book

Android Cookbook, 2nd Edition

by Ian F. Darwin

May 2017

Intermediate to advanced

736 pages

17h 34m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Conventions Used in This BookGetting and Using the Code ExamplesO’Reilly Online LearningHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
1.1. Understanding the Android Application Architecture1.2. Understanding the Android Activity Life Cycle1.3. Learning About Android Releases1.4. Learning the Java Language1.5. Setting Up Android Studio1.6. Installing Platform Editions and Keeping the SDK Updated1.7. Creating a “Hello, World” App Using Android Studio1.8. Using the Kotlin Language in Building Android Apps1.9. Converting an Eclipse ADT Project to Android Studio1.10. Preserving History While Converting from Eclipse to Android Studio1.11. Controlling Emulators/Devices Using Command-Line ADB1.12. Referencing Libraries to Implement External Functionality1.13. Using New Features on Old Devices via the Compatibility Libraries1.14. Using SDK Samples to Help Avoid Head Scratching1.15. Taking a Screenshot/Video from the Emulator/Android Device1.16. Program: A Simple CountDownTimer Example1.17. Program: Tipster, a Tip Calculator for the Android OS
2.1. Exception Handling2.2. Requesting Android Permissions at Runtime2.3. Accessing Android’s Application Object as a “Singleton”2.4. Keeping Data When the User Rotates the Device2.5. Monitoring the Battery Level of an Android Device2.6. Creating Splash Screens in Android2.7. Designing a Conference/Camp/Hackathon/Institution App2.8. Using Google Analytics in an Android Application2.9. Setting First-Run Preferences2.10. Formatting Numbers2.11. Formatting with Correct Plurals2.12. Formatting the Time and Date for Display2.13. Simplifying Date/Time Calculations with the Java 8 java.time API2.14. Controlling Input with KeyListeners2.15. Backing Up Android Application Data2.16. Using Hints Instead of Tool Tips
3.1. Setting Up an Android Virtual Device (AVD) for App Testing3.2. Testing on a Wide Range of Devices with Cloud-Based Testing3.3. Testing with Android Studio and JUnit3.4. Testing with Robolectric and JUnit 43.5. Testing with ATSL, Espresso, and JUnit 43.6. Troubleshooting Application Crashes3.7. Debugging Using Log.d() and LogCat3.8. Getting Bug Reports Automatically with Crash Reporting3.9. Using a Local Runtime Application Log for Analysis of Field Errors or Situations3.10. Reproducing Activity Life-Cycle Scenarios for Testing3.11. Keeping Your App Snappy with StrictMode3.12. Static Code Testing with Android Lint3.13. Dynamic Testing with the Monkey Program3.14. Sending Text Messages and Placing Calls Between AVDs
4.1. Opening a Web Page, Phone Number, or Anything Else with an Intent4.2. Emailing Text from a View4.3. Sending an Email with Attachments4.4. Pushing String Values Using Intent.putExtra()4.5. Retrieving Data from a Subactivity Back to Your Main Activity4.6. Keeping a Background Service Running While Other Apps Are on Display4.7. Sending/Receiving a Broadcast Message4.8. Starting a Service After Device Reboot4.9. Creating a Responsive Application Using Threads4.10. Using AsyncTask to Do Background Processing4.11. Sending Messages Between Threads Using an Activity Thread Queue and Handler4.12. Creating an Android Epoch HTML/JavaScript Calendar
