Android Application Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself

Carmen Delessio is an experienced application developer who has worked as a developer, technical architect, and CTO in large and small organizations.   Carmen developed the award-winning “BFF Photo” Android app, which won the Sprint App Challenge contest in the Social Networking category.   Carmen began his online development career at Prodigy, where he worked on early Internet applications, shopping apps, and fantasy baseball.   He has written for Mashable and AndroidGuys and is the author of Sams Teach Yourself Google TV App Development in 24 Hours.   He is a graduate of Manhattanville College and lives in Pound Ridge, New York, with his wife, Amy, and daughter, Natalie.   Lauren Darcey is a multi-published Android author with several Pearson books to her credit, along with earlier editions of this book. Lauren is technical leader of Mamlambo, Inc., a firm specializing in mobile development and consulting with Android, iOS, Blackberry, and other mobile platforms. She has more than two decades of software development experience under her belt and is a recognized authority in enterprise architecture and commercial-grade mobile development.   Shane Conder is also a multi-published Android author with several Pearson books to his credit, along with earlier editions of this book. Shane has extensive development experience and has focused his attention on mobile and embedded development for the past two decades. He has designed and developed many commercial apps for Android, iOS, BREW, Blackberry, J2ME, Palm, and Windows Mobile, some of which have been installed on millions of phones worldwide.  

