, 2013, 11:58 PM PDT | Latest comment by Cyberience
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Project your Android phone's screen onto a larger display
Learn three ways to get your Android phone display onto a large overhead screen so you can show off your killer app during your next demo or presentation.
Posted by William J. Francis | April 18, 2012, 1:18 PM PDT | Latest comment by meister2681
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Use Android's gesture detector to translate a swipe into an event
When developing an Android app, you can use the intuitive Gesture Detector class horizontally, vertically, and diagonally to translate subtle motions into distinct events.
Posted by William J. Francis | August 30, 2012, 1:12 PM PDT
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Android v. iOS guide for newbies
If you're just starting out in app development and trying to choose between the Android or the iOS SDK, this basic guide might be useful.
Posted by Joseph Parker | April 4, 2013, 11:20 AM PDT | Latest comment by HAL 9000
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Show a progress bar in your Android app for a better UX
Users expect mobile apps to be responsive, and when nothing happens, they feel frustrated. Learn how to give users a better experience by adding a progress bar to your Android app.
Posted by Tim Mackenzie | March 6, 2013, 11:01 AM PST
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Get started with Android fragments
After purchasing and using a Sony Tablet S, William J. Francis is sold on the idea of Android fragments. His tutorial shows how to create a functional fragment-based UI.
Posted by William J. Francis | March 14, 2012, 10:18 AM PDT | Latest comment by Aexyno
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Working with Android's PopupMenu class
Android's PopupMenu widget takes all of the heavy lifting out of adding popup-like menu functionality in your apps. Here are the basics about PopupMenu.
Posted by William J. Francis | March 21, 2013, 2:42 AM PDT
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Android's SeekBar your way
Learn how to customize the Android UI SeekBar widget by following this tutorial by mobile developer William Francis.
Posted by William J. Francis | February 14, 2012, 1:08 PM PST
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Android Jelly Bean ate my toast, the sequel: Revenge of the toast
If you miss toast messages in Android 4.2, follow this tutorial to learn how to create your own.
Posted by William J. Francis | April 30, 2013, 8:53 AM PDT | Latest comment by authorwjf
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Use Gson to work with JSON in your Android apps
In this Android tutorial, William J. Francis uses Gson to build up a standard Java entity and flatten it into JSON.
Posted by William J. Francis | July 3, 2012, 3:01 PM PDT
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How app developers can get their pots of gold
There are more ways than ever to create and consume content. This is good news for software developers, who now have even more opportunities to strike it rich.
Posted by Steve Dryall | May 17, 2013, 4:02 AM PDT
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A dog limps into a saloon: A tutorial on Android's ViewFlipper widget
It can be tough to figure out the Android ViewFlipper widget's sliding in and out animation transitions. William Francis explains how to use the widget in your Android apps.
Posted by William J. Francis | November 1, 2011, 2:07 PM PDT
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Bouncing a ball on Android's canvas
Enterprise app developer William J. Francis has fun with Android's animation classes in his bouncing ball tutorial.
Posted by William J. Francis | October 11, 2012, 11:17 AM PDT
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Four cloud tools to use for app development
Cloud integrations in app development are becoming more prevalent. If you don't know where to start in terms of tools, read these recommendations.
Posted by Joseph Parker | April 23, 2013, 6:47 AM PDT