5.1. Using a Custom Font5.2. Drawing a Spinning Cube with OpenGL ES5.3. Adding Controls to the OpenGL Spinning Cube5.4. Freehand Drawing Smooth Curves5.5. Taking a Picture Using an Intent5.6. Taking a Picture Using android.media.Camera5.7. Scanning a Barcode or QR Code with the Google ZXing Barcode Scanner5.8. Using AndroidPlot to Display Charts and Graphs5.9. Using Inkscape to Create an Android Launcher Icon from OpenClipArt.org5.10. Using Paint.NET to Create Launcher Icons from OpenClipArt.org5.11. Using Nine Patch Files5.12. Creating HTML5 Charts with Android RGraph5.13. Adding a Simple Raster Animation5.14. Using Pinch to Zoom
6.1. Understanding and Following User Interface Guidelines6.2. Looking Good with Material Design6.3. Choosing a Layout Manager (a.k.a. ViewGroup) and Arranging Components6.4. Handling Configuration Changes by Decoupling the View from the Model6.5. Controlling the Action Bar6.6. Adding a Share Action to Your Action Bar6.7. Building Modern UIs with the Fragment API6.8. Creating a Button and Its Click Event Listener6.9. Enhancing UI Design Using Image Buttons6.10. Using a FloatingActionButton6.11. Wiring Up an Event Listener in Many Different Ways6.12. Using CheckBoxes and RadioButtons6.13. Using Card Widgets6.14. Offering a Drop-Down Chooser via the Spinner Class6.15. Handling Long-Press/Long-Click Events6.16. Displaying Text Fields with TextView and EditText6.17. Constraining EditText Values with Attributes and the TextWatcher Interface6.18. Implementing AutoCompleteTextView6.19. Feeding AutoCompleteTextView Using a SQLite Database Query6.20. Turning Edit Fields into Password Fields6.21. Changing the Enter Key to “Next” on the Soft Keyboard6.22. Processing Key-Press Events in an Activity6.23. Let Them See Stars: Using RatingBar6.24. Making a View Shake6.25. Providing Haptic Feedback6.26. Navigating Different Activities Within a TabView6.27. Creating a Loading Screen that Will Appear Between Two Activities6.28. Adding a Border with Rounded Corners to a Layout6.29. Detecting Gestures in Android6.30. Creating a Simple App Widget
7.1. Alerting the User with Toast and Snackbar7.2. Customizing the Appearance of a Toast7.3. Creating and Displaying a Menu7.4. Handling Choice Selection in a Menu7.5. Creating a Submenu7.6. Creating a Pop-up/Alert Dialog7.7. Using a Timepicker Widget7.8. Creating an iPhone-like WheelPicker for Selection7.9. Creating a Tabbed Dialog7.10. Creating a ProgressDialog7.11. Creating a Custom Dialog with Buttons, Images, and Text7.12. Creating a Reusable “About Box” Class7.13. Creating a Notification in the Status Bar
8.1. Building List-Based Applications with RecyclerView8.2. Building List-Based Applications with ListView8.3. Creating a “No Data” View for ListViews8.4. Creating an Advanced ListView with Images and Text8.5. Using Section Headers in ListViews8.6. Keeping the ListView with the User’s Focus8.7. Writing a Custom List Adapter8.8. Using a SearchView to Search Through Data in a ListView8.9. Handling Orientation Changes: From ListView Data Values to Landscape Charting
9.1. Playing a YouTube Video9.2. Capturing Video Using MediaRecorder9.3. Using Android’s Face Detection Capability9.4. Playing Audio from a File9.5. Playing Audio Without Interaction9.6. Using Speech to Text9.7. Making the Device Speak with Text-to-Speech