Preface xiv

New in the Third Edition xiv

Who This Book Is For xv

How This Book Is Organized xv

Part I: Getting Started

HOUR 1: Getting Started: Creating a Simple App 3

Setting Up Your Development Environment 3

Instantly Creating a Simple App 6

Understanding the Java Code and XML Layout 10

Running the App 11

Personalizing the App 13

Summary 17

Q&A 17

Workshop 18

Exercise 18

HOUR 2: Understanding an Android Activity 19

Understanding an Activity 19

Starting an Activity 20

Passing Information Between Activities 28

Understanding Intents 34

Understanding the Activity Lifecycle 38

Summary 41

Q&A 41

Workshop 42

Exercises  42

HOUR 3: Exploring an Android Project and Resources 43

Exploring the Android Project Files 43

Understanding Common Resources 47

Summary 57

Q&A 57

Workshop 57

Exercises  58

HOUR 4: Not Just Smartphones: Supporting Tablets, TVs, and More 59

A Brief History of Android 59

Handling Device Display and Orientation 60

Device Features 67

Platform Versions and the Compatibility Package 68

Launching Apps on a Device 72

Summary 74

Q&A 74

Workshop 75

Exercises  75

Part II: User Interface

HOUR 5: Using Layouts 79

Getting Started with Layouts 79

More Layout Basics with LinearLayout 84

Laying Out Child Views 86

FrameLayout 89

RelativeLayout 89

Summary 91

Q&A 92

Workshop    92

Exercises  93

HOUR 6: Working with Basic UI Controls 95

Setting Up the Demo App 95

Using Input Controls 98

Using Controls with Adapters 104

ProgressBars and SeekBars 107

ImageViews 110

Summary 111

Q&A 111

Workshop 112

Exercise 112

HOUR 7: ActionBar and Menu Navigation 113

Understanding the Options Menu 113

Using the Action Bar 120

Strategies for Using the ActionBar and Menus 124

Summary 125

Q&A 125

Workshop 126

Exercises 126

HOUR 8: Activities and Fragments 127

Using Fragments Across UIs 127

Creating and Displaying Fragments 128

Using Fragments for Navigation 132

Fragment and Activity Interaction 136

Summary 139

Q&A 139

Workshop 139

Exercises 140

HOUR 9: Alert! Working with Dialogs 141

Understanding a Dialog Fragment 141

Dialogs for Picking Date and Time 145

Using Alert Dialogs 151

Summary 155

Q&A 156

Workshop 156

Exercise 156

HOUR 10: Lists, Grids, Galleries, and Flippers 157

ListFragments 157

Grids and Galleries 162

Using an AdapterViewFlipper 166

Options for Paging Controls 167

Summary 168

Q&A 169

Workshop 169

Exercise 169

HOUR 11: App Setting: Managing Preferences 171

Using SharedPreferences 171

Setting User Preferences 174

Summary 185

Q&A 185

Workshop 186

Exercise 186

Part III: Data Access and Use

HOUR 12: Accessing the Cloud: Working with a Remote API 189

Fetching Remote Data 190

Using and Parsing JSON-Formatted Data 194

Putting the Pieces Together 197

Checking Connectivity 202

Summary 203

Q&A 203

Workshop 203

Exercise 204

HOUR 13: Using SQLite and File Storage 205

Organizing a Database with Tables 205

Managing Data with SQLiteOpenHelper 206

Adding, Updating, and Deleting Data 209

Querying Data and Using Cursors 212

Using a Database in the App 215

Saving an Image File 218

Summary 224

Q&A 224

Workshop 225

Exercises    225

HOUR 14: Creating a Content Provider 227

Using a URI for Data Retrieval 227

Building a Content Provider 228

Using FlickrPhotoProvider in the App 236

Requesting a File from a Content Provider 237

Summary 242

Q&A 242

Workshop 243

Exercises 243

HOUR 15: Loaders, CursorLoaders, and CustomAdapters 245

How Loaders Work 245

Loader Classes 246

Understanding Loader States 246

Creating Custom Adapters 253

Summary 257

Q&A 257

Workshop 258

Exercise 258

HOUR 16: Developing a Complete App 259

Determining App Functionality 259

Developing the App 263

Summary 278

Q&A 278

Workshop 278

Exercise 279

Part IV: Special Topics

HOUR 17: Contacts and Calendar: Accessing Device Data 283

All About the Calendar 283

Understanding Contacts 294

Summary 297

Q&A 297

Workshop 298

Exercise 298

HOUR 18: Where Are We? Working with Location-Based Services 299

Determining Location 299

Using Geocoding Services 306

Using the Geo Intent 309

Additional Location Features 311

Using Google Play Services 312

Summary 315

Q&A 316

Workshop 316

Exercise 316

HOUR 19: Bonjour, World! Localizing Your Apps 317

General Internationalization Principles 317

Working with Localization with Android 318

Handling Locales with Android 319

Using Applications to Handle Locales 320

Android Internationalization Strategies 323

Using Localization Utilities 326

Summary 327

Q&A 327

Workshop 327

Exercises 328

HOUR 20: Say Cheese! Working with Cameras 329

Capturing Media 329

Using Intents to Take Photos and Videos 332

Developing a Camera App 338

Summary 345

Q&A 346

Workshop 346

Exercise 346

HOUR 21: Media Basics: Images, Audio, and Video 347

Examining the ImageView Control 347

Bitmaps and Canvas 353

Using VideoViews 357

Playing Audio with MediaPlayer 361

Exploring More Media Options 362

Summary 362

Q&A 362

Workshop 363

Exercise 363

HOUR 22: Using the Facebook SDK 365

About Facebook    365

Setting Up for Facebook Development 366

Using the Facebook SDK in a Project 370

Developing a Facebook Photo Upload App 373

Facebook SDK Features 378

Creating Libraries for Your Own Projects 379

Summary 379

Q&A 380

Workshop 380

Exercise 380

Part V: Wrapping Up

HOUR 23: Pro Tips, Finishing Touches, and Next Steps 383

Responsive Apps: Using IntentService 383

Adding Animation 388

Using Open Source 391

Digging Deeper into Android 392

Summary 397

Q&A 397

Workshop 397

Exercise 398

HOUR 24: Publishing Your Apps 399

Preparing for Release 399

Publishing Your App 405

Monetizing Your App 409

Summary 410

Q&A 410

Workshop 410

Exercise 411

Index 413