Developing Android Applications with Adobe AIR

Chapter 2. Call Me, Text Me

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.

—Aristotle

In this chapter we will build an application to make a phone call, send a text message, and send an email. The first two tasks can only be done from a mobile phone. We will go through the process of creating the AIR application, packaging it as an Android application, and installing it on an Android device. We will then test it and debug it.

If you skipped Chapter 1, go back and follow the instructions to install the AIR runtime on your device from the Android Market.

Development, packaging, and debugging can all be done using Flash Professional CS5.5 or Flash Builder 4.5 (code named Burrito), available in the Adobe labs at the time of this writing. All tools come bundled with the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) used to run and install applications on an Android device.

Note

For the rest of the book, we will refer to Flash Professional CS5.5 as just Flash Professional. In addition, we will refer to Flash Builder 4.5 as just Flash Builder.

If you prefer to use other Adobe tools or third-party applications, we will cover some options in the section Other Tools.

Let’s get started.

Setting Up Your Device

To set up your Android device, first select Settings→Applications→Development→USB debugging to initiate development mode on your device. On some devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, you need to set this first before plugging the device into your development computer; otherwise, the selection is grayed out. When ...