Android Application Development All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3

An Android Potpourri

In This Chapter

Programming Android to make phone calls

Working with text messages and device sensors

Responding to multi-touch events

Drawing things

Distracting the user with a progress bar

Putting Java threads to good use

A potpourri is an assortment — a little of this and a little of that. It’s a mixture of pleasant things related in one way or another, but not dependent upon one another. It’s a medley of songs or a bunch of nice-smelling dried plants. It’s a salmagundi with meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It’s a pastiche such as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It’s a plate of gefilte fish with a mix of carp, pike, perch, salmon, mullet, whitefish, and other things whose odors form an orange haze that spreads throughout the house. But in this book, a potpourri is a collection of useful programming goodies.

Making Phone Calls

Before smartphones ...