10.1. Reading and Writing Files in Internal and External Storage10.2. Getting File and Directory Information10.3. Reading a File Shipped with the App Rather than in the Filesystem10.4. Getting Space Information About the SD Card10.5. Providing a Preference Activity10.6. Checking the Consistency of Default Shared Preferences10.7. Using a SQLite Database in an Android Application10.8. Performing Advanced Text Searches on a SQLite Database10.9. Working with Dates in SQLite10.10. Exposing Non-SQL Data as a SQL Cursor10.11. Displaying Data with a CursorLoader10.12. Parsing JSON Using JSONObject10.13. Parsing an XML Document Using the DOM API10.14. Storing and Retrieving Data via a Content Provider10.15. Writing a Content Provider10.16. Adding a Contact Through the Contacts Content Provider10.17. Reading Contact Data Using a Content Provider10.18. Implementing Drag and Drop10.19. Sharing Files via a FileProvider10.20. Backing Up Your SQLite Data to the Cloud with a SyncAdapter10.21. Storing Data in the Cloud with Google Firebase
11.1. Doing Something When the Phone Rings11.2. Processing Outgoing Phone Calls11.3. Dialing the Phone11.4. Sending Single-part or Multipart SMS Messages11.5. Receiving an SMS Message11.6. Using Emulator Controls to Send SMS Messages to the Emulator11.7. Using Android’s TelephonyManager to Obtain Device Information
12.1. Consuming a RESTful Web Service Using a URLConnection12.2. Consuming a RESTful Web Service with Volley12.3. Notifying Your App with Google Cloud Messaging “Push Messaging”12.4. Extracting Information from Unstructured Text Using Regular Expressions12.5. Parsing RSS/Atom Feeds Using ROME12.6. Using MD5 to Digest Clear Text12.7. Converting Text into Hyperlinks12.8. Accessing a Web Page Using a WebView12.9. Customizing a WebView12.10. Writing an Inter-Process Communication Service
13.1. Building an Android Game Using flixel-gdx13.2. Building an Android Game Using AndEngine13.3. Processing Timed Keyboard Input
14.1. Authenticating Users with OAUTH214.2. Integrating Social Networking Using HTTP14.3. Loading a User’s Twitter Timeline Using HTML or JSON
15.1. Getting Location Information15.2. Accessing GPS Information in Your Application15.3. Mocking GPS Coordinates on a Device15.4. Using Geocoding and Reverse Geocoding15.5. Getting Ready for Google Maps API V2 Development15.6. Using the Google Maps API V215.7. Displaying Map Data Using OpenStreetMap15.8. Creating Overlays in OpenStreetMap Maps15.9. Using a Scale on an OpenStreetMap Map15.10. Handling Touch Events on an OpenStreetMap Overlay15.11. Getting Location Updates with OpenStreetMap Maps
16.1. Checking for the Presence or Absence of a Sensor16.2. Using the Accelerometer to Detect Shaking16.3. Checking Whether a Device Is Facing Up or Down16.4. Reading the Temperature Sensor
17.1. Enabling Bluetooth and Making the Device Discoverable17.2. Connecting to a Bluetooth-Enabled Device17.3. Accepting Connections from a Bluetooth Device17.4. Implementing Bluetooth Device Discovery
18.1. Accessing Phone Network/Connectivity Information18.2. Obtaining Information from the Manifest File18.3. Changing Incoming Call Notification to Silent, Vibrate, or Normal18.4. Copying Text and Getting Text from the Clipboard18.5. Using LED-Based Notifications18.6. Making the Device Vibrate18.7. Determining Whether a Given Application Is Running
19.1. Learning About Cross-Platform Solutions19.2. Running Shell Commands from Your Application19.3. Running Native C/C++ Code with JNI on the NDK19.4. Getting Started with SL4A, the Scripting Layer for Android19.5. Creating Alerts in SL4A19.6. Fetching Your Google Documents and Displaying Them in a ListView Using SL4A19.7. Sharing SL4A Scripts in QR Codes19.8. Using Native Handset Functionality from a WebView via JavaScript19.9. Building a Cross-Platform App with Xamarin19.10. Creating a Cross-Platform App Using PhoneGap/Cordova19.11. Creating a Cross-Platform App Using Flutter
20.1. Internationalizing Application Text20.2. Finding and Translating Strings20.3. Handling the Nuances of strings.xml
21.1. Creating a Signing Certificate and Using It to Sign Your Application21.2. Distributing Your Application via the Google Play Store21.3. Distributing Your Application via Other App Stores21.4. Monetizing Your App with AdMob21.5. Obfuscating and Optimizing with ProGuard21.6. Hosting Your App on Your Own Server21.7. Creating a “Self-Updating” App21.8. Providing a Link to Other Published Apps in the Google Play Store

Overview

Jump in and build working Android apps with the help of more than 230 tested recipes. The second edition of this acclaimed cookbook includes recipes for working with user interfaces, multitouch gestures, location awareness, web services, and specific device features such as the phone, camera, and accelerometer. You also get useful info on packaging your app for the Google Play Market.

Ideal for developers familiar with Java, Android basics, and the Java SE API, this book features recipes contributed by more than three dozen Android developers. Each recipe provides a clear solution and sample code you can use in your project right away. Among numerous topics, this cookbook helps you:

Get started with the tooling you need for developing and testing Android apps
Create layouts with Android’s UI controls, graphical services, and pop-up mechanisms
Build location-aware services on Google Maps and OpenStreetMap
Control aspects of Android’s music, video, and other multimedia capabilities
Work with accelerometers and other Android sensors
Use various gaming and animation frameworks
Store and retrieve persistent data in files and embedded databases
Access RESTful web services with JSON and other formats
Test and troubleshoot individual components and your entire